Psalms 34:4
I sought the LORD, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears.
BSB
ASV
I sought Jehovah, and he answered me, And delivered me from all my fears.
KJV
I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 16:4 (PS 34) (379)
The whole life of the just person is filled with affliction.… But God delivers his saints from their afflictions. Though he does not leave them without trial, yet he bestows on them patient endurance. For if "tribulation works out endurance, and endurance tries virtue," he who excludes tribulation from himself deprives himself of his tried virtue. As no one is crowned without an adversary, so also he cannot be declared tried except through tribulations.
I sought the Lord, and he heard me. It must have been in a very confused manner that David prayed, and there must have been much of self sufficiency in his prayer, or he would not have resorted to methods of such dubious morality as pretending to be mad and behaving as a lunatic; yet his poor limping prayer had an acceptance and brought him succour: the more reason for then celebrating the abounding mercy of the Lord. We may seek God even when we have sinned.
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
The walk8
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
2 Timothy 1:7For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.
leads to
For you did not receive a spirit of slavery that returns you to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. The one who fears has not been perfected in love.
Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not be afraid.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Through
Matthew 7:7Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.
leads to
If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
and we will receive from Him whatever we ask, because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His sight.
If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.