Psalm 34:4: “I sought the LORD, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.”
The way this passage is translated always bothered me. “I sought the Lord and he answered me.” If you are seeking you find, if you are asking you get an answer. Every translation says I sought. Then most translations walk in lock step with each other and say he answered me, a few say he heard me but that means the same. That word for sought in Hebrew is daresh which means to seek. That is the most common rendering. There are a few renderings of daresh as to inquire and that would work better with the Lord answering but for whatever reason translators refuse to go there. Instead they will stay with the word sought and in that seeking you get an answer.
Ok, I get it, David is saying that we must search for an answer from God. But is that what David was searching for, answers? I believe there are alternatives. That word for answer is ‘anah which has many different renderings in English. Again most translations stay in lock step with each other and render ’anah as answer or heard. To say anything different would change the meaning.
Yet, the Talmud teaches seventy faces to Torah. There could be numerous understandings to one verse. It is only our Platonic mindset that forces us to insist on only one meaning. Plato is the Philosopher that best fits our modern Western world. Yet Plato is the guy who felt the world should be ruled by philosophers. Only philosophers were brilliant enough to decide what was best for man so everyone should leave it up to the philosophers to decide for them. That really goes against our democratic thinking but when was the last time your doctor told you, “Do what I say, I know what is best.” Or the administration at your child’s school tells you: “Just let the professionals handle your child and his education.” Yes, we are a society that yields to the experts. That plays right into Christianity. “Hey Chaim old boy, the experts say it should be translated as sought and answer so don’t tamper with it, they know what is best.”
Ok, let’s look at what some of the experts say. For one thing they will tell you that David is referring to the fact that all the ancient pagans who worshipped false gods would ask their gods questions but their god would never answer but our God does. Ok, when was the last time you got a direct answer when you asked God a question? You may have felt an answer or thought you found an answer when reading the Bible. Ok, God speaks that way but what is to keep a pagan idol worshipper from hearing for his god the same way? Come on give our ancient ancestors some credit, they did not all have a minus IQ. Surely after a while of asking their piece of wood or stone questions and getting no answer it would dawn on them this whole thing was a fake. No these people were just as smart and savory as we are today. Their gods did answer them. I mean I have that degree in Biblical Archaeology and I have studied about these ancient forms of worship. Archaeologist uncovered an ancient Greek dream room. The dream room is where the priest of a certain god would send someone who came to seek answers from their god. They would drink a potion which made them drossy and put them in a half awake and half asleep state. Then they would be left alone in the dream room where they asked their god a question, possibly about an affliction and what the cure might be. Then, behold, they heard the voice of their god tell them the nature of their affliction and the cure. Then the priest would come and inquire as to what the god told him, as if he didn’t already know because Archaeologist also uncovered a megaphone like hole in the ceiling of the dream room where the priest would speak in an authoritative voice, pretending to be the god. Sure religion was a racket, nothing new under the sun. Remember the story in I Kings 18? Elijah challenged the priest of Baal to prove who the true God was. He built an altar and declared the true God would send fire down from heaven? Note 1Kings 18:28: “And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them.” I was told in seminary that the Baal priest would hide one of their own in the altar and light the fire with a match. If that were the case and they were just dummying the whole thing up with a lot of special effects, then why didn’t it work. Also, if I knew I had a buddy hidden away in that altar with a match I would put on a good show of a song and dance but I would certainly not start cutting myself up. I mean there is a limit to how far one would go in show business. Like, I would call for a stunt double right away when they got to that cutting part. No, these priests were really expecting something to happen.
I may follow Archaeological discoveries, but I also believe in the supernatural and that there are supernatural manifestations of both God and the enemy. I believe these priest were satan worshippers and calling on demons. This was not a test to see which God would light the fire, it was a test to see which God would prevent the other from lighting the fire. They knew their gods would start a supernatural fire but when Elijah came on the scene with God Jehovah, no demon would dear show his face or set a fire.
All this is to say I do not believe David is saying he sought the Lord or inquired of the Lord and got answer unlike the false gods. I mean the false gods gave answers too. But their answer came with fire and terror and demanded a price. God does not demand a price from us, he paid it himself.
So there are a number of uses for the word ‘anah which we render as answer or hear but I do not believe answer or hear fits the context because all the gods answered and heard, either supernaturally or through fakery. I need another word for ‘anah that fits the context better and there is one. I have found ‘anah used in extra Biblical literature for a song or singing. I chose to use that rendering here. For when I sought the Lord, he just did not answer me, he sang to me. Show me another god that would sing to us. You know gold was considered the skin of the gods. All metals grow warm when you hold them in your hand except gold. Ah, gold remains cool and aloof, just like the gods so it was considered the skin of the gods. You could not touch the gods and affect them, they were unaffected by man just like gold. Yet our God had the holy of holies covered in gold. Everything in the holy of holies was aloof like the pagan gods, except the presence of God Jehovah. When he entered the holy of holies his Shekinah glory brought warmth, it was affected by our touch, our tears, our cries. The pagan gods were aloof and shut their hearts out from man. Our God brings His presence, His warmth and opens His heart to us and sings to us a love song.
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