[SalesForce] Illegal assignment from List to String Using Database.query

New to apex to please bear with me. I'm using database.query for a SOQL statement from a Custom Setting. I'm then trying to retrieve data from that Custom Setting, but it seems everything is an sObject[]. In the scenario below, SearchFields__c is a single String (e.g. Name), but it won't let me assign it to a String. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Sample Code

public YAHS_PRT_Table_Component__c tableComponent {get;set;}

public String searchField { get; set; }

public List<String> Buttons { get; set; }

public GenericPaginationComponentContrl(){
    tableComponent = [SELECT Name, IsActionColumnEnabled__c, SearchFields__c, SOQLQuery__c, 
ActionButtons__c, Fields__c FROM YAHS_PRT_Table_Component__c WHERE Name = :recordName]; // Works
    sObjLst = database.query(tableComponent.SOQLQuery__c); // Works

    searchField = database.query(tableComponent.SearchFields__c); // Illegal assignment from List<SObject> to String
    Buttons = database.query(tableComponent.ActionButtons__c.split(',')); // Doesn't work either
}