Psalm 4

Psalm 4:1-8

    Very briefly, I would like to look through these verses to learn a few lessons about prayer, persecution, and peace.  Beginning with verse 1: Read verse 1.  David begins his psalm with a request.  He asks God to hear his prayer.  He begs God to acknowledge him and to answer him. 

    David does not take for granted God’s willingness to hear and answer prayer, and yet, he knows that His God will hear and respond.  He knows this from past experience.  “You have given me relief when I was in distress,” he says.  When seeking deliverance and provision from God, David often meditated on previous answers to prayer.  You could even say that he reminded God of them. 

    Many times towards the end of his psalms he reassures himself that his prayer will be heard and his petitions granted.  Sometimes he thanks God for answering his prayer before he’s even finished praying it.  Look at Psalm 6:8-10: “Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for Yahweh has heard the sound of my weeping.  Yahweh has heard my plea; Yahweh accepts my prayer.  All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.” 

    Because of his experiences with his Heavenly Father, he trusted in God’s character.  Psalm 13:5 says, “But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.”  Again in Psalm 44:26: “Rise up; come to our help! Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!”  David knew adversity, but more importantly, David knew God.  He placed his final hope in God’s loving, gracious character. 

    When we face troubles and trials, how do we react?  Do we focus on the problem, or do we focus on God?  Do we believe that God is willing and able to deliver us?  God is bigger than our problems, and He delights in delivering us from them.  We should continually recall those prayers that have been undeniably answered and take encouragement that God is still a prayer-hearing God.  As Albert Barnes has said, “Who that has felt the assurance that God has heard his prayer in former times, and has delivered him from trouble, will not go to him with the more confident assurance that he will hear him again?”

    Notice at the end of verse 1 what David says.  “Be gracious to me and hear my prayer.”  I believe that David is not offering two separate petitions here.  He is asking for God to hear his prayer, and he acknowledges that to do so would be the result of grace.  God does not have to answer prayer.  He does not have to interact with us in any way.  It is purely His grace that causes Him to pay us any attention.  We must never take for granted the precious gift that it is to pray.  We must never pray in a routine, lackadaisical way.  We must approach God joyfully and reverently, grateful that He has promised to hear and answer.

    Moving on to the theme of persecution, listen to verses 2-5.  Read verses 2-5.  Wicked men always seem to turn things upside down.  It’s easy to get frustrated when following politics or when observing the ways of the world.  Everything is just so backwards, it seems.  It’s seems people take pride in the doing wrong, and persecute others for being righteous and following common sense. 

    David experienced that same frustration.  His persecutors were turning his honor into shame.  They loved meaningless words and they rejected the truth, choosing instead to follow the lies that made them feel better.  They had itching ears.  David knew that nothing that he said would convince them to follow the truth, and yet, he sought to evangelize them.  He assured them, and himself, that the path of the righteous is good and safe.  “Yahweh has set apart the Godly for Himself,” he proclaims. 

    He took comfort in that fact.  He did not care what the wicked thought of him, so long as God was on his side.  He had no respect for the wisdom of man, for he trusted in divine wisdom.  He did not care if men hated him and mistreated him, so long as God heard his prayer.

    David tells the wicked to tremble or to stand in awe, as the Hebrew word means.  The ESV translates this phrase as, “Be angry, and do not sin,” but I think this translation was probably influenced by Paul’s words in Ephesians 4:26.  David is warning the wicked to behold the fury of God and to turn from their wicked ways.  He preaches a good ol’ fire and brimstone sermon here.  He tells them to go home and think about God’s wrath in private.  “Ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent.”  “Be afraid—very afraid,” he insists.  Despite the fact that they were persecuting him, he seeks the good of their souls.  He tells them to consider the wrath of God that their sins deserved. 

    Our God truly is a consuming fire, as Hebrews 12:29 tells us.  Hebrews 10:31 assures us that, “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”  Our sins truly deserve hellfire and damnation from the hand of a perfectly just God.  Have we ever really considered the wrath of God?  We love to speak about His merciful attributes, but do we acknowledge and love His perfect justice and wrath?

    This is one purpose of God’s Law.  It shows us how far short we fall.  It shows us how weak we are when compared to the Almighty God.  As Paul says in 1 Timothy 1:8-9, “Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners.”   

    As we consider the filthiness of our sin, and the perfection of our God, we ought to be sent running to the throne of God, seeking mercy.  There, underneath the shadow of the cross of Christ, we can commune with our God without fear.   Perfect love casts out fear.  The blood of Jesus is a sweet balm for our blistered souls.  His death met the demands of God’s justice and His resurrection won our freedom!  We have nothing to fear.

     In verse 4, David tells his enemies to flee their former ways, and in verse 5 he describes for them the new path that they should follow.  He says, “Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in Yahweh.”  He lists here the two vital aspects of the Christian life.  It was not enough to offer right sacrifices, and leave it at that; nor was it sufficient to trust in God, while leaving His commands unfulfilled. 

    God wants our religion to be balanced.  He wants both an outward conformity to His commands and desires, as well as a personal trust and faith in Him.  He wants us to follow Him, and He wants us to love Him.  He wants obedience, and faith.  He has no use for outward show and hypocrisy, and yet, He makes it clear that true faith will long to be active in the sacraments, in the Word, and in pursuing righteousness.

    Psalm 51:16-19 lays this out for us clearly.  David says, “For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.  Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem; then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.” In other words, if your heart ain’t right, all the good deeds and church attendance in the world won’t do a thing.  Once your heart is right, then God will be pleased with your sacrifices, whatever form they take.

    The final three verses of our passage give us our final theme of peace.  Read verses 6-8.  You’d think David was living in our day.  It appears there have always been those who feign love for God in the hope of receiving physical blessings from Him.  We have many of these people in our time—indeed, in the Church!  They seek God for their own good.  Their priorities and values are carnal and worldly.  They have not had their wills transformed by God to mirror His own.

    David’s foes sought after grain and wine, but David sought after God.  They longed for full stomachs and good times, but David longed to commune with God and to walk in His ways.  David knew divine joy.  The things of the world did not own his heart.  The greatest joys of this world paled in comparison to the joy that he experienced by communing with His Creator.

    How do we define joy and happiness?  What brings us the greatest pleasure?  Is it the wonders that the world has to offer, or is it having a relationship with God?  Is God a meal ticket, or is He our #1 priority?  Is Christianity a small fraction of our lives and personalities, or does our religion define every priority that we have?  True joy comes only by knowing God.  As Jesus says in John 15:11, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”

    Verse 8 is one of my favorite verses in the Bible.  “In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Yahweh, make me dwell in safety.”  Sleep was probably not something that came easily for a nomadic warrior.  He was constantly hiding out in caves and even among enemy nations.  His life was in constant danger, not only while Saul chased him, but also when his own son rose up against him; and yet, he could find rest.

    Not only could he lie down, but he could really, truly sleep.  His mind could calm down and his nerves could find relief.  His body could rest and be restored.  There were two reasons for this.  Firstly, David had been rescued by God before.  He knew that Yahweh was keeping watch over Him.  Psalm 3:5-6 says, “I lay down and slept; I woke again for Yahweh sustained me.  I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.” 

    Secondly, David knew that God was sovereign, and that whatever God willed would come to pass.  If David’s days were up, then no amount of military might would help him.  As Psalm 127:1-2 says, “Unless Yahweh builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.  Unless Yahweh watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.  It is vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives his beloved sleep.”

    There is no use worrying yourself to death.  There is no reason to lie in bed all night, concerned about finances, or work, or the kids.  Our God is a gracious God.  He gives us sleep.  He delivers us even from the need to worry. 

    David ends his psalm with these words: “For you alone, O Yahweh, make me dwell in safety.”  David put his trust in nothing but God.  Nothing else had earned his trust.  Men had failed him.  Family had failed him.  Riches had failed him; but Yahweh—Yahweh had never once failed him.  Not only is our God all-powerful, but He is also perfectly faithful.  No human being can offer that.  No physical possession can provide that.  Only God can. 

    This week, let us pray fervently and faithfully, remembering to be grateful for the opportunity.  Let us seek the good of those who hate us, and let us rest in God’s provision and protection.  Let us offer right sacrifices, and trust in Yahweh.