Thursday, November 28, 2024

PSALM 4 : Is God Really There When We Need Him?

 


The title of this Psalm: “To the chief Musician (Choirmaster) on Neginoth (stringed instruments). A Psalm of David.”

The title, “To the chief Musician,” occurs at the beginning of 53 Psalms, and at the close of Habakkuk 3:19. The Psalm is probably to be sung under his direction.

David was clearly in distress when he penned these words. It is the opinion of a number  of commentators that this Psalm is probably linked to  Psalm 3   which is subtitled “ A Psalm  of David, when he fled from Absalom his son” – along with Psalms 5 ,6 and 7.  

In Psalm 3 we saw that this situation, involving a palace revolt,   led by his son Absalom must have induced a lot of emotional pain in David.  You can read all about it in 2 Samuel 15-18. Whether it was this situation or other trials we do not know, but we do know that David was accustomed to conflict and trouble. We cannot exclude the trouble which he had experienced when persecuted by king Saul - from 1 Samuel 15 until the end of the book.  So, we don’t know what the exact situation in Psalm 4 is. It doesn’t matter. The question remains the same: 

Is God able to help you when you have come to your wit’s end? 

The testimony of David’s life is one of many, severe and kind providences.  Note then (Behold!) the  kindness and the severity of God... (Rom. 11:22).  God withheld His hands at time from David, and made him to see his end, and how fleeting his life was (Ps 39:4). At other times  this same God brought him out of many  difficult situations.

Thank God for the  Psalms, in which he pours out his heart  concerning these experiences,  for in  his experiences we  often find a mirror of our own soul.  

OUTLINE

4:1     :  David pleads with God for help.

4:2-5 :  He  addresses  his enemies

4:6-8 :  He contrasts  their  cynicism  with his  confidence in the keeping power of God.

4:1 David pleads with God for help. “Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!”

David is distressed. That distress clearly relates to the men – the opponents in 4:2. This is not an uncommon experience for a believer. In my dealing with people I have  heard it frequently said, “ the more committed I want to be to the Lord, the more  spiritual responsibility I bear, the more opposition  I get and the more I  feel the heat !” The apostle Paul concurs. He once wrote to Timothy and said, “Indeed,  all who desire to live a godly life  in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”  (2 Tim 3:12). Paul said that to Timothy, based on his own experience and  indeed  upon the word of our Lord Jesus Himself : Jn 15:18-21: 18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 21 But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.

John 16:33 “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Please take note how David responds to all of this in the first verse:

1.      David speaks first to God before he addresses the men (4:2) that give him grief. When trouble comes, God’s children must learn to run home!  Spurgeon says: “He who dares to face his Maker will not tremble before the sons of men.”

2.      He knows his status before God. David addresses God as “God of my righteousness” – i.e. the God who has declared me righteous. God had chosen David in eternity and in time He justified him by the merits of His greater Son – Jesus the Son of David!

3.      David remembers God’s past dealings with him:You have given me relief when I was in distress.”  There were many times when David had been surrounded by his enemies and by armies, and every time God had delivered him.   (see his testimony in Psalm 37:25)

4.      On the knowledge of God’s past dealings, David bases his prayer:Be gracious to me and hear my prayer”. David knows that God is really there when he needs Him.  His theology of God verified by his experience of God’s faithful dealings with Him in the past have taught him that.  So, David appeals again to the grace and mercy of God. God loves to be merciful and gracious to those who call on Him in their hour of need.

 

2. 4:2- 5   David  addresses his enemies

4: 2 David now turns from God to men – the footnote says “men of rank “ – i.e. powerful men. O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame? How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah

Here is the irony. Even though they are formidable men, great men, they are foolish men. 

·         Saul foolishly failed to see that he was forsaken by God, and that David was anointed to be the true king. He refused to give up on his throne, even when he knew that God had abandoned him.

·         Absalom, son of the king foolishly failed to see that in usurping his father’s throne he was really usurping God. In the end he was sadly killed, adding even more grief to his father! 

 

In regard to his enemies then David tells them that they love vain words and seek after lies. They can’t and won’t see the truth about him. They fabricate stories about him, and so he asks them, how long do you intend to go on with this“? David is getting exasperated. Can’t you  see?

 

SELAH ! He solemnly pauses and inserts a Selah.

4:3 But know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself; the LORD hears when I call to him.  "But know." Fools will not learn, and therefore they must be told the same thing, again and again. This is what they must hear: that the godly are  chosen of God, and  therefore  set apart  from the rest  of  mankind.

(ii)             He who chose us for Himself will surely hear our prayer. David was king by divine decree. In the same way we   who are God’s children are His responsibility. No weapon formed against us can stand. When our enemies fight against us, they fight against God. If we think of both Saul and Absalom then we know that they were fighting a futile battles against David. Sadly anger is one word short of ‘danger’. It is a wind that blows out the candle of the mind  and extinguishes  reason. That is why David makes the following  statement

4:4 Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah. 

There are two ways to read this: 

(i)                 From David’s perspective - One of the greatest temptations when we are tested is to become angry beyond reason with our enemies. Anger is one letter short of danger. Unrestrained anger causes us to lose our head, and when we do this we can make grave mistakes.

(ii)               (this is more likely)…  or it can be read from the  perspective of David who speaks  to his enemies  about their unreasonable anger, counseling them to be silent and to think  about their  angry accusations.  

 

The Selah follows again!  Pause and think about this , he says .

4:5 Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the LORD

If David is speaking to his enemies here, then he would be calling them to repentance and trust in the Lord, followed by the appropriate animal sacrifices that were required when sincere repentance was shown. In the NT where animal are no longer required as  guilt offerings, our sincere repentance  would be  accompanied by a true forsaking of sin, by putting off everything that hinders,  and all the while trusting  the  sacrifice of our Lord Jesus  to cleanse us from all sin.  All this shows that David has a spiritual concern for his enemies. So must we!

3. 4:6-8 :  He contrasts  their  cynicism  with his  confidence in the keeping power of God.

4:6 There are many who say, “Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O LORD!”  We live in a cynical world in which many want to see rather than to believe. Jesus’ many opponents were like that.  We all fall into this trap at times. We tend to measure our success by our prosperity and outward results – and we very easily think that God has forsaken us when for a moment God removes all that opens and shuts from us in order to test us.  It is in such times that we think that God is not there for us. People must have looked at David at times when he had to flee, and they would have said, “Where is your God?” He seemed forsaken, but when we look at the testimony of Scripture we must ask,

·         Was Joseph forsaken in Egypt?

·         Was Daniel forsaken in the lion’s den?

·         Was David ever ultimately forsaken in his kingly career? No! He died as king of Israel! 

·         Was Jesus ultimately forsaken on the cross?

Again David prays in such moments, “Lift up the light of your face upon us, O LORD!” …  and see what follows The light of God's  face  is enough for him.  See the result in 4:7

4:7 You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound.

When we have seen God’s face  again after  times of trial,   it means more than   having all the riches of the world at our disposal.  Spurgeon says,

"Christ in the heart is better than corn in the barn, or wine in the vat. Corn and wine are but fruits of the world, but the light of God's countenance is the ripe fruit of heaven…Let my granary be empty, I am yet full of blessings if Jesus Christ smiles upon me; but if I have all the world, I am poor without him.

From this follows verse 8

4:8 “In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety”. God’s people can sleep at night because God is really there when we need Him.   If we have perspective, we have joy restored, and therefore   we will sleep well at night. God’s sense of peace in the heart is better than bolts, bars or burglar alarms in the home.  How many of our sleepless hours may  be traced to being preoccupied  with what our enemies do and say to us.

Application and Conclusion

Dear  struggling, fearful believer: Never lose sight of the Lord Jesus while reading this Psalm.

·         He is the Lord your righteousness (1a

·         He is your Saviour in distress (1b)

·          He hears your prayer now, and intercedes for you (1c) .

·         Let the world mock you for your Christian convictions   (2)

·         Know that by His blood He has set you apart for Himself. (3a)   and remember again that He hears your prayer when you are being sorely tempted  (3b)

·         When you are angry be careful that you do not trespass into sin. As for those that sin against you leave room for the wrath of God (Rom. 12:19). If your enemies are angry with you  pray that they  may ponder their reasons  in their own hearts (4) and repent  (5

·         Do not give in to the cynicism of the world – particularly when the evidence of God’s favours are not abundant. Pray that the Lord will show the light of His face again (6). Pray for the light of Christ to illuminate their dark world, and pray not for wealth, but   for the joy of the Holy Spirit.

·         Look for true joy (7)

·          Let these truths help you to sleep well! (8) (cf. also 3:5).  

God is really there when you need Him!

No comments:

PSALM 5 - PRAYER : THEOLOGICAL AND EXPERIENTIAL

  This Psalm, like so many other Psalms, is a prayer of David. And like so many of these personal prayers of David they were collected and c...