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!
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