July 15, 2017
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Reading along with us in the first 30 chapters of Psalm? Here’s today’s reading:
Psalm 4 (ESV)
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!
2 O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame?
How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah
3 But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself;
the Lord hears when I call to him.
4 Be angry, and do not sin;
ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah
5 Offer right sacrifices,
and put your trust in the Lord… Continue Reading
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I definitely remember reading this psalm in 1996 when I was desperate for peace, hoping God was real and not a figment of the imaginations of so many. Hopeless in what I was able to do anymore. Hopeless in the things I had pursued and placed my trust in. Hopeless in my relationships. Filled with anxiety. Crippling anxiety. Nowhere left to turn but to this tiny seed of hope, placed in my life 2 years before, that maybe, just maybe, God WAS real and would hear my cries, show me mercy, and be MY God.
And even before I knew Christ as my Savior, God revealed Himself to me in this psalm and others — a God who is sovereign, faithful, omnipotent, just, and righteous, and who cares for those who are His. He also showed me who I really was in Proverbs (a sinful and wicked woman). I had to place my trust in Him; I had nowhere left to go BUT this God the psalmist trusted in. And as I trusted in Him, too, hoping, He gave me an amazing peace I had never had before. I really felt loved, too.
Sadly, I would give up that peace in just a few months when my circumstances changed for the better. Three years later, though, when darkness threatened to upset the equilibrium I’d found apart from God, I remembered those few months of peace in ’96, and began seeking that feeling I’d once had. And that’s when God REALLY showed me His sovereign power — in my rebellious, God-hating husband!
But even with my experience of peace in ’96, and now what I saw in my husband, I doubted the existence of “God.” What if all of this was psychological, manifested only in my mind and in the minds of those who believed? What if what my husband was experiencing was a phase, some weird thing he was going through that was temporary? I wasn’t willing to “just believe” because I “felt at peace” for a few months at one time. I had to know for sure. It would be another year before I trusted my salvation and soul to Jesus Christ, and learned that the peace God gave me in ’96 was only a taste of what awaited me. And that’s when everything the psalmist writes here in Psalm 4 became absolutely MINE in Christ.
Hallelujah! Thank you, Father, for never giving up on me as I sought my peace in everything and everyone BUT Jesus Christ! Thank you for the men and women you placed in my life who really KNOW You, and who came alongside me, loved me without condition, and pointed the way to the cross. You are my God, and I am Your daughter. Amen.
Juxtaposition of demanding God attend to him and gratitude for this sovereign comfort all while managing to control righteous indignation yet remain Holy
What an interesting example of mans struggle with his own position
7 You have put more joy in my heart
than they have when their grain and wine abound.
8 In peace I will both lie down and sleep;
for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.
❤️
I remember a time in my life when my heart was so broken and life so hard that sleep was troubled and fleeting that I would meditate on v8 here every night. “I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety”. Our ability to rest both physically and in our souls is a good litmus test for just how much we trust God.
Today though I am struck by verse 4, “In your anger do not sin, when you are on your beds search your hearts and be silent.” It is interesting that often times anger makes us think about ourselves and how we have been wronged and how we should retaliate. How often does my mind race with those thoughts at night…..better to be silent and think about what is wrong in my heart, what thoughts have to be brought captive to Christ and what thoughts He would promote there.