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2. The God Who Answers
Songs of Jesus
2. The God Who Hears (The Evening Prayer)
Psalm 4
Speak, Lord, in the stillness, While I wait on Thee; Hushed my heart to listen In expectancy.
Back in 1987, there was a news story that made headlines all around the world. A little baby had fallen into a well in Midland, Texas, and rescue attempts were underway. Do you remember the name of the little girl?
Jessica McClure. She was just 18 months old when she fell into an abandoned well on her aunts property. The well casing was just 8 inches wide, and baby Jessica had fallen down 22 feet before getting stuck.
For 58 hours, rescuers tried to get her out of the abandoned well, by digging a shaft down parallel to the well through hard rock.
Progress was difficult and slow, but there was something that kept hope alive throughout all those hours. Rescuers could hear Jessica singing Winnie the Pooh throughout the rescue.
Although little baby Jessica was deep below ground, trapped in the well, she knew she was safe because she could hear the rescuers, because they answered when she called out. The rescuers knew that as long as they could hear her, they knew she was alive, and their efforts could still save her.
Finally, after 58 hours, baby Jessica was rescued, safe and sound.
There is something very powerful about knowing that someone is listening, knowing that someone can hear you, and knowing that they care. Knowing that when we call out, someone will answer.
And thats the context for our Psalm today Psalm 4 a Psalm Im calling The God Who Answers.
So why dont we pray as we open the Bible, that God would teach us how he hears and answers when we call to him.
Our heavenly Father, we know that you are listening even now as we pray. Will you speak to us today, will you answer our prayers, and will you show us how to find peace in you. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Dan Bidwell, Senior Pastor 3 July 2022
1
Well, we are in the middle of our summer sermon series, which we are calling Songs of Jesus. The idea is that we all have songs that form the soundtrack to our life: songs that bring back significant memories, songs that lift us when we are down, songs that inspire us, songs that move us.1
And for Jesus, those songs were the Psalms. Songs that he had grown up singing, songs that taught him about God, songs that taught him about himself, songs that taught him how to pray.
And so for the next month or so, were looking at the Psalms as the Songs of Jesus, and as songs for us.
Now todays Psalm is sometimes called the Evening Prayer, because it has been used by the church for a long time as a prayer to recite before bed. Well see why in just a moment.
But lets start at the beginning.For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm of David.
With some of the Psalms, we get a little bit of historical context about the Psalm. This psalm was clearly a song, written by King David, for the director of music, and it was to be played with stringed instruments. We dont know the tune anymore presumably it was lost because David was King of Israel right around 1000BC, so this is a very old psalm. David was quite prolific when it came to writing Psalms he is credited with writing 73 of the 150 Psalms.
But lets jump in now at v1. Im calling this section: A Request for Relief.
A Request For Relief (v1)
In Psalm 4, David is in distress, and so he calls out to God... (v1)
1 Answer me when I call to you, my righteous God.
Give me relief from my distress;have mercy on me and hear my prayer. (Psalm 4:1)
David calls out to God, wanting God to hear and to answer his prayer. He prays for relief from his distress.
We dont know exactly what the distress was. In the story of Davids life, he spent a lot of time at war, often with members of his own family. In Psalm 3, the Psalm right before this one, David was on the run from his son Absalom who wanted to kill him and take over the kingdom.
1 Youtube videos of the non-Christian guy reacting to Hillsong... 2
Perhaps thats the context for Psalm 4, and there are some other clues well find later in the Psalm. But we can only guess at the real context, and perhaps thats why this Psalm is so timeless we all know what it is like to call out to God in distress.
And when we call out to God, we want an answer, dont we? We want God to have mercy on us, and to hear us and to understand whats going on with us. When we pray, we pray because we believe God can help us. We call out because we trust that he is listening.
So how will God answer Davids prayer?
Second stanza, vv2-5: The Restless Inner Voice
The Restless Inner Voice (v2-5)
I said before that the Psalms teach us how to pray.
In Psalm 4 I think we get a glimpse into King Davids prayer life, and particularly into the way that our prayers are not always perfect and neat and undistracted.
In fact, as we read verses 2-5 it almost seems like David loses his train of thought. Its like he interrupts his prayer to process the distress that he is feeling in his life. Read with me from v2:
2 How long will you people turn my glory into shame?How long will you love delusions and seek false gods? (Psalm 4:2)
In the middle of his prayer, David turns his attention to the people who have been maligning him turning his glory into shame. This could easily fit the context of Absalom trying to take Davids kingship. Absalom and his allies spreading falsehoods and rumors about David, undermining him as the king, gathering factions to oppose him.
Or it could have been any one of the times that a leader comes under attack. It goes with the territory.
I imagine every one of us has experienced a time when we felt like we were under attack. It might have been in a work situation. It might have been a conflict with friends. Perhaps it has even happened at church its really disheartening when the source of distress is someone who is part of Gods family. But it happens, because church is a hospital for sinners. Were not perfect, but we are trying.
Conflict can also come from within your biological family. And perhaps out of all the kinds of conflict we experience, thats probably the hardest because it comes from people you love. Absalom was Davids son. And he wanted to have his own father killed. I know that many of us here have experienced the pain of families that turn against one another.
3
Its no wonder David cant stop thinking about it, even while he is praying.
Its kind of comforting, isnt it, to know that other peoples prayers are like ours? Faltering, distracted, passionate and frustrated. David agonizes over what is going on in his life. He pours his heart out to God, even as he seemingly speaks to those who wished him harm.
Now I dont know if youre anything like me. Im a verbal processor. I need to talk things out in order to get to the bottom of them. Praise the Lord that my wife is a good listener! She often gets to hear me talk through an issue or a situation, and she sits nodding and occasionally asks a pointy question. That processing helps me get my thoughts in order.
And I think David might have been a verbal processor too. Because in v3 that inner monologue continues, that restless inner voice, processing what he wants his enemies to hear: (v3)
3 Know that the Lord has set apart his faithful servant for himself; the Lord hears when I call to him. (Psalm 4:3)
Of all the characters in the Old Testament, David knew very clearly what God wanted from him. More than once, God had spoken to David through the prophets Samuel and Nathan. Samuel had anointed David with oil, as King over all of Gods people. And Nathan had spoken Gods promise to David that his throne would be established forever. And even when David had committed adultery and murder, still God had not removed the throne from him. God had set David apart as his chosen king.
Perhaps in the face of criticism, David was tempted to question the promise that God had made to him... Perhaps he wondered if his sin had pushed him too far to receive Gods forgiveness? Perhaps he wondered if God really did hear his prayers. Do you ever feel that way?
I think David wanted his enemies to remember the privileged position that God had put him in. But perhaps he needed to remind himself also?
And perhaps you and I need to remind ourselves of the privileged position that God has put us in. God may not have spoken to us through a prophet. But he has spoken to us through his Son. Jesus who says you are loved. You are forgiven. You are adopted. You are set apart, holy and redeemed. Jesus who says:
whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. (Mark 11:24)
Sometimes we need to remember who God says we are. We need to remind ourselves, and we need to be reminded. If you have forgotten that you are loved by Jesus, consider this your reminder. If youve never known that you are loved by Jesus, I hope you hear that message today. You are loved.
4
Well Davids inner monologue continues in v4:
4 Tremble and do not sin;when you are on your beds,search your hearts and be silent. (Psalm 4:4)
Do you ever lie awake at night unable to silence the thoughts that go around and around in your head?
I always know when Im really stressed because thats when I find myself lying awake in the middle of the night. If you know what Im talking about, then you dont need any help to understand what its like. If its not something youve experienced, this is what Pastor Scott Sauls writes about his experience of restlessness:
My most common prayer request these days is that God would give me consistent, uninterrupted sleep because in the middle of almost every night, I lay awake for two to four hours wrestling. I wrestle with preoccupation, with self-doubt, with the dissatisfaction of unmet expectations and unrealized goals and dreams, with pressure that I put on myself or that I fear others will put on me, with the burdens of the day behind me and the day ahead of me, and with the sense that my work is never going to be satisfactory or complete.
--- Scott Sauls2
Sauls describes restlessness due to the pressures of work and success. Some of us know this pressure all too well.
Davids restlessness was due to interpersonal conflict. And we all know the temptation of lying in bed and fixating on the problem: playing back in your mind the things that the other person said, the way they made you feel, the unfairness of it all. It becomes like an echo chamber where the noise just gets louder and louder and you get angrier and angrier.
That word at the beginning of v4 tremble its the same word for seething with anger. Quaking in anger. Anger that is barely holding back the rage. Its Incredible Hulk rage, if you like comic books.
But David doesnt want to indulge in his Hulk rage. Look at v4 again:
4 Tremble and do not sin;when you are on your beds,search your hearts and be silent. (Psalm 4:4)
2 https://scottsauls.com/blog/2021/11/07/insomniac-confessions/ 5
Now David is technically talking to his enemies in his prayer here I think thats part of how he processes things. But I think God is actually giving David the answer to his prayer in this verse.
David calls out to God in his distress, and God says: You can be angry, but dont sin when youre lying in your bed playing it back. Dont let bitterness get a hold of you. Search your own heart to see if youve contributed to the problem. And be silent. Listen for God to speak into the restlessness that is keeping you up at night...
Silence.
It can be hard to find a moment of silence in the world that we live in. Theres the radio in the car, the television on in the background at home. The internet constantly bombards us with noise and color and content. Theres email and text messages and funny videos to watch. But were not the first generation to be distracted. Even in Jesus time, Martha found it hard to sit still and listen to Jesus when he was right there in her house. She was too distracted with chores.
But v4 is clear. The antidote to the restless mind is to find... silence.
Time to put away the distractions, and spend time clearing your heart of the pain it is holding onto. Giving it to God. Doing that in a way that doesnt lead you into sin, but instead brings that feeling of catharsis, that feeling that someone hears you, the feeling that someone understands.
Because Jesus does understand.
Remember were reading these Psalms as the songs of Jesus. Jesus knew what it was like to be surrounded by people who maligned his glory, who exposed him to a shameful death on the cross. And yet he was the faithful servant who was set apart by God for exactly this task. He went to the cross in silence, not sinning in his anger, but praying for his enemies even as they crucified him. Knowing that God always heard his prayers.
No matter how busy he was, Jesus found time every day to go to a quiet place to pray. He found that moment of silence, to hear what God would say to him.
Are you making time for silence with God? PAUSEThird stanza (v6-8) Reorientation and Rest Reorientation and Rest (v6-8)
6
My kids are all grown up now, just about anyway. But I remember when they were toddlers, and they would get upset about something like toddlers do. They wanted food. They didnt want food. They wanted different food. Cue the tantrum.
What do you do with your toddler when theyre having a tantrum? You redirect their focus. Look over here, I can see a book about fire engines! What sound does a fire engine make? (And 10 seconds later the tantrum is over, and theyve forgotten what they were upset about.)
It turns out as adults, were not so different from toddlers. A bit more sophisticated, but redirecting our thinking can really help us when we are upset about something.
One of my favorite books about the Psalms is by theologian and Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann.3 He divides the Psalms into three categories. There are psalms of orientation, psalms of disorientation and psalms of reorientation.
The psalms of orientation are the psalms where everything is happy, and the psalm praises God.
The psalms of disorientation are the psalms where it is very hard to see any happiness at all. These are psalms of lament, and sorrow, psalms written while Gods people were in exile, psalms where all hope seems lost.
And then there are the psalms of reorientation. These are the psalms where things start out badly, but then the psalmist remembers all the good promises of God, and their thinking is reoriented towards the good.
Psalm 4 is a psalm of reorientation. It begins with David in distress. Then there is the middle section which describes his inner turmoil. And now in this last section, well see Davids mind reoriented towards all the good things that he knows about God. (v6)
6 Many, Lord, are asking, Who will bring us prosperity? Let the light of your face shine on us.
7 Fill my heart with joywhen their grain and new wine abound. (Psalm 4:6-7)
It appears that people in Davids kingdom were asking if David would restore their fortunes, if he would make them a prosperous nation again. Again, we dont know the historical context for this psalm, but it doesnt make much sense, because for most of Davids reign, Israel knew a period of peace and prosperity that would only be surpassed in his son Solomons time.
But perhaps it looked to Israel like everyone else was getting rich, and they were missing out. Envy is a strong emotion. I know that myself. It can be hard when it looks like everyone else is
3 Walter Brueggemann, Spirituality of the Psalms.7
doing better than you are, enjoying more success, more wealth, more leisure, more of what you wished you could have. But you dont.
So whats the antidote to envy? Reorientation.Look at v6 and 7 again.
Let the light of your face shine on us. 7 Fill my heart with joy
when their grain and new wine abound. (Psalm 4:6-7)
Rather than looking at the shiny wealth of others, David asks that God would shine the light of his face upon him. That God would fill his heart with joy, even when others have a good harvest and a full wine cellar. David asks God to show him what is more important the fact that God is with him, that he experiences Gods presence and his blessing every day in this lifetime, and even in the life to come.
V6 echoes the blessing that God spoke over the Israelites in the time of Moses and Aaron:
24 The Lord bless you and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord turn his face toward youand give you peace. (Numbers 6:24-26)
When we know God is with us, we can experience genuine peace. And that is what David experiences in the final verse of the psalm (v8)
8 In peace I will lie down and sleep,for you alone, Lord,make me dwell in safety. (Psalm 4:8)
David experiences the peace of God that transcends all understanding, as it says in Philippians 4:7. He experiences peace that allows him to lie down and sleep, trusting that God has got this.
Psalm 4 is not a magic cure for insomnia, but it is a prayer that reminds us we can find peace in the middle of conflict. We can find joy in the middle of trials. And we can find rest in the care of the one who never sleeps or slumbers.
Shall we pray?
8
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Songs of Jesus
2. The God Who Hears (The Evening Prayer)
Psalm 4
Speak, Lord, in the stillness, While I wait on Thee; Hushed my heart to listen In expectancy.
Back in 1987, there was a news story that made headlines all around the world. A little baby had fallen into a well in Midland, Texas, and rescue attempts were underway. Do you remember the name of the little girl?
Jessica McClure. She was just 18 months old when she fell into an abandoned well on her aunts property. The well casing was just 8 inches wide, and baby Jessica had fallen down 22 feet before getting stuck.
For 58 hours, rescuers tried to get her out of the abandoned well, by digging a shaft down parallel to the well through hard rock.
Progress was difficult and slow, but there was something that kept hope alive throughout all those hours. Rescuers could hear Jessica singing Winnie the Pooh throughout the rescue.
Although little baby Jessica was deep below ground, trapped in the well, she knew she was safe because she could hear the rescuers, because they answered when she called out. The rescuers knew that as long as they could hear her, they knew she was alive, and their efforts could still save her.
Finally, after 58 hours, baby Jessica was rescued, safe and sound.
There is something very powerful about knowing that someone is listening, knowing that someone can hear you, and knowing that they care. Knowing that when we call out, someone will answer.
And thats the context for our Psalm today Psalm 4 a Psalm Im calling The God Who Answers.
So why dont we pray as we open the Bible, that God would teach us how he hears and answers when we call to him.
Our heavenly Father, we know that you are listening even now as we pray. Will you speak to us today, will you answer our prayers, and will you show us how to find peace in you. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Dan Bidwell, Senior Pastor 3 July 2022
1
Well, we are in the middle of our summer sermon series, which we are calling Songs of Jesus. The idea is that we all have songs that form the soundtrack to our life: songs that bring back significant memories, songs that lift us when we are down, songs that inspire us, songs that move us.1
And for Jesus, those songs were the Psalms. Songs that he had grown up singing, songs that taught him about God, songs that taught him about himself, songs that taught him how to pray.
And so for the next month or so, were looking at the Psalms as the Songs of Jesus, and as songs for us.
Now todays Psalm is sometimes called the Evening Prayer, because it has been used by the church for a long time as a prayer to recite before bed. Well see why in just a moment.
But lets start at the beginning.For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm of David.
With some of the Psalms, we get a little bit of historical context about the Psalm. This psalm was clearly a song, written by King David, for the director of music, and it was to be played with stringed instruments. We dont know the tune anymore presumably it was lost because David was King of Israel right around 1000BC, so this is a very old psalm. David was quite prolific when it came to writing Psalms he is credited with writing 73 of the 150 Psalms.
But lets jump in now at v1. Im calling this section: A Request for Relief.
A Request For Relief (v1)
In Psalm 4, David is in distress, and so he calls out to God... (v1)
1 Answer me when I call to you, my righteous God.
Give me relief from my distress;have mercy on me and hear my prayer. (Psalm 4:1)
David calls out to God, wanting God to hear and to answer his prayer. He prays for relief from his distress.
We dont know exactly what the distress was. In the story of Davids life, he spent a lot of time at war, often with members of his own family. In Psalm 3, the Psalm right before this one, David was on the run from his son Absalom who wanted to kill him and take over the kingdom.
1 Youtube videos of the non-Christian guy reacting to Hillsong... 2
Perhaps thats the context for Psalm 4, and there are some other clues well find later in the Psalm. But we can only guess at the real context, and perhaps thats why this Psalm is so timeless we all know what it is like to call out to God in distress.
And when we call out to God, we want an answer, dont we? We want God to have mercy on us, and to hear us and to understand whats going on with us. When we pray, we pray because we believe God can help us. We call out because we trust that he is listening.
So how will God answer Davids prayer?
Second stanza, vv2-5: The Restless Inner Voice
The Restless Inner Voice (v2-5)
I said before that the Psalms teach us how to pray.
In Psalm 4 I think we get a glimpse into King Davids prayer life, and particularly into the way that our prayers are not always perfect and neat and undistracted.
In fact, as we read verses 2-5 it almost seems like David loses his train of thought. Its like he interrupts his prayer to process the distress that he is feeling in his life. Read with me from v2:
2 How long will you people turn my glory into shame?How long will you love delusions and seek false gods? (Psalm 4:2)
In the middle of his prayer, David turns his attention to the people who have been maligning him turning his glory into shame. This could easily fit the context of Absalom trying to take Davids kingship. Absalom and his allies spreading falsehoods and rumors about David, undermining him as the king, gathering factions to oppose him.
Or it could have been any one of the times that a leader comes under attack. It goes with the territory.
I imagine every one of us has experienced a time when we felt like we were under attack. It might have been in a work situation. It might have been a conflict with friends. Perhaps it has even happened at church its really disheartening when the source of distress is someone who is part of Gods family. But it happens, because church is a hospital for sinners. Were not perfect, but we are trying.
Conflict can also come from within your biological family. And perhaps out of all the kinds of conflict we experience, thats probably the hardest because it comes from people you love. Absalom was Davids son. And he wanted to have his own father killed. I know that many of us here have experienced the pain of families that turn against one another.
3
Its no wonder David cant stop thinking about it, even while he is praying.
Its kind of comforting, isnt it, to know that other peoples prayers are like ours? Faltering, distracted, passionate and frustrated. David agonizes over what is going on in his life. He pours his heart out to God, even as he seemingly speaks to those who wished him harm.
Now I dont know if youre anything like me. Im a verbal processor. I need to talk things out in order to get to the bottom of them. Praise the Lord that my wife is a good listener! She often gets to hear me talk through an issue or a situation, and she sits nodding and occasionally asks a pointy question. That processing helps me get my thoughts in order.
And I think David might have been a verbal processor too. Because in v3 that inner monologue continues, that restless inner voice, processing what he wants his enemies to hear: (v3)
3 Know that the Lord has set apart his faithful servant for himself; the Lord hears when I call to him. (Psalm 4:3)
Of all the characters in the Old Testament, David knew very clearly what God wanted from him. More than once, God had spoken to David through the prophets Samuel and Nathan. Samuel had anointed David with oil, as King over all of Gods people. And Nathan had spoken Gods promise to David that his throne would be established forever. And even when David had committed adultery and murder, still God had not removed the throne from him. God had set David apart as his chosen king.
Perhaps in the face of criticism, David was tempted to question the promise that God had made to him... Perhaps he wondered if his sin had pushed him too far to receive Gods forgiveness? Perhaps he wondered if God really did hear his prayers. Do you ever feel that way?
I think David wanted his enemies to remember the privileged position that God had put him in. But perhaps he needed to remind himself also?
And perhaps you and I need to remind ourselves of the privileged position that God has put us in. God may not have spoken to us through a prophet. But he has spoken to us through his Son. Jesus who says you are loved. You are forgiven. You are adopted. You are set apart, holy and redeemed. Jesus who says:
whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. (Mark 11:24)
Sometimes we need to remember who God says we are. We need to remind ourselves, and we need to be reminded. If you have forgotten that you are loved by Jesus, consider this your reminder. If youve never known that you are loved by Jesus, I hope you hear that message today. You are loved.
4
Well Davids inner monologue continues in v4:
4 Tremble and do not sin;when you are on your beds,search your hearts and be silent. (Psalm 4:4)
Do you ever lie awake at night unable to silence the thoughts that go around and around in your head?
I always know when Im really stressed because thats when I find myself lying awake in the middle of the night. If you know what Im talking about, then you dont need any help to understand what its like. If its not something youve experienced, this is what Pastor Scott Sauls writes about his experience of restlessness:
My most common prayer request these days is that God would give me consistent, uninterrupted sleep because in the middle of almost every night, I lay awake for two to four hours wrestling. I wrestle with preoccupation, with self-doubt, with the dissatisfaction of unmet expectations and unrealized goals and dreams, with pressure that I put on myself or that I fear others will put on me, with the burdens of the day behind me and the day ahead of me, and with the sense that my work is never going to be satisfactory or complete.
--- Scott Sauls2
Sauls describes restlessness due to the pressures of work and success. Some of us know this pressure all too well.
Davids restlessness was due to interpersonal conflict. And we all know the temptation of lying in bed and fixating on the problem: playing back in your mind the things that the other person said, the way they made you feel, the unfairness of it all. It becomes like an echo chamber where the noise just gets louder and louder and you get angrier and angrier.
That word at the beginning of v4 tremble its the same word for seething with anger. Quaking in anger. Anger that is barely holding back the rage. Its Incredible Hulk rage, if you like comic books.
But David doesnt want to indulge in his Hulk rage. Look at v4 again:
4 Tremble and do not sin;when you are on your beds,search your hearts and be silent. (Psalm 4:4)
2 https://scottsauls.com/blog/2021/11/07/insomniac-confessions/ 5
Now David is technically talking to his enemies in his prayer here I think thats part of how he processes things. But I think God is actually giving David the answer to his prayer in this verse.
David calls out to God in his distress, and God says: You can be angry, but dont sin when youre lying in your bed playing it back. Dont let bitterness get a hold of you. Search your own heart to see if youve contributed to the problem. And be silent. Listen for God to speak into the restlessness that is keeping you up at night...
Silence.
It can be hard to find a moment of silence in the world that we live in. Theres the radio in the car, the television on in the background at home. The internet constantly bombards us with noise and color and content. Theres email and text messages and funny videos to watch. But were not the first generation to be distracted. Even in Jesus time, Martha found it hard to sit still and listen to Jesus when he was right there in her house. She was too distracted with chores.
But v4 is clear. The antidote to the restless mind is to find... silence.
Time to put away the distractions, and spend time clearing your heart of the pain it is holding onto. Giving it to God. Doing that in a way that doesnt lead you into sin, but instead brings that feeling of catharsis, that feeling that someone hears you, the feeling that someone understands.
Because Jesus does understand.
Remember were reading these Psalms as the songs of Jesus. Jesus knew what it was like to be surrounded by people who maligned his glory, who exposed him to a shameful death on the cross. And yet he was the faithful servant who was set apart by God for exactly this task. He went to the cross in silence, not sinning in his anger, but praying for his enemies even as they crucified him. Knowing that God always heard his prayers.
No matter how busy he was, Jesus found time every day to go to a quiet place to pray. He found that moment of silence, to hear what God would say to him.
Are you making time for silence with God? PAUSEThird stanza (v6-8) Reorientation and Rest Reorientation and Rest (v6-8)
6
My kids are all grown up now, just about anyway. But I remember when they were toddlers, and they would get upset about something like toddlers do. They wanted food. They didnt want food. They wanted different food. Cue the tantrum.
What do you do with your toddler when theyre having a tantrum? You redirect their focus. Look over here, I can see a book about fire engines! What sound does a fire engine make? (And 10 seconds later the tantrum is over, and theyve forgotten what they were upset about.)
It turns out as adults, were not so different from toddlers. A bit more sophisticated, but redirecting our thinking can really help us when we are upset about something.
One of my favorite books about the Psalms is by theologian and Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann.3 He divides the Psalms into three categories. There are psalms of orientation, psalms of disorientation and psalms of reorientation.
The psalms of orientation are the psalms where everything is happy, and the psalm praises God.
The psalms of disorientation are the psalms where it is very hard to see any happiness at all. These are psalms of lament, and sorrow, psalms written while Gods people were in exile, psalms where all hope seems lost.
And then there are the psalms of reorientation. These are the psalms where things start out badly, but then the psalmist remembers all the good promises of God, and their thinking is reoriented towards the good.
Psalm 4 is a psalm of reorientation. It begins with David in distress. Then there is the middle section which describes his inner turmoil. And now in this last section, well see Davids mind reoriented towards all the good things that he knows about God. (v6)
6 Many, Lord, are asking, Who will bring us prosperity? Let the light of your face shine on us.
7 Fill my heart with joywhen their grain and new wine abound. (Psalm 4:6-7)
It appears that people in Davids kingdom were asking if David would restore their fortunes, if he would make them a prosperous nation again. Again, we dont know the historical context for this psalm, but it doesnt make much sense, because for most of Davids reign, Israel knew a period of peace and prosperity that would only be surpassed in his son Solomons time.
But perhaps it looked to Israel like everyone else was getting rich, and they were missing out. Envy is a strong emotion. I know that myself. It can be hard when it looks like everyone else is
3 Walter Brueggemann, Spirituality of the Psalms.7
doing better than you are, enjoying more success, more wealth, more leisure, more of what you wished you could have. But you dont.
So whats the antidote to envy? Reorientation.Look at v6 and 7 again.
Let the light of your face shine on us. 7 Fill my heart with joy
when their grain and new wine abound. (Psalm 4:6-7)
Rather than looking at the shiny wealth of others, David asks that God would shine the light of his face upon him. That God would fill his heart with joy, even when others have a good harvest and a full wine cellar. David asks God to show him what is more important the fact that God is with him, that he experiences Gods presence and his blessing every day in this lifetime, and even in the life to come.
V6 echoes the blessing that God spoke over the Israelites in the time of Moses and Aaron:
24 The Lord bless you and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord turn his face toward youand give you peace. (Numbers 6:24-26)
When we know God is with us, we can experience genuine peace. And that is what David experiences in the final verse of the psalm (v8)
8 In peace I will lie down and sleep,for you alone, Lord,make me dwell in safety. (Psalm 4:8)
David experiences the peace of God that transcends all understanding, as it says in Philippians 4:7. He experiences peace that allows him to lie down and sleep, trusting that God has got this.
Psalm 4 is not a magic cure for insomnia, but it is a prayer that reminds us we can find peace in the middle of conflict. We can find joy in the middle of trials. And we can find rest in the care of the one who never sleeps or slumbers.
Shall we pray?
8
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