When I read Psalm 4 recently, I didn’t expect to live in it for the next several days, but God continually encouraged and convicted me as I read. So I read and read again, more and more slowly, trying to soak in the soul treasure I found.
Here are some reflections on this Psalm and how it has been feeding my soul over the past couple of weeks.
1. Confounding Boldness
“Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness… Be gracious and hear my prayer” (vs. 1).
When I read verse 1 of this Psalm, I couldn’t move beyond thinking about the boldness of these prayers. “Answer me,” “be gracious,” and “hear my prayer” are imperatives (the verb mood that communicates commands and forceful pleas).
In the modern cultural context of presumption and familiarity with the psalms, I forget to marvel at the boldness of speaking to God in this way. Pause and consider with me – it should be confounding, that anyone can talk to the holy, righteous, omnipotent God with this kind of expectancy.
What warrants such boldness? He is the “God of my righteousness” (vs. 1). God has revealed himself to his people and initiated relationship. He is the God who personally draws near, saves, justifies, and vindicates his people. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of this steadfast love and salvation!
This is a God that we can boldly cry out to with expectancy!
2. God’s Compassionate Heart
“You have given me relief when I was in distress” (vs. 1).
Reading this, I am so grateful for the “when.”
There isn’t a checklist of what qualifies as worthy of being given relief from God. My God is so compassionate and caring that whenever I am in distress, and whatever distresses me as his child, it is his heart to give relief.
This statement is also sandwiched between cries to God.
God’s past faithfulness fuels David’s present confidence, and it should for me too.
When I look back at the many ways God has given me relief when I was in distress, I can’t help but be strengthened to trust God in my present distresses.
3. “How long” and “Know” Go Together
“O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame? How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? But know that the LORD has set apart the goldy for himself; the LORD hears when I call to him” (vs. 2-3).
The exasperation of “how long” is followed by the confident “know” that God will not abandon those whom he has set his personal care and affection on.
Life is full of the groanings of “how long.” The reality of suffering, especially long suffering in this life is exhausting and confusing, but the answer doesn’t lie in the “why” of suffering; rather, the answer lies in what we know to be true about God. Those whom God has made his own through Jesus Christ can be boldly confident that he not only hears their groanings, but that he personally cares for them.
4. When (Not If) Anger Comes
“Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the LORD” (vs. 4-5)
Suffering often involves being wronged by someone; therefore, suffering often involves feeling anger.
When I am angry, my first impulse is to say and/or do something, because the emotion of anger, by its very nature, prompts physical action.
In this Psalm, God graciously instructs me to “ponder” instead of do and to “be silent” instead of giving vent to my anger. When I feel angry, I am called to turn to God in faith and trust, rather than churning in my anger.
I don’t know if you’re like me, but when I consider this instruction, I feel overwhelmed.
When I’m wronged, the anger I feel involves right anger, but it’s also deep and consuming. How do I obey God in the midst of the intense, right, mixed with wrong anger I feel?
By entrusting myself and my heart and my distress to the one who cares for me.
How long? I know my God hears and cares when I call to him.
5. He IS our Good
“There are many who say, ‘Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O LORD!” (vs. 6).
In a world filled with evil and confusion, may this reality shape my heart:
Not only has God shown me abundant goodness, he is my good.
He has lifted the light of his face in the person of Jesus Christ; God has given me himself.
The Light of salvation has come, and nothing will put it out!
6. Earthly Experiences vs. Spiritual Realities
“You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound” (vs. 7).
As I read this verse, a quote from one of my pastors kept coming to mind:
“To have Christ is to have all that God can give you.” -Jeff Purswell
Those who know and trust the Lord have a joy that isn’t rooted in the abundance or lack of their circumstances.
Throughout our lives, circumstances constantly shift. They are confusing – those opposed to God prosper and those who seek to honor God suffer.
The bottom line: circumstances are a poor gauge of spiritual realities.
Real joy comes from eternal realities that don’t change because of earthly experiences.
If you are in Christ, God has set his personal attention and affection on you FOREVER. This is worth rejoicing in, even when life doesn’t make sense.
7. Where does real peace come from?
“In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety” (vs. 8).
My anxious heart pushes back against this statement.
But bad things happen everyday.
But I did get hurt.
I don’t feel safe.
How could anyone feel safe in THIS kind of world?
Danger is around every corner, oozing from within and without.
How can I really experience peace in a dangerous world?
Peace doesn’t come from the absence of impending suffering. It comes from knowing that I am at peace with God (because of Jesus Christ) and that God is faithful to those whom he has “set apart.”
Faithful? When bad things happen?
Yes.
Physical danger and suffering doesn’t change this spiritual reality:
I can lie down and sleep, rather than be filled with anxious toil, because God is trustworthy. He does what he promises. He cares for me, protects me, and will preserve his own. Because of the finished work of Jesus Christ, I am eternally secure and safe.
This is where real peace and rest comes from.
Hope in the Ashes 