Transcript:

Hi! Welcome to the second episode of Psalms for Troubled Times. Today I’m going to look at Psalm 4. If you don’t know me, my name is Annette Bell, and I’m the host of Overcoming the Tribulation, which is focused on preparing our hearts for the return of Christ.

So, let’s read it.

Psalm 4

“For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A Psalm of David.

Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God! Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer.

How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods? Selah.

Know that the LORD has set apart the godly for Himself; the LORD will hear when I call to Him. In your anger, do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent. Selah.

Offer right sacrifices and trust in the LORD. Many are asking, “Who can show us any good?” Let the light of Your face shine upon us, O LORD. You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound. I will lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.”

Verse 1 and 2

Okay, verse 1 and 2. “Answer me when I call to You, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer. How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?”

The righteous grieve when people pervert the glory of God, and when they love delusions and seek false gods. But we can pray. And we can pray with humility, because we know we need the mercy of God, too. This passage reminds me of Lot. It says in 2 Peter 2, “Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men, for that righteous man living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard.”

We’re probably all familiar with the sad story in Genesis 19, how all of these men of the town came to Lot and wanted him to deliver the two men in his house–who were actually angels–to them so they could sleep with them. And the Lord protected that situation by making them blind. So generally, when we think of Sodom, we think of homosexuality, but Ezekiel 16:49, says their sins were that they were proud, overfed, idle, and they did not help the poor or needy.

Our inward sins defile us. Those things aren’t as easy to see as the outward sin of homosexuality, but they’re still problems, and if we don’t take sober thought to our lives, we can be guilty of the same sins that Sodom was–of pride, of gluttony, of idleness, of not caring about the needs of the poor. And there are definitely people around us who have needs.

It reminds me of Romans 1:22-24. “Romans 1. Although they claim to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore, God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things, rather than the Creator, who is forever praised. Amen!” This passage, it tells us that the lusts of the heart are a symptom of worshiping the created thing, rather than the Creator.

Perverting the glory of God can also happen in churches. I think of what it says in Jude 4. “For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.” When I read this section on perverting the grace of God and making it into a license for sin, I think of the term “Once Saved Always Saved.” This is the idea that if somebody is a born-again Christian, their salvation is eternally secure, no matter what they choose to do in the future–even if their lives have absolutely no obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ, or they are in gross disobedience. They will just lose rewards, they say, but they will still be secure in their salvation. This is not what the Bible says. The Bible says that those who live according to the flesh will die. Hebrews 10:26-31 has a great warning. “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the Law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay.’ And again, ‘The Lord will judge His people.’ Is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Oh, Father, may we not insult the Spirit! I pray that we would fear God more, and abide.

Verse 3

“The LORD has set apart the godly for Himself.” If you feel isolated, and are feeling like there’s no one around you who wants to follow Jesus, I pray that you would be encouraged by the words that the LORD spoke to Elijah, who was feeling that way. He said, “Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal, and all whose mouths have not kissed him.” It might feel like it, but we’re not the only ones.

“The LORD will hear when I call to Him.” I love David’s expression of faith. I think about Hebrews 11:6. It says, “But without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

Verse 4

“In your anger, do not sin. When you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent.” I think this is about searching our hearts for our own personal sin when we’re angry about something, rather than ruminating over the sins of others. Jesus said, “Judge not, lest you be judged.” And this is about not judging people’s hearts. Perhaps we have a bad attitude, or pride, or unforgiveness, or bitterness, and it’s hard to see those things unless we intentionally are quiet and ask God to search our hearts.

Verse 5

Verse 5 says, “Offer right sacrifices.” What is a right sacrifice in today’s world? We don’t offer bulls or goats or lambs. So, what is God talking about for us today? Romans 12:1-2 says, “Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. This is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–His good, pleasing and perfect will.” So, God wants us to be living sacrifices with transformed minds, thinking according to the way of God, instead of the way of the world. We do that by reading and meditating on His Word–is how we know to have a transformed mind.

There’s one other I want to bring up. It’s Psalm 51:17. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” David’s talking about having a broken or contrite heart about our sins, not loving them or excusing them, but repenting from them in the heart.

Verse 6

“Many are asking, ‘Who can show us any good?’ ” How will the world know, unless they see from us that God is good to His people?

“Let the light of your face shine upon us, O LORD.” This makes me think of the Aaronic blessing in Numbers 6. It says, “The LORD bless you and keep you. The LORD make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn His face toward you and give you peace.” When Moses met with God in the Tent of Meeting, afterwards his face would shine. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.” As followers of Jesus Christ, we spend time in the presence of God, so we can reflect the glory of God. That is God’s purpose for us, and why He has kept us on this earth, so that we can proclaim His glory among the nations.

Verse 7

“You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound.” Joy in the LORD with hard times is better than having plenty of food but not having knowledge of God. Habakkuk had learned this lesson when he penned these words. “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Saviour. The Sovereign LORD is my strength.”

Verse 8

“I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.” With the right perspective, knowing that God holds us, we can sleep in peace.

Thank you for watching. I hope you were encouraged by going through this psalm with me. If you liked it, please click the like button. I also welcome your shares, if you want to share it with anyone else. And, God bless you, and have a great day.