Prayer is at the heart of the Psalms. David cares so much to hear what God has to say to him, but he also responds and speaks to God, recognizing the reality that God will actually hear him. This whole Psalm has the theme of calling upon the Lord.
David reaches out to God, knowing that he will not only hear him, but having confidence that God will answer his prayer.
Psalm 4, 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. 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 godly for himself. The Lord hears when I call to him. 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. There are many who say, Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord.
You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. In peace, I will both lie down and sleep.
For you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.
Charles Spurgeon called this “the evening hymn” because, “David is lying down to rest, to sleep”. And for all of us, when we are in need of rest, we can most frequently turn to something else, like our phones or a television show.
But instead, what we should do is call upon the Lord to make the last thing that we do before we sleep prayer, to go before the Lord, whether that’s in just personal devotions or if you have family and family worship. But when we call upon the Lord, this Psalm reminds us that God is there, that he is active in his hearing of our prayers. The first question that we might have when we call upon the Lord is first, will he hear me?
David has this full assurance that God will indeed hear him.
Notice it’s based upon the character of God, O God of my righteousness and that he looks backward to see God’s faithfulness. You have given me relief when I was in distress.
This is such a comfort to the believer to know that God not only will be faithful forever, but he also has been faithful forever. So to answer this question, will he hear me? It is yes, God will hear me based on his character, based on his faithfulness.
The second question we can have that David answers is, will it get better? In his address to the wicked, he addresses the shame and the falsehood that’s come from his enemies, people who don’t care for his kingship, don’t care for his rulership, don’t care for him. And yet he has confidence in face of these trials.
One of the resources I would love to point you to is the commentary on the Psalms from the Geneva series of commentaries by WS. Plummer. He reminds us that instead of turning to the shame that comes from the evil, we should remember that God has set apart the godly for himself.
And this brings us joy. He says, how happy all of God’s servants are. They are set apart to God as vessels of honor, one by a free, eternal, holy, unchangeable choice in Christ Jesus, two by a powerful, internal, spiritual regeneration, three by a perfect, irrepealable justification, four by a kind, wise, watchful providence, ordering everything in their lot and distinguishing them in this, that all things work together for their good, making their sorrows more blessed than are the joys of the wicked and giving them victory even in death.
This is such a good reminder to us to remember that the Lord does hear when we call to him. To answer this question, will it get better? David doesn’t really give us that answer, does he? He simply says that the Lord will be there. Even as we are going through trials, even as we are enduring difficulties, knowing that God is there with us gives us that confidence in the face of the trials. Then David answers the question of, how do I have this confidence in God?
First it comes through rejecting sinful anger. We may have righteous anger, but we are to be angry and not sin. “Ponder in your hearts on your beds” says the Psalmist.
This kind of self-reflection is not really an internal focus in glorifying ourselves, but in looking inward and asking, how is my heart aligned with the will of God? Am I trusting in him? Am I pursuing God?
And pondering in my heart and being silent, asking, Lord, how may I grow in you? How may I delight in you? How may I have confidence in you?
And then he calls us to offer right sacrifices. Well, on this side of the cross, the greatest sacrifice has been offered. So we bring sacrifices of praise, and we look to that perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.
When we remember this, we are able to put our trust in the Lord, as the Psalmist says in verse five, trust in our sovereign King. He will deliver, and he will give us the confidence if we ask him, if we trust in him, and if we delight in him. There are many who say who will show us some good.
People want to see goodness in this world. And there’s two paths to this goodness. One is a kind of goodness that is rooted in self, and one is a kind of goodness rooted in God.
God’s presence being the source of goodness gives us this assurance, this confidence. Note how he remembers the Aaronic blessing, lift up the light of your face to shine upon us, O Lord.
This is what Aaron would pray in his high priestly role over the people.
May you lift up your face to shine upon us and give us peace, your shalom. Joy is greater than experiences of feasting. He says, you have put more joy in my heart than they have when they’re grain and wine abound.
In other words, to be able to have inward peace and joy is a fruit of having this close personal relationship with God that is given us in the person and work of Jesus Christ most explicitly. It’s a wonderful thing to see. Charles Spurgeon says in his commentary on this Psalm that thou has put gladness in my heart more than in the time that their corn and wine increase.
It is better, said one. To feel God’s favor one hour in our repenting souls than to sit whole ages under the warmest sunshine that this world affordeth. 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. This is wonderful to see that God ends up giving peace to those who trust him. When goodness is sought in the person and work of God, we can have trust and ultimately have peace.
I think of when I read this final verse, verse eight, of Jesus in the boat, when the disciples are there and they’re freaking out and they see the waves and they see everything happening and they see the storm and they say, Lord, don’t you care, we’re gonna die.
Jesus is there at the front of the boat sleeping. How can he do so?
It’s because of his trust in that God is going to take care of them and so he, as God, shows them that you can have peace in the midst of your trials and to rest in the sovereignty of God and that he alone is who makes us dwell in safety.
Prayer
Father, we thank you for your goodness.
We thank you for the Psalm that assures us that you will hear us when we call to you. When we cry out for help, you are present.
You are a very present help in time of trouble.
Lord, may you continue to remind us that you will hear us according to your character, according to your faithfulness. Lord, we ask often, will it get better? Ultimately, we have the assurance that we have heaven ahead of us, the celestial city that awaits.
So in that sense, it will get better, but we know Lord, even in the trials and difficulties, you give us confidence, even in the face of our enemies. How do we have this confidence, Lord? We ask that you’d remind us to pursue you, to sit quietly in our hearts and to think about how we can glorify you.
And Lord, lastly, can we ask for you to provide goodness to us?
We ask that you would. We ask that you would remind us of your faithfulness, that we can trust you and that you will give peace to those whose mind is stayed on you.
Called to Words 