The Psalms 4: Answer Me When I Call

This is two psalms in a row that David can come off as a bit bipolar. But that’s one of the reasons we love him so much. We’re looking at him from the outside and we’re seeing a real person. A person who has doubts and fears and hopes and dreams. It's always reassuring to see that we're not alone. Let's get started with this fourth psalm!

1 Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness!
You have relieved me in my distress;
Have mercy on me, and hear my prayer.

Right from the first line we see something that is SOOO important. David refers to God as “God of my righteousness”. Whatever righteousness David has, he ascribes it all to God. There is nothing of his own making which is righteous. All of his righteousness, every little bit of it, comes from his relationship with the King of the universe.
2 How long, O you sons of men,
Will you turn my glory to shame?
How long will you love worthlessness
And seek falsehood? Selah

One thing that you might look over at first is how David identifies himself. He’s setting himself up in opposition to those who love worthlessness and seek falsehood, and what does he call them? Sons of men. So while he’s never called a son of God, the juxtaposition seems to indicate that he at least thinks of himself that way. Not in the Genesis 6 “sons of God” kind of way, but at least in that he has chosen who he will be identified with and he is a child of the living God.

3 But know that the Lord has set apart for Himself him who is godly;
The Lord will hear when I call to Him.

It’s our duty to seek godliness. I know that there’s that old saying that cleanliness is next to godliness, but that’s nowhere in the Bible. Godliness is doing whatever you can to follow the instructions of God. It sure doesn’t seem that David is setting up the LORD’s Torah as something which can’t be done. He defies those who would work against the instructions of the Father, and because of this the Lord will hear him when he calls out to Him.
4 Be angry, and do not sin.
Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still. Selah
5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness,
And put your trust in the Lord.

This may be a good time to define sin. What exactly is sin? Growing up the answer I was always given was, “missing the mark”. This is actually a pretty good definition. If you look it up on Strong’s (or any other Hebrew lexicon) you’re going to find the primary definition of the Hebrew word in question (H2398 – חטא) to be “to miss”. But that begs the question, if sin is missing the mark, what is hitting the mark? Is it just some subjective goal which every person gets to come to terms with on their own? What is ‘the mark’. People who focus on prophecy have spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out what “the mark of the beast” is going to be but how many of them have spent time trying to figure out the mark which we’re actually supposed to have? There’s got to be a better definition for sin somewhere, right?

I’m glad you asked, because there’s an incredibly simple, straightforward definition for what sin is and it's given in the New Testament. It’s been hidden there all along. In 1 John 3:4 the apostle who Jesus loved spells it out in language which no one could confuse, “sin is the transgression of the law.” Here’s an exercise for you: when you see the word “sin” anywhere in the Bible, replace it with “transgress the law”. Things come into focus and the subjective confusion over what sin is fades away when you do this.

Let’s move on to more from this Psalm before I run down this trail too far and turn this whole post into something that has nothing to do with Psalm 4. We’ll dig more into this whole “law” thing later as everywhere I turn in this psalm seems to be running down this path. Looks like it’s time to do some exploration…

6 There are many who say,
“Who will show us any good?”
Lord, lift up the light of Your countenance upon us.

Let’s dig in to the word “countenance” a little bit. The word used here actually means “face”. So what we’re really reading here is “Lord, lift up the light of Your face upon us.” This should bring to mind the Aaronic Blessing from Numbers 6:24-26: “Yahweh will bless you, and keep you. Yahweh make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you. Yahweh lift up His face toward you, and give you peace.” Then in Exodus 34 we have the account of Moses’ face shining so brightly that the Israelites wouldn’t look at him, because he had been in the presence of the LORD. One last example would be on the Mount of Transfiguration where Jesus face “shone like the sun” (Matt 17). In these examples, the faces which were shining were so close to the Father that His 'countenance' shined on them and part of His glory was transferred to them. This is what David was asking for in this verse.

7 You have put gladness in my heart,
More than in the season that their grain and wine increased.

Always remember where your joy comes from. Remember that the joy of the LORD is your strength (Nehemiah 8:10). It’s when we forget this that we start thinking that we can do it on our own. Maybe some people can but I’ve tried and I’m not pulling anything off all on my own.

And, moreover, David’s gladness, even in times of trouble, is more than that of his enemies when they are in times of plenty. This reminds me of Psalm 84 where we read that one day in the court of the LORD is better than a thousand days anywhere else. Think about that for a minute. I’ve written of this before but I think it bears repeating. How highly do you have to think of God to say this. Many times we say things like this, but do we really think it? Do we really mean it?

8 I will both lie down in peace, and sleep;
For You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

This is how you get rest. This is how you find peace. This is how you see safety. When you follow after the LORD you can find these things even when the world would be restless and hectic. In fact, as verse 7 indicates, the one who follows after the ways of the LORD will be more at peace than those in the world who are seeking after their own ends, even when the ones seeking after their own ends are receiving worldly accolades.

I had originally posted this on my blog which is linked below.

http://thepoiema.blogspot.com/2017/09/the-psalms-4-answer-me-when-i-call.html