< Previous to Psalm 3 Next to Psalm 5 >

(1) Sermon Script

Introduction: Trouble Sleeping?

When you lie down, you will not be afraid; When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. (Prov 3:24)

“I’m going to sleep the sleep of the righteous tonight. I am going to sleep like a baby tonight!”

Sometimes people accused of misconduct or criminal behaviour make these sorts of claims. They are asserting that they have a clear conscience. And that’s good. I hope they do indeed sleep the sleep of the righteous.

But there are other reasons why people can’t sleep, and not just because they are terribly guilty. People can’t sleep because they are worried. They are angry. They are depressed. They have an anxiety disorder. They are distressed. They are grieving. They have been so much under stress for so long that cortisol levels in the brain are too high and don’t allow extended sleep. So they wake up early in the morning, and are tossing and turning until the sun gets up. They cannot get out of the ruminations. And this can persist for weeks and months, and sometimes longer.

None of this is new. Stress and depression and anxiety did not begin and end with us. If David had trouble sleeping, we know enough about his life to make some good guesses as to why that might be. And in this psalm, David along the way talks about how to deal with being disturbed at bedtime. And David expects that he will sleep the sleep of the righteous, despite the things that disturb him.

Context

Verse 1 tells us that David wrote this psalm. Maybe it was written during his exile at Ziklag, where there were many idols, but we don’t know for sure. That was a pretty stressful time for David, so perhaps he had trouble sleeping then, too!

We know that when David writes, he can look back on his past and see God’s kindness to him. And I guess that is all of us. We all can look back and see many different kindnesses from God—whether we can appreciate them at the moment or not.

Pleading For An Answer (v. 1)

David first asks God for an answer to his prayer:

4:1 […] When I call, answer me, God of my righteousness. When I was in the distress you have made room for me. Be gracious to me and listen to my prayer.

David begs for God to answer him. But he gives Yahweh reasons why God should answer. He gives God three reasons why God should hear him.

First, David confesses that Yahweh is his righteousness.

Verse 1 again, “God of my righteousness.”

David calls God, “the God of my righteousness”.This might be a plea based on David’s own righteousness, and that God witnesses David’s righteousness through his works or covenant faithfulness. Then it would be virtually saying, “I am righteous, and Yahweh, you see it, provide it, and are my vindicator”.

Or it might be a plea based on the fact that God is David’s righteousness. David has righteousness, but it is not his own righteousness that comes from obeying the law, but God is his righteousness. And both Old and New Testaments talk about God or his Christ being ‘our righteousness’ (1 Cor 1:30; Jer 23:16, cf. 33:16).

That is, God is the one who is ethically and morally pure in the face of our sinfulness. And when our righteousness fails because of its inadequacy, Yahweh steps in and is the righteousness that we lack, and saves us in spite of our unrighteousness. Isaiah 59:16-17:

And He saw that there was no man, And was astonished that there was no one to intercede; Then His own arm brought salvation to Him, And His righteousness upheld Him. He put on righteousness like a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle. (NASB)

It is probable that David is referring to this second use of ‘righteousness’, that David depends on God’s righteousness.

We might call this the ‘absolute’ sense of God’s righteousness, and our unrighteousness. We see examples of this sense, for example, in Psalm 143, David says that no-one living is righteous before God, and indeed, in Psalm 14, that no one is good. Ecclesiastes 7:20 reminds us that there is not a righteous man who does what is right and never sins.

Or course, there is a relative sense where God’s people are righteous. They are in covenant relationship with God, God deals with their sins and forgives them, and they walk with him, repenting when they transgress.

And Psalm 15 tells us about this ‘relative’ righteousness’.

It is not absolute, because all God’s people fall short.

But it is a true and real reflection of the conformity to God’s law that brings a changed lifestyle.

And so, in this absolute sense, So David depends on God as his righteousness. And we know that the righteousness of God has a name. Christ is our righteousness (1 Cor 1:30). And we, for our part, become the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Cor 5:21). We show the world that God is faithful to his people and promises, in his salvation of the rag tag remnant of humanity known as ‘the Christians’.

Second, David makes his request based on the fact that God has saved him in the past. In verse 1, we read David’s petition:

When I was in the distress you have made room for me.

This is a reflection on the past. The ESV reads it “You have given me relief when I was in distress”. In the past, God had freed David from affliction. And this gives David great courage in praying to God in the present. When David had been in great difficulty, in the old language, when he was in ‘the straits’, hard pressed, God made room for David. God made space for David when he was surrounded from all sides and closed upon (so the AV, ERV, RSV).

Third, David asks and makes his plea, not on the basis of justice, what he deserves, but on the basis of mercy and grace, on the basis of God’s kindness and compassion.

Verse 1, the last bit:

Be gracious to me and listen to my prayer.

And we too dare not ask God on the basis of what we deserve. We know that asking God for justice, if our lives be strictly considered, would only result in punishment. We too need mercy. As Daniel also prayed:

We do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. (Dan 9:19)

And in the same spirit of supplication, we present our prayers to God our righteousness.

David’s Outrage at Idolatry (v. 2)

In verse 2, David is responding to the idolatry he sees all around him. He is distressed by it. As we have already seen, we don’t know when David wrote this psalm and therefore who they idolators were. It could have been during his time at Ziklag, when David was driven by Saul to live among the Philistines. It’s hard to think that during David’s time as King of Israel idolatry would have been rife around him. But we just don’t know for sure.

But verse 2 shows us how disturbed and distressed David is at the idolatry.

4:2How long, sons of man, will you trade my glory for disgrace? How long will you love what is worthless? How long will you seek after a lie?

Idols—statues or physical representations of divinities, whether of the true God Yahweh, or false gods—are a disgrace.

They are not an attempt at seeking after the true God, but they are a lie. David asks, “How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?” False gods are a lie. They are worthless and cannot save. And David wishes that those around him would seek the true God, the way that the true God wants us to seek him.

And the true God now wants us to seek him not through idols, the building and worshipping of statues. He wants us to pursue him through his Son, the Messiah. That is what Psalm 2 was all about. We must kiss the Son. By receiving the Son, by seeking refuge in him, that is how we seek the true and living God.

God Sets Apart The Godly (v. 3)

And David is confident that God will hear him because God has set him apart, as part of the godly. Verse 3:

4:3But know that Yahweh separates [the] godly for himself. Yahweh will hear when I call to him

The ‘godly’ are those whom God has gathered to himself, who are kind, pious, and as such reflect their God, and who approach, worship, and fear their God. However, even here, the word translated ‘godly’ is in the first instance related to the word for love and kindness (חָסִיד, hasid, substantive adjective, the cognate noun being חֶסֶד, hesed). And this may well point to the fact that the ‘godly’ are first of all, loved, recipients of grace, and kindness. For the one who first was the kind one was God, who is loving, and gracious, and kind. And the godly are those who reflect his kindness, and are conformed to his image.

Calm Yourself In Bed (v. 4)

Now, many people thought of this psalm as a good one for bedtime. The psalm gives us advice how we should approach our nights, because of verses 4 and 8. Here we will look at verse 4.

4:4Tremble, and do not sin. Speak in your heart upon your bed and be silent.

Now, people can tremble for lots of reasons. They can be afraid, or anxious, or excited, or disturbed. But another important reason people might tremble is because they are angry. Adrenelin might be coursing through their veins. They might be agitated, and tossing and turning.

The Greek translation from 200 BC, the Septuagint, or LXX, took this to mean ‘tremble in anger’, and thus translated it the LXX, “be angry and do not sin” (Ὀργίζεσθε καὶ μὴ ἀμαρτάνετε). The LXX is quoted verbatim in Ephesians 4:26, and thus it is clearly at least a good application of Psalm 4:4MT, as well as part of the apostolic teaching.

The word ‘tremble’ or ‘be angry’ is an imperative. That is, it is a command. Perhaps it is a command to ‘remain angry’. Like the Hulk in the Marvel Comic book movies, who says in the first ‘Avengers’ movie, that he is ‘always angry’ and that’s Bruce Banner’s secret as to how he can now control the Green rage monster, perhaps there are things that we can rightly always be angry about.

Yet, in the midst of that anger, there is a command to ‘not sin’. Undoubtedly this is because anger can easily lead us into sin—whether it is rage, malice, hatred, slander, revenge, resentment, or just always feeling hurt. Sin is crouching at the door when we are angry. And yet, we are commanded to be, or remain, angry! No wonder we need the fruit of the Spirit—self-control.

One of the ways Paul says to control our anger is to not let the sun set upon our anger (Eph 4:26).

What David counsels us to do is to be silent and meditate on our beds. Quieten down, and think your thoughts in your heart. Perhaps this instruction is so that we can be calm enough to think it through. Perhaps it is so that we can settle down and go to sleep, and not rant and rage in the midst of the provocations of a broken world. Yet the objective of the command is that we do not add sin to our anger.

Righteous Sacrifices and Trust (v. 5)

Two further commands are given us in verse 5:

4:5Sacrifice the sacrifices of righteousness and trust in Yahweh.

We are firstly called to sacrifice righteous sacrifices. David probably meant the proper sacrifices required at the temple. This was how God instructed Israel to serve him. And they pointed, of course, to Jesus Christ and his once and for all propitiatory sacrifice.

But we too, as Christians, are called to offer right sacrifices. For us, our sacrifice is our whole lives, expressed in our offering God our bodies set apart for his service (Rom 121:1-3). Our sacrifice includes the praise and thanksgiving of our lips (Heb 13:15), and the good works of sharing and kindness to others (Heb 13:16).

We are secondly called upon to trust in Yahweh. This is important always, but especially if we are angry, and rightly angry. For God in his sovereignty has allowed the provocation to transpire. And faith says that it is for good reasons that this thing, this annoying, angering, enraging thing, has come to be. God has allowed it, permitted it, enabled it, decreed it, and predestined it. Even if Satan or sinners meant it for evil, God means it for good. So the medicine of the presenting problem of trembling in rage—for us who know the Lord Jesus Christ—is calming ourselves on our bed, being silent, speaking in our hearts, not sinning and so being self-controlled in our anger, and to offer ourselves in sacrificial service to God and neighbor. In all of this, we are called to trust in God, that he has brought about this enraging or annoying state of affairs for our God.

Who Will Show Us Good? (v. 6)

Life is often harsh. Bad, disappointing things come upon us. Rarely are we spared griefs. And a common response is pessimism and cynicism. Verse 6, the first part:

4:6Many are saying, “Who will show us good?”

Has anyone got our back? Is anyone looking out for us, and our interests? Can we trust anyone? Who will show us good? David’s answer is—Yahweh, the God of Israel.

Lift up upon us the light of your face, Yahweh.

David looks for God to bless him, and his people. He seeks God’s blessing, his favourable countenance. It is God who will show both David and the people good. God is good, and he will show his people good. That is David’s faith. And he holds to it on the basis of his experience.

The Joy of Yahweh (v. 7)

For David experiences joy in Yahweh. Verse 7:

4:7You have put in my heart more joy than at the time when their grain and their new wine abound.

Food and drink, abundance and plenty, these things do really bring a form of joy. We are physical beings, and knowing that we have grain and wine—that God has blessed us with both the necessary things and the good things in life—does indeed bring us joy. ‘Materialism’ perverts the truth of ‘material realism’, that everything that God made is good, and is for our enjoyment.

But David says, Yahweh, the God of Israel brings more joy than mere food and drink. There is a joy that is deeper, that is lasting. The promise of sins forgiven and eternal life provides us the joy of knowing our creator and redeemer. And this has an immediate consequence. For David will be enabled to sleep in peace.

Peaceful Sleep (v. 8)

David in verse 4 counsels that we settle ourselves on our beds. In our tremulous rage, David wants us to quell our hearts and meditate in silence. And David also looks to God to give him the ability to have restful sleep. Verse 8:

4:8In peace I will both lie down and sleep, because you alone Yahweh make me dwell in safety.

Before I go to bed, I lock the doors to the house. But at one level, there is no need. For Yahweh is the one who keeps the house safe. So don’t Christians need locks on their doors? Do Christians not get robbed at night? Is it that Christians never have their homes invaded? No. But if we do, God is watching over us, using it for our good.

Whether in life or in death, God is our portion and inheritance forever.

Not only is there joy in God, but there is peace here and now. We need to take hold of the peace with God that Jesus won for us. If God looks over us, and is for us, then he will do us good all our days.

Conclusion

What does David recommend when we are troubled as we lie on our beds? Calling upon God, and thinking about the true God. If we are angry, quieting our hearts, speaking silently in our hearts on our beds. Remembering that God is our righteousness and so trusting in him. Thinking about the goodness of God, and seeking joy in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that God is our dwelling place.

(2) English Translation

4:1For the chief of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm of David.

When I call, answer me, God of my righteousness. When I was in the distress you have made room for me. Be gracious to me and listen to my prayer. 4:2How long, sons of man, will you trade my glory for disgrace? How long will you love what is worthless? How long will you seek after a lie?

Selah.

4:3But know that Yahweh separates [the] godly for himself. Yahweh will hear when I call to him. 4:4Tremble, and do not sin. Speak in your heart upon your bed and be silent.

Selah.

4:5Sacrifice the sacrifices of righteousness and trust in Yahweh. 4:6Many are saying, “Who will show us good?” Lift up upon us the light of your face, Yahweh. 4:7You have put in my heart more joy than at the time when their grain and their new wine abound. 4:8In peace I will both lie down and sleep, because you alone Yahweh make me dwell in safety.

< Previous to Psalm 3 Next to Psalm 5 >