Turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 4. I decided on this Psalm 4 this evening, because after preaching Psalm 1 and 2 in the last several weeks that we’ve been in the Psalms, I realized that I’d preach Psalm 3 and Psalm 5 in the fall, so I didn’t want to leave 4 undone, so I decided to finish off the first 5 here and do Psalm 4. And you can see from your bulletins, the title I’ve given this Psalm is Evening Prayer.

As I studied for this sermon, I found two commentaries that called this psalm evening prayer, so I figured I wouldn’t be any more clever than they were, and that was a fitting title for it. It is fitting because the closing verse in this psalm speaks of David having the peace he needs to go to sleep at night. Have you ever had those nights where something is just bothering you and you can’t sleep? Something is stuck in your mind or maybe it’s a trouble or a hardship you’re going through and you just can’t help but keep running that thing through over and over in your mind. You know you need sleep, you know you’re tired, but you can’t help but stare a hole in the ceiling of your bedroom because you just can’t stop thinking about what you’re thinking about. Well, that’s the situation that David finds himself in. if not even more extreme than that. And in the last verse of this Psalm, David says, in peace, I will both lie down and sleep.

So this is where David finds himself, and this is how David brings himself to the point where he can finally go to sleep. Well, this psalm, it’s circumstantially, it was intended to be read or even sung before one goes to sleep. And as I mentioned, David is the author of this. We can see that from the superscription at the beginning. It says, for the choir director with stringed instruments, a psalm of David. And again, as David is the author, and we often, we need to consider the order of the Psalms. We thought about that with Psalm 1 and 2, and we talked about how those really go hand in hand, and really you can see why they’re consecutive. Well, the same thing is true with Psalm 3 and Psalm 4. When you think about it, and when you examine what’s in those two Psalms, we covered Psalm 3 in the fall, and if you remember, Psalm 3 is a cry for help.

And we see at the beginning of that Psalm, it’s a Psalm of David when he fled from Absalom, his son. And in that Psalm again, he cries out for deliverance. And we don’t know if the trouble in Psalm 4 is the same as Psalm 3, but what we do, and some scholars do think that, that it’s the same issue that David’s facing, but you can see in Psalm 3, that’s a morning prayer. And Psalm 4 is the companion evening prayer. We see in Psalm 3 verse 5, I lay down and slept and I awoke for Yahweh sustains me. This is what David prays in the morning. But then we see in Psalm 4, a follow up to that, a prayer for the evening. We see in Psalm 4 verse 4, tremble and do not sin, ponder in your heart upon your bed. And then in verse eight, like I said, in peace, I will both lie down and sleep.

So again, it’s very possible that these Psalms come from the very same point in David’s life, where he’s running from his life, from his son. But either way, no matter what the circumstances are, David reminds us that it is in our circumstances that bring us the peace we need to lie down and sleep. We can see elements in this prayer of David that can help us understand our own hearts and minds when we work through and struggle with things that keep sleep from us. And what we really see in this Psalm is a progression of thought for David, a progression in his thoughts and his attitudes that leads him to the point where he has peace again. It’s as if when David’s praying this, he’s quieting himself down. He’s quieting his own mind before he gets ready for sleep.

But in these steps of progression, you see David’s trust in God throughout. David has trust in God from the beginning to the end, but it’s the things he needs to remind himself of that brings ultimate peace in these things. So we’re gonna see five steps in David’s thought here. Five steps of progression in David’s thinking in this prayer. We see first a desperate trust. We see that in verse one. Then we see a reassuring trust. Then it’s an instructive trust. And all that brings him to number four, a joyful trust, and lastly, a quiet trust. And those are the different headings I’ve given these different sections of this Psalm.

So let me read Psalm 4 this evening to open up our sermon here. Psalm 4, all eight verses. This is the word of the Lord. Answer me when I call, O God, of my righteousness. You have relieved me in my distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer. Oh, sons of men, how long will my glory become a reproach? How long will you love what is worthless and seek falsehood? Selah. But now that Yahweh has set apart the Holy One for himself, Yahweh hears when I call to him. Tremble and do not sin. Ponder in your heart upon your bed and be still. Selah. offer the sacrifices of righteousness and trust in Yahweh. Many are saying, who will show us good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, oh Yahweh. You have put gladness in my heart, more than when their grain and new wine abound. In peace, I will both lie down and sleep. For you alone, oh Yahweh, make me to abide in safety.

So we see a lot of different thoughts going on here for David, a lot of different attitudes. The first step you see in David’s thinking, where David begins this prayer, is desperation. He cries out in desperation here. He says, answer me when I call, oh God of my righteousness. You have relieved me in my distress, be gracious to me and hear my prayer. David is desperate for God to hear him. Clearly he knows God’s character. He calls him God of my righteousness. He is the God who will show me to be right, even though I am misjudged and persecuted. And you can see David’s struggle here in verse 2. Many are making false accusations against him or slandering him, saying things that aren’t true and spreading lies about him.

So this very well could be the time of Absalom when David was running for his life. And as David opens his prayer, what’s his focus? Is his focus on those circumstances? He focuses on God first. He starts with who God is. He puts God’s character first in his prayer, and that gives him confidence. Not only that, but he remembers that God has helped him before. He says, you have relieved me in my distress. This is an interesting construction here in this verse, this phrase, you have relieved me in my distress. It’s a way that we put it into good English that we can understand. Literally, it says, out of tight places you have made space for me. That’s kind of how it’s worded there. When I’m really getting squeezed, you make room for me. You allow me to breathe. You give me the space I need. And that verb there, you have relieved me. That’s past tense. Not, I know you will relieve me. David’s saying, I know what you’ve done for me before. You have relieved me from my distress.

The Lord brings relief for David. He brings relief from these tight spaces that he’s in. And this verse begins and ends with a plea for God to hear him. It’s as if David cries out, I know you hear me. Please hear me. Please hear my prayer. David’s in a desperate situation here. But he’s not despairing because he has confidence in the God he prays to. Because of who God is and because of what God has done for him in the past. In this first line of the prayer, the first verse, David declares God’s character. He remembers God’s mercy to him and he pleads his request to God. He focuses on who God is.

How often when we pray do we open with who God is and what he has done? I know for myself often I mention the requests I need first. But I wonder if we prayed consistently like this, starting with who God is and what He has done, how would that shape the requests that we make? How would it shape our prayer life? How would it shape the way that we think about the situations we’re in? Often we see biblical models of prayer. They seem to ponder God a lot more often than we do. And this is, again, a cry out to God in desperation for help.

I thought the way one scholar put it was pretty helpful. And he said this, of this verse. He said, prayer is not merely a technique for maintaining emotional balance. Prayer is worship, both intelligent and desperate. I think that’s accurate. That’s what David is doing here. He knows who he’s praying to, he knows what God has done for him, and he still, he needs help. It is right for us to come to God, even though we know God is sovereign, even though we know God will work it out. We need to still come to him and ask for our requests, in our desperation and in our trouble.

So first here we see desperate trust. Desperate trust they’re both there David is desperate, but he trusts the God he’s talking to Secondly we see reassuring trust in this section David reassures himself of what he knows to be true he starts by addressing the the trouble of the the desperation that that’s come to him the the enemies who are saying these things.

He says in verse two, oh, sons of men, how long will my glory be a reproach? How long will you love what is worthless and seek falsehood? Selah. That’s what David’s facing. He is the king. He’s saying, how long do I have to fight for the glory that God has given me? I am the rightful king. David is on the run for his life. How often does that happen? David shouldn’t be the one on the run for his life, he’s the king. He’s speaking to these enemies of his, how long will you love what is worthless and seek falsehood? These are the rumors that are being spread about David, the slander, the things that aren’t true. He knows they’re not true, but he knows that those rumors are being spread. continues with, but know that Yahweh has set apart the Holy One for himself. Yahweh hears when I call to him.”

So here he’s not just speaking to God. He’s using this prayer to teach us. He’s speaking to the enemies that he faces, and he rebukes those who are slandering and making these false accusations. They’re bringing up these empty charges against David. There’s no basis in fact in what they’re saying. It’s worthlessness. It’s falsehood. But he reminds himself of what God has told him. That he is God’s holy one. He is God’s chosen king. And God has set him apart. And because he is the covenant chosen king of God, he has put special protection around David knows he stands under God’s protection here. He’s got special access to God. He’s got a special privilege of being God’s chosen one. And he says, Yahweh will hear me when I call to him. And he had just desperately cried out, please hear me. But then he says confidently, he will hear me. God will hear me when I call to him. He reminds himself of what he knows to be true. God hears the prayers of his people. God is a God who is transcendent, but he’s also a God who is near to us. He’s a God who hears us.

Now, David is in a different situation than we find ourselves in. We are not the chosen king of anything, but as God’s covenant king, he stands a cut above the rest. He is different than other Christians of today. But in principle, what David is communicating here, that we still stand in David’s shoes. God hears his people and he protects his chosen ones. David shows us here that the weapon against slander is to remember what God thinks of When people are spreading lies and saying things about you that aren’t true, remember whose opinion matters. Remember what God says about you. Hold on to the things that he said. And again, we may not be the king of Israel, but the Bible does say something about us as God’s chosen people.

Romans 8, 33 to 37, who will bring a charge against God’s elect? That’s not just the king of Israel. It’s all of God’s people. Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies. Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is he who died. Yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will affliction, or turmoil, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword, or the empty words of somebody slandering me, saying things that aren’t true? Just as it is written, for your sake we are being put to death all day long. We are counted as sheep for the slaughter. But in all these things, in all these things, we overwhelmingly conquer. We are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

That’s what’s true if you’re a Christian. Don’t forget that. Remind yourself of those things when you face trouble like this, when you face situations that are out of your control. No matter what that situation is, it won’t separate you from the love of God. It won’t change the fact that Christ died for you. All of these things in Romans 8 are true of you, and nothing that happens in your life is gonna change that. That’s what David’s reminding himself of here. He is God’s chosen king. He is the holy one, the one who is set apart for God. Why should we listen to the slander of our enemies? Or the accusation of our own hearts? Sometimes our worst enemies are our own self. We accuse our self of things that aren’t true. We ought to do like David does. Remind ourselves of who we are in Christ. We are the covenant ones that Yahweh has set apart for Himself. And Yahweh hears us when we call to Him. That is David’s reassuring trust. He voices the real pain and trouble that he’s going through, but he reminds himself of who he is. He is one of God’s chosen people.

Next we see, number three, instructive trust. Instructive trust. Because here he goes from speaking to his enemies to speaking to those who are hearing him in this song. Verses four and five. Tremble, some of your versions say be angry, but tremble and do not sin. Ponder in your heart upon your bed and be still. Selah. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness and trust in Yahweh. So now David turns his focus to those who are on his side, those who are angry about this. That word tremble there, it’s in the LSV as tremble. It means to shake with anger or fear. It can be either one. That’s why a lot of versions do say, be angry and do not sin. But Paul alludes to this verse in Ephesians, chapter four, verse 26, where he says, be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger. Here David is addressing those who are about to lose control because of what’s going on, because of what’s going on in their life.

Maybe he’s speaking to those followers of his, those who were unhappy about what was going on. And it sounds like they’re hotheads. Those who are pro-King David. But they’re ticked off at what’s going on and how David’s having to run for his life. But this also could be anybody in a situation where others are lying about you. There’s nothing you can do about it. Others who are saying things that aren’t true.

So David says, tremble. and do not sin, or be angry and do not sin. Okay, that sounds nice, right? But how do you do that? How do you be angry and not sin? Well, keep reading. Ponder in your heart upon your bed and be still. Or in other words, be quiet, be quiet. When you’re so angry that you’re trembling, just be quiet. I mean, think about it. When we’re really angry, how often does it actually help the situation when we vent our anger? When we have to let everybody know about the thing that I’m angry about? We just let loose and let everybody hear it. We’re being in the heat of the moment here. When something happens to us and it just burns right through our already short fuse and we blow up. How often does that help the situation?

What David’s talking about here is being sober-minded, being in control of our own mind. What should we do? Ponder in your heart upon your bed and be still. Keep it to yourself and be quiet. Give it some time. Cool down. Level out a little bit. And that’s what the selah there means. It means to pause. Think about that. And then you see how angry you are about it before you let loose. Give it some time to cool down. Verse five lays out the ongoing positive activities that you can do in the meantime. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness and trust in Yahweh.

This is just some common sense stuff from David here. When you’re so angry that you’re trembling and you’re about to explode, take a break. Be quiet. Why don’t you go worship God and trust in him and see how that helps? Trust God to take care of any injustice you’re facing. If people are unfairly spreading rumors about you, and that’s the thing that’s bothering you so badly, like David here, trust God with it. Just worry about worshiping God. Worry about worshiping God with your life. And you don’t worship God with your life by blowing up in anger. The two can’t go together.

And David’s not denying anger or rage or these real feelings that he feels. But he’s acknowledging the need to control it. That phrase, be angry and do not sin, is control your anger. You be in control. Don’t let your anger control you. And often this idea runs counter to what we feel comfortable with, or even sometimes what we have come to expect in life. That we should always speak out and let our voice be heard. That we need to let people know the thing that’s unjust, or the thing that’s bothering me, the thing that’s not fair. We need to raise awareness about it. But what does David say to those who see true injustice here? Be quiet, trust God.

You want to hear what David is saying in a different way? James chapter one, verses 19 and 20. Know this, my beloved brothers, everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger. For the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. You cannot be blowing up in anger and worshiping God with your life. The anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. Don’t sin in your anger. Control your anger. Use your anger. Trust God instead. That is the third section here, instructive trust, trust that we can learn from.

And fourthly, we see joyful trust. I hope you’re noticing the progression here in David’s thinking. Again, this is an evening prayer, and David is getting himself and perhaps others ready for some peaceful sleep. He started in his desperation. Then he moves to reassurance, reminding himself of the things that are true, and then instruction. Let me teach others what I know to be true. He comes to joy, joyful trust. Verses six and seven. Many are saying, who will show us good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Yahweh. You have put gladness in my heart, more than when their grain and new wine abound.

A little change in tone here. But first, David says that he knows he’s not alone in his distress. He knows that. And how often do we, when we see others on our side, others that are, yeah, you’re right, that’s not fair. You should do something about that. Then we feel vindicated and we feel justified in whatever I want to do. I can now blow up in anger because look, everyone else is on my side too. But he says, I know many are saying, I know they’re saying, who will show us some good? They’re agreeing with the way I feel here. But then where does he go? Lift up the light of your face upon us. That should sound familiar to you. Lift up the light of your face upon us. What David does here is he quotes from Israel’s benediction. He reminds himself of what the priests say in the house of the Lord. He quotes what he heard.

And what do they say? Numbers 6, 24 to 26. Yahweh bless you and keep you. Yahweh make his face to shine upon you and to be gracious to you. Yahweh lift up his face on you and give you peace. David needs peace. So he reminds himself what he heard in the house of worship. And he turns it into a prayer. And apparently, David actually believes the things he says when he goes to worship God. He believes them. They’re in his heart. They come to his mind. And apparently, David doesn’t just view this benediction, the thing that the priest would always say in the tabernacle, he doesn’t view it as just a catchy tune at the end of the service. David believes these words. And we’ve seen this multiple times in the psalm, but isn’t it interesting that sometimes the thing you need the most is what you find right here in the worship service. The words we sing, the words we read.

Here at Fellowship, we, the pastors, we choose the music that we sing. We choose the readings that we read. And we’re very intentional about how we shape the worship service. We don’t just pick songs that are our favorites or we haven’t sung in a while. We shape the service to lead us to what we’re going to talk about from God’s word. We use it to help prepare our minds for what we’re about to hear, or in our closing hymns, we use it to help us reflect on what we just heard from God’s word. It’s all intentional. And I know I’ve heard the request that we should sing this song and we haven’t sung that song in a while. I know, I know. And there’s a place for favorites. That’s true. But the reason we sing the songs we do and we read the things we do, it’s intentional. They help us to worship. They help us to shape our minds, to conform our minds to what God’s word has to say.

So what we do in our worship is important. And David finds that what he does in worship helps him in the hardest of times. The songs we sing are important because we remember them. The reason why we sing good doctrine is because it’s a lot easier to remember it when you sing it than just when you read it on a page. And in fact, it might just be the thing that comes to our mind when we most need it. In verse seven, David reminds himself of what he has. He’s already done this, but this is where the rubber hits the road. He says in verse seven, you have put gladness in my heart more than when their grain and new wine abound.

Where does David’s joy come from? Is it the great friends that he has? The nice car that he drives? The sizable nest egg that he can relax and trust in. No. You have put gladness in my heart. He’s speaking to God. His joy comes from God. In fact, more gladness than all those things could ever give me. More than when their grain and new wine abound. More gladness than it can be found in any material wealth. He says that their gladness is dependent on what they have. Their gladness is dependent on their circumstances. Their gladness comes because their rays came through, or their indigestion was cured, or their business is booming. That’s what their joy is dependent on. But David says his joy comes from God. Apparently David had read Romans. Romans 15:13, it says, now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Where does joy come from? From God. And David says, that’s true. That is really true. He has a gladness in the midst of trouble that cannot be destroyed. So David’s thought process here, as he’s worked through all these things in his mind, has led him to this joyful trust.

And now, finally, he can come to what he has before he goes to sleep, and that is quiet trust. This process of thinking has quieted his mind from desperation and panic to, I know where my joy comes from. I know that God hears me. I know that I’m God’s chosen one. Therefore, verse eight, in peace, I will both lie down and sleep. I won’t lie there and toss and turn. I won’t lie there and stare at the ceiling for hours. I will lie down and sleep. For you alone, O Yahweh, make me to abide in safety. In the midst of his trouble. In the midst of his enemies that hate him, running for his life, David sleeps like a baby because he knows, I could have the most powerful army in the world. I could have the greatest defenses. I could be in the most strong fortress there is, but I’m not safe unless God keeps me safe. My safety comes from God.

David has a peace that passes all understanding. Philippians 4:7. Peace that surpasses all understanding or all comprehension. Peace that doesn’t make sense because you shouldn’t have peace. David shouldn’t have peace. He shouldn’t be able to sleep. But he has peace that passes all understanding. Because by all accounts, there’s no way that we should have peace in our circumstances. But our peace doesn’t come from our circumstances. Our peace comes from God.

I remember this story that I heard in our church history class. It’s of the reformer, the English reformer, Nicholas Ridley. It was in 1555 and when, at that time, the queen, Bloody Mary they called her, was persecuting and killing as many Christians as she could get her hands on. And Nicholas Ridley was arrested and found to be disobeying the queen’s orders and was sentenced to be put to death, to be burned at the stake in his hometown. And one night, October 1555, was Nicholas Ridley’s last night on earth. The next day, his hometown of Oxford would see him burning at the stake for his faith. And in fact, in Oxford, there’s still a town square with Nicholas Ridley’s name on it because that’s where he was burned alive. And on the night before his execution, his brother came to his jail cell and offered to stay the night with him for the last hours he had on this earth. But Nicholas Ridley refused. And he said that he meant to go to bed and sleep as quietly as he ever did in his life. Because if it’s gonna be your last night on earth, why not get a good night’s sleep? Why not have a good night?

That is the overwhelming peace that comes from knowing who God is. “In peace, I will both lie down and sleep, for you alone, O Yahweh, make me to abide in safety.” God alone is the one who makes us abide in safety. We can try to make ourselves as safe as we possibly can. Take all the preventative measures. We have the best insurance policy, the most amount of financial security, but none of it means anything. without the one who makes us dwell in safety. God is the one that is sovereign. God’s sovereignty is what shines through here in this psalm. God’s sovereignty is what gives David the peace he needs. God is truly in control of everything.

So we see here David’s quiet trust, but it’s not unusual or extraordinary. It may seem that way at first glance, but when you know who God is, this is the peace that’s available to us. This is what happens when you know and trust the God who keeps you. And you can only have this true, peaceful, saving relationship with God through Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, the one who came to bring peace on earth. And he did that through his life, death, and resurrection. So if you do not trust Christ as your Savior, you need to trust him. And then you can understand what David’s talking about. You can understand this peace that passes all understanding in the midst of his desperate circumstances.

And if you do know Christ, you can pray like David prays. You can pray like David prays before he goes to bed. Those nights where you’re tossing and turning and you can’t seem to shake that thing that’s keeping you up. Remind yourself of who God is, of who you are as his child, as one of his chosen ones. Allow Psalm 4 to bring you that peace where David starts with desperate trust. Then he reminds himself and gives himself reassuring trust. He moves to instructive trust and then joyful trust. Remember where your joy comes from. And lastly, let it bring you to quiet trust. That’s an evening prayer.

Let’s stand and close this evening with prayer. God, we thank you for the way that your word speaks to our very situations. how we can see the emotions that David feels in these Psalms, and how it can remind us and validate for us the things that we feel, that our struggles and our troubles are real and that they do cause us real distress, but that we also see how David can bring himself to this place of peace where he can lay down and he can sleep despite all that’s going on. Pray that we would remind ourselves of who you are and who we are in light of that, who we are in Christ, and that nothing can separate us from your love. Nothing can come between what Christ has done for us and who he has made us to be. Lord, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the encouragement that it brings us. We pray all these things in Christ’s precious name. Amen.