WEBVTT 00:00:00.960 --> 00:00:03.240 Psalm 4, verses 1 to 8. 00:00:12.179 --> 00:00:16.280 Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness. 00:00:17.559 --> 00:00:21.280 You have given me relief when I was in distress. 00:00:22.559 --> 00:00:25.359 Be gracious to me and hear my prayer. 00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:30.960 O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame? 00:00:31.699 --> 00:00:35.200 How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? 00:00:35.719 --> 00:00:36.100 Selah. 00:00:37.640 --> 00:00:41.340 But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself. 00:00:41.939 --> 00:00:44.219 The Lord hears when I call to him. 00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:48.780 Be angry and do not sin. 00:00:50.280 --> 00:00:53.100 Pondering your own hearts on your beds and be silent. 00:00:54.239 --> 00:00:54.760 Selah. 00:00:55.359 --> 00:01:00.340 Offer right sacrifices and put your trust in the Lord. 00:01:01.119 --> 00:01:03.619 There are many who say who will show us some good. 00:01:04.400 --> 00:01:06.780 Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord. 00:01:08.219 --> 00:01:13.019 You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. 00:01:14.019 --> 00:01:16.879 In peace I will both lie down and sleep. 00:01:17.359 --> 00:01:20.799 For you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. 00:01:20.799 --> 00:01:21.319 Thank you. 00:01:21.319 --> 00:01:21.840 Thank you. 00:01:22.000 --> 00:01:22.259 Thank you. 00:01:22.259 --> 00:01:23.200 Thank you. 00:01:23.200 --> 00:01:35.200 So once again, in this psalm, the psalmist is in some kind of distress, as we've seen several times already. 00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:52.420 And I think this should be a source of encouragement for us because often we can think that as Christians, now that we have God as our Savior, the creator of the universe, as our Lord, that maybe our life should be a little easier, a little better. 00:01:53.200 --> 00:01:54.560 It's much less difficult. 00:01:55.420 --> 00:02:03.040 But the truth is that believers across every generation have experienced a lot of pain and suffering. 00:02:03.859 --> 00:02:08.319 And psalms, more than a third of the psalms are lament psalms like this. 00:02:10.120 --> 00:02:14.520 And the psalms, I think, that's why I think they're particularly helpful for us. 00:02:14.620 --> 00:02:15.480 It helps us to feel. 00:02:15.479 --> 00:02:24.819 It helps us to make sense of our pain and to respond to God and to respond to our situation in a helpful way. 00:02:25.899 --> 00:02:27.179 So this psalm is like that. 00:02:27.219 --> 00:02:33.000 And in this case, it seems like the primary issue that the psalmist is facing is slander of people. 00:02:33.939 --> 00:02:35.179 Because it says in verse 2, 00:02:35.180 --> 00:02:47.719 So it seems that they are damaging the psalmist's reputation through their words. 00:02:48.040 --> 00:02:49.280 They're defaming him. 00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:53.340 And it's not just any old men that are doing this. 00:02:53.439 --> 00:02:55.719 It's just not any men, random men. 00:02:55.920 --> 00:02:56.800 They're hurting the psalmist. 00:02:56.800 --> 00:02:59.520 But the men here are distinguished men. 00:03:00.100 --> 00:03:01.080 They're influential men. 00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:11.040 Because the Hebrew phrase, son of a man, refers to the men of note, significance, influence, 00:03:11.340 --> 00:03:15.740 as opposed to the more common phrase, son of a human, which just refers to any man. 00:03:16.300 --> 00:03:18.760 So here the expression refers to the influential people. 00:03:18.759 --> 00:03:23.979 And so these people, and because of their influence, their words have more weight, 00:03:24.479 --> 00:03:27.479 and they're doing damage to the psalmist's esteem and reputation. 00:03:28.899 --> 00:03:32.759 And so that's the occasion for the psalmist's prayer to God here and lament in verse 1. 00:03:33.379 --> 00:03:36.479 Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness. 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:39.599 You have given me relief when I was in distress. 00:03:40.699 --> 00:03:43.120 Be gracious to me and hear my prayer. 00:03:43.120 --> 00:03:48.120 And as the psalmist begins to utter this prayer of faith, 00:03:48.599 --> 00:03:52.460 the psalm kind of transforms into a declaration of faith. 00:03:52.620 --> 00:03:56.319 Prayer turns into a declaration of trust in verses 3 to 6. 00:03:57.319 --> 00:04:02.140 And this is the key to the joy and peace that states that the psalmist experiences 00:04:02.140 --> 00:04:03.480 even in the midst of difficulties. 00:04:03.840 --> 00:04:06.540 And he's able to respond confidently in verse 3. 00:04:06.700 --> 00:04:06.900 He says, 00:04:06.900 --> 00:04:11.379 But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself. 00:04:11.379 --> 00:04:15.319 The Lord hears when I call to him. 00:04:16.980 --> 00:04:20.139 The psalmist is not saying here that God loves him, 00:04:20.899 --> 00:04:25.219 has set them apart because he is godly, unlike his adversaries. 00:04:25.659 --> 00:04:29.579 Because the word godly here can literally be translated, 00:04:29.699 --> 00:04:34.439 it comes from the same word that refers to God's grace and steadfast love, 00:04:34.959 --> 00:04:35.740 his covenant love. 00:04:36.540 --> 00:04:40.579 And so it literally means something like those who have been loved, 00:04:40.579 --> 00:04:42.939 the godly refers to those who have been loved. 00:04:43.479 --> 00:04:47.099 And so it refers to people who have been loved by God's covenant affection, 00:04:47.399 --> 00:04:49.139 by covenant love, 00:04:49.419 --> 00:04:52.459 and therefore are able to love him and to love others. 00:04:53.199 --> 00:04:53.919 And that's truth. 00:04:54.459 --> 00:04:57.439 It is later reflected in 1 John 4, 19, 00:04:57.519 --> 00:04:58.039 which says, 00:04:58.219 --> 00:05:00.299 We love because he first loved us. 00:05:00.860 --> 00:05:04.219 So the godly are godly because of God's grace, 00:05:04.360 --> 00:05:07.579 because of God's love for them first. 00:05:07.579 --> 00:05:10.539 And knowing this, 00:05:10.620 --> 00:05:12.939 knowing that he has been set apart by God by his grace, 00:05:13.579 --> 00:05:16.959 the psalmist is able to remember that the Lord hears him. 00:05:17.139 --> 00:05:19.719 So in verse 1, he had cried out, 00:05:19.879 --> 00:05:20.680 Hear my prayer. 00:05:20.819 --> 00:05:21.680 And then in verse 3, 00:05:21.879 --> 00:05:25.560 he declares with faith that the Lord hears. 00:05:25.839 --> 00:05:26.500 So same word. 00:05:26.919 --> 00:05:28.759 So it goes from asking God to hear him, 00:05:28.799 --> 00:05:31.079 and then with the assurance that now he has been heard, 00:05:31.159 --> 00:05:32.199 that God does hear him. 00:05:32.199 --> 00:05:34.879 And this kind of change, transformation, 00:05:35.159 --> 00:05:37.180 as he prays, happens throughout this psalm. 00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:42.500 And having been reassured in his faith in God, 00:05:42.599 --> 00:05:44.939 and he begins to speak to his adversaries, 00:05:45.060 --> 00:05:46.180 people who have been slandering him. 00:05:47.019 --> 00:05:49.279 And so far, these men have been talking. 00:05:49.560 --> 00:05:52.560 They've been trash-talking, slandering, maligning the psalmist. 00:05:53.259 --> 00:05:56.899 And so far, the psalmist has really endured this verbal abuse, 00:05:57.000 --> 00:05:58.699 but now he speaks back in verse 4. 00:05:58.699 --> 00:05:59.120 He says, 00:05:59.860 --> 00:06:01.779 Be angry and do not sin. 00:06:02.279 --> 00:06:05.240 Ponder in your own hearts on your beds and be silent. 00:06:06.719 --> 00:06:10.199 Now, this verse is not condoning anger in any way. 00:06:10.699 --> 00:06:14.120 Rather, it's referring to the fact that when people are angry, 00:06:14.279 --> 00:06:16.459 they're more prone to excessive, 00:06:17.079 --> 00:06:20.839 excess in words or in the heat of the moment, 00:06:21.060 --> 00:06:22.560 doing things that they would regret, 00:06:22.719 --> 00:06:24.539 so speaking rashly and sinning. 00:06:24.959 --> 00:06:27.980 So he's saying that instead of following that course, 00:06:27.980 --> 00:06:29.420 as people normally do when they're angry, 00:06:29.780 --> 00:06:31.700 be angry, but don't sin in the midst of it. 00:06:31.759 --> 00:06:34.080 He's saying, go ponder it in your own bed, in your hearts. 00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:38.560 And don't be rash in walking into sin and speaking against me. 00:06:39.780 --> 00:06:41.600 And the psalmist continues in verse 5, 00:06:41.680 --> 00:06:45.200 not just the negative thing, but also a positive remedy. 00:06:45.420 --> 00:06:49.280 He says, offer right sacrifices and put your trust in the Lord. 00:06:49.960 --> 00:06:52.020 That's what he enjoys, these adversaries. 00:06:52.200 --> 00:06:54.360 And we are to offer right sacrifices to God 00:06:54.360 --> 00:06:56.439 because God is the God of righteousness, 00:06:56.600 --> 00:06:57.500 as it says in verse 1. 00:06:58.280 --> 00:07:02.199 And that means not just proper rituals followed for a sacrifice, 00:07:02.500 --> 00:07:05.000 but that it's rightly motivated. 00:07:05.540 --> 00:07:07.480 And it comes from genuine repentance and faith. 00:07:09.120 --> 00:07:11.139 And then finally, in verse 6, 00:07:11.600 --> 00:07:14.300 the psalmist quells the doubts of those around him. 00:07:14.300 --> 00:07:15.800 He says, there are many who say, 00:07:16.280 --> 00:07:18.160 who will show us some good? 00:07:18.160 --> 00:07:22.040 Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord. 00:07:22.880 --> 00:07:26.140 So in biblical Hebrew, there's no quotation marks. 00:07:26.900 --> 00:07:28.480 So you have to kind of, 00:07:28.580 --> 00:07:31.220 translators have to infer from the context 00:07:31.220 --> 00:07:33.540 to figure out where the quotation begins and ends. 00:07:34.120 --> 00:07:35.920 And here they seem to have made a mistake 00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:38.160 because the quote ends after, O Lord, 00:07:38.240 --> 00:07:41.320 but really should end after some good. 00:07:41.800 --> 00:07:43.240 So who will show us some good? 00:07:43.400 --> 00:07:45.300 That's what the doubters are saying. 00:07:45.300 --> 00:07:48.900 And then psalmist is responding in intercessory prayer. 00:07:49.160 --> 00:07:51.120 Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord. 00:07:51.379 --> 00:07:54.480 That's in fact how most of the other translations have it. 00:07:54.600 --> 00:07:58.040 So this is, it's unusual for the ESV to get it wrong. 00:07:59.300 --> 00:08:01.379 But, and so what, 00:08:01.639 --> 00:08:03.280 that psalmist is offering a prayer to, 00:08:03.639 --> 00:08:04.939 on behalf of these doubters, 00:08:05.040 --> 00:08:06.639 fellow people who are doubting, 00:08:06.980 --> 00:08:08.699 is God going to show us any good? 00:08:08.840 --> 00:08:10.100 But he's praying to God, 00:08:10.300 --> 00:08:12.480 lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord. 00:08:12.480 --> 00:08:19.660 And that prayer is based on the priestly blessing of Numbers 6, 22 to 27. 00:08:20.140 --> 00:08:23.900 And that's a promise that the Israelites often refer back to, 00:08:23.960 --> 00:08:26.680 the benediction of Aaron, the priest. 00:08:27.420 --> 00:08:29.280 And because, and that's important, 00:08:29.740 --> 00:08:31.400 this benediction is not a prayer. 00:08:32.019 --> 00:08:35.240 It's a, it's, it's, it's a declaration of God's promise. 00:08:35.399 --> 00:08:38.860 It's the assurance of what is, what is in fact true. 00:08:38.860 --> 00:08:42.759 And so by recalling that blessing, that the light of God's face, 00:08:42.879 --> 00:08:45.300 which represents his presence is with Israel, 00:08:45.960 --> 00:08:48.759 they're, they're basically recalling God's promise 00:08:48.759 --> 00:08:50.399 and building up their faith and saying that, 00:08:50.519 --> 00:08:52.600 but you might not see any good around you, 00:08:52.919 --> 00:08:54.759 but remember that promise, remember that covenant 00:08:54.759 --> 00:08:58.100 and pray to God to lift up his light face upon us. 00:08:59.460 --> 00:09:02.159 And this is how we are to trust in God as well. 00:09:02.159 --> 00:09:06.699 When we are in distress or when we're stressed or suffering, 00:09:07.339 --> 00:09:10.860 we do so by looking back to our covenant blessing, 00:09:11.159 --> 00:09:14.480 as the psalmist is doing, looking back at Israel's blessing. 00:09:15.600 --> 00:09:18.559 And, and, because if we, but, but, I mean, 00:09:18.860 --> 00:09:23.019 we'd be deeply insecure if we thought that our place in God 00:09:23.019 --> 00:09:24.500 depended on our own performance. 00:09:24.500 --> 00:09:29.539 But, and that's in fact what happens to Israel, right? 00:09:29.580 --> 00:09:31.080 They sin, they break the covenant, 00:09:31.200 --> 00:09:33.220 and the covenant curses instead of covenant blessings 00:09:33.220 --> 00:09:35.320 come upon them in their exile from their land. 00:09:35.860 --> 00:09:40.500 And that's what we ought to fear if Jesus hadn't come, right? 00:09:40.539 --> 00:09:42.200 To fulfill that covenant for us. 00:09:42.840 --> 00:09:44.919 And, and because he fulfilled that covenant, 00:09:45.179 --> 00:09:47.539 that promise that we have of God's presence 00:09:47.539 --> 00:09:49.379 is, is securely ours. 00:09:49.379 --> 00:09:52.779 And that's what the New Testament talks about 00:09:52.779 --> 00:09:56.080 when it's the light of God's face we used here. 00:09:56.200 --> 00:09:57.419 It refers to his presence. 00:09:58.019 --> 00:10:00.279 In Hebrews 1, 3, it says that Jesus Christ 00:10:00.279 --> 00:10:03.000 is the radiance of the glory of God 00:10:03.000 --> 00:10:05.039 and the exact imprint of his nature. 00:10:05.759 --> 00:10:09.039 And then 2 Corinthians 4, 6, God says, 00:10:09.399 --> 00:10:11.259 let light shine out of dark, 00:10:11.360 --> 00:10:13.799 the God who said, let light shine out of darkness 00:10:13.799 --> 00:10:17.539 has shown in our hearts to give the light 00:10:17.539 --> 00:10:19.839 of the knowledge of the glory of God 00:10:19.839 --> 00:10:22.099 in the face of Jesus Christ, right? 00:10:22.779 --> 00:10:25.759 So in Jesus Christ, his face, we see the fullness, 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:28.860 the most ultimate expression of God's presence and glory. 00:10:29.679 --> 00:10:31.539 And, and so this promise that had been given 00:10:31.539 --> 00:10:33.519 to the Israelites through the Aaronic benediction, 00:10:33.719 --> 00:10:35.759 the blessing is fulfilled in Jesus 00:10:35.759 --> 00:10:37.819 and we have that access to him 00:10:37.819 --> 00:10:39.419 because he died for our sins 00:10:39.419 --> 00:10:40.679 and brought us into God's presence. 00:10:41.659 --> 00:10:44.379 And that's what ultimately guarantees our security 00:10:44.379 --> 00:10:46.039 and safety in the midst of distress. 00:10:46.039 --> 00:10:49.639 So in verses seven to eight, the psalmist concludes, 00:10:50.459 --> 00:10:52.240 you have put more joy in my heart 00:10:52.240 --> 00:10:55.179 than they have when their grain and wine abound. 00:10:55.579 --> 00:10:58.319 In peace, I will both lie down and sleep 00:10:58.319 --> 00:11:02.480 for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. 00:11:04.439 --> 00:11:07.860 And there's several words here that mirror 00:11:07.860 --> 00:11:09.819 the words in verses four and six. 00:11:10.179 --> 00:11:13.120 So for example, the word heart is in verse four 00:11:13.120 --> 00:11:14.639 and it's repeated here in verse seven. 00:11:15.179 --> 00:11:16.980 And the word bed in verse four 00:11:16.980 --> 00:11:18.759 is a form of the same word that means, 00:11:19.220 --> 00:11:21.399 that says lie down in verse eight 00:11:21.399 --> 00:11:24.419 because bed literally means a place of lying down in Hebrew. 00:11:25.120 --> 00:11:27.860 And then finally, the word trust in verse five 00:11:27.860 --> 00:11:31.700 comes from the same root as the word safety in verse eight. 00:11:31.700 --> 00:11:34.320 And so all these kind of verbal parallels 00:11:34.320 --> 00:11:37.040 in Hebrew poetry function kind of like a rhyme in English 00:11:37.040 --> 00:11:39.740 and to emphasize and to make a certain comparison 00:11:39.740 --> 00:11:43.400 or contrast more accentuated. 00:11:44.400 --> 00:11:46.520 And so the man who deride the psalmist 00:11:46.520 --> 00:11:49.580 and therefore the psalmist exhorted them 00:11:49.580 --> 00:11:50.920 to ponder in their hearts, 00:11:51.020 --> 00:11:51.940 the anger in their hearts, 00:11:52.280 --> 00:11:55.240 instead of letting it spew out in sin against others. 00:11:55.240 --> 00:11:59.539 And then he had told them to do that in their bed, right? 00:11:59.620 --> 00:12:01.560 Ponder your own anger in your heart in your bed. 00:12:01.899 --> 00:12:04.899 But in contrast, David has joy in his heart 00:12:04.899 --> 00:12:08.220 and he's able to lie down and sleep. 00:12:08.340 --> 00:12:11.379 So there's a contrast of the men in anger in their bed, 00:12:11.759 --> 00:12:12.799 the place of lying down, 00:12:13.139 --> 00:12:14.820 but David having joy in their heart 00:12:14.820 --> 00:12:17.340 and able to lie down and sleep in peace. 00:12:17.940 --> 00:12:20.060 And the reason for this contrast ultimately 00:12:20.060 --> 00:12:21.460 is David's trust. 00:12:21.460 --> 00:12:24.019 It's because David trusts in God 00:12:24.019 --> 00:12:26.560 that he's able to dwell in safety, 00:12:26.720 --> 00:12:28.440 which comes from the same word as well. 00:12:29.740 --> 00:12:32.200 There's a direct connection there 00:12:32.200 --> 00:12:33.820 of our trust in the Lord 00:12:33.820 --> 00:12:36.860 and of our dwelling in security and safety, 00:12:37.240 --> 00:12:38.860 even in the midst of distress. 00:12:40.040 --> 00:12:42.000 And what's amazing about this psalm, 00:12:42.120 --> 00:12:44.379 unlike the ones we've seen so far in the book of Psalms, 00:12:44.519 --> 00:12:47.340 is that the conflict doesn't get resolved. 00:12:48.280 --> 00:12:51.180 In the other ones, God responds in a dramatic way 00:12:51.179 --> 00:12:52.199 and there's an answer. 00:12:52.899 --> 00:12:55.159 But here, the conflict doesn't get resolved. 00:12:55.599 --> 00:12:57.779 It doesn't say that the men stopped slandering him, 00:12:57.939 --> 00:13:00.299 that the psalmist stopped suffering. 00:13:00.979 --> 00:13:03.659 But even though circumstances have not changed, 00:13:03.759 --> 00:13:05.219 in the course of his prayer, 00:13:05.879 --> 00:13:07.479 his heart has changed. 00:13:08.459 --> 00:13:11.000 And he is able to have joy and peace 00:13:11.000 --> 00:13:14.959 because he has renewed and reaffirmed his trust in the Lord. 00:13:14.960 --> 00:13:19.620 And that's what I hope we can do as well this evening 00:13:19.620 --> 00:13:22.460 as we think about the difficulties in our lives, 00:13:22.519 --> 00:13:23.280 in our circumstances, 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:25.360 the sin that we battle, 00:13:25.560 --> 00:13:26.820 and anything that might be happening, 00:13:27.040 --> 00:13:28.980 that we can dwell in the security and safety 00:13:28.980 --> 00:13:30.320 that comes from God. 00:13:30.759 --> 00:13:32.040 We renew our trust in him 00:13:32.040 --> 00:13:33.900 and trust in his son, ultimately, 00:13:34.060 --> 00:13:38.420 who fulfilled all the requirements of the law for us. 00:13:38.419 --> 00:13:41.519 So with that, let's pray. 00:13:42.339 --> 00:13:43.599 You can sing a song, Jimmy.