Would you pray with me?
Oh, Father, satisfy us before the day has passed us by.
Cause us to find all that our hearts desire and long for and seek after
fulfilled in you from Jesus Christ and for his sake alone we ask.
Amen.
Well, beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,
do you enjoy true peace?
God's word holds up for us.
Shalom.
True peace.
Shalom means completeness.
It means wholeness of relationship.
And on the last verse of Psalm 4,
he says,
I will lay down in peace.
I will lay down in shalom.
The verse right before that,
he says,
it's God who has put gladness in my heart.
And I simply want you to examine yourself and reflect on that question.
Do you know what David's talking about?
Do you enjoy true peace?
Charles Spurgeon calls Psalm 4 another choice flower from the garden of David's afflictions.
There's the life of David full of affliction.
Not a good life,
a miserable life.
And yet from that affliction,
from those tribulations and from those temptations,
from that anger,
those accusations,
the spirit ministered to this man,
the sin saver,
saved sinner.
Sorry.
And in Psalm 4,
I don't think David is put up to us necessarily as a type of Christ in this Psalm.
You know,
the Psalms are the songbook of Jesus,
and he prayed them throughout his ministry from the cross.
But I think Psalm 4,
it's a Psalm where David is simply made low.
He's made low as a common man,
a common foot soldier,
a sinner who has been saved by grace.
So it puts words now inspired by the spirit for us who are believers,
who are saved sinners in that same way.
In Psalm 1,
we saw there are two ways to live.
Do you remember that?
Now in Psalm 4,
we see there are two ways to lay down at the end of the day.
You can lay down in stress and anxiety and fear,
or you can lay down in peace.
In Psalm 3,
the emphasis was on how David laid down,
but he woke again.
And as he wakes,
he calls on God to rise up.
And in Psalm 4,
the emphasis is less on waking up.
It's more on being still in the quiet of your own bed
and having peace with God in your conscience.
In Psalm 3,
David declared that salvation is of the Lord alone.
Do you remember that?
And in Psalm 4,
David bears witness.
It's possible to enjoy true peace in a hostile world.
That's what he confesses in Psalm 4.
He says,
I will lay down and sleep in peace.
You know,
in the New Testament,
death is always referred to as sleep for the believer.
When the believer dies,
it's referred to as you fell asleep.
And so Psalm 4,
in that sense,
talks about one day in the life of a believer in a hostile world.
But that one day is really a picture of one life lived in a hostile world.
And when you will go to sleep that last day,
will you be in peace?
Every night when you lie down,
you have the opportunity to practice for the day of your death.
You get to prepare for death once every single day,
at least.
You get to prepare for death seven times every week.
When you lay down at night and all is dark.
365 times a year.
We are practicing for the day when our soul will leave our body.
The body will sleep and the soul will face eternal destiny.
Are you at peace?
Do you enjoy true peace?
Have you tasted that gladness that David talks about now in preparation for that eternal gladness with Christ?
At the end of your day,
do you enjoy true peace?
At the end of your life,
will you enjoy true peace with God?
That's what you need to figure out from Psalm 4.
So my one main point is this.
If you trust in God as your righteousness,
he leads you to enjoy true peace.
First observation.
God's enemies hate the Prince of Peace and they hunt down God's people.
The language of Psalm 2 is that the nations rage against God.
And they hate the Son of God, we're told.
Well, David, he has said,
that's my God.
He's aligned himself with the kingdom of heaven
more than any other kingdom on earth.
In verse 1 and verse 3 of Psalm 4, look there.
David feels rightly accused by Satan.
He says,
you don't rightly belong in the congregation of God's people.
If you're praying to God,
what makes you think God should hear you?
You're a sinner, David.
Do you hear the accusation?
But David defends it and he calls out,
God, hear me when I pray.
But in Psalm 4, David is accused by Satan.
In verse 2 and verse 6,
David feels pressure, distress,
persecuted from the outside,
from worldly men.
And the King James,
he preaches to them.
He says,
you sons of men,
you're not from the line of God of heaven.
You're sons of men.
You're earthly, worldly men.
So he's tempted by the men of the world
and accused by them,
just as Satan is bringing tribulation on his life.
But it's not only Satan,
it's not only the world,
it's also within David,
inside of himself,
his own flesh.
In verse 4,
David feels anger.
The phrase,
stand with trembling and anger,
stand in awe,
or in your anger,
don't sin.
But the temptation to sin
comes from inside of David as well,
when he's all alone in his room.
So he is tempted by Satan,
he is tempted by the world,
and he is tempted by his own flesh.
And look at the result
of this kind of temptation.
He's in his own bed.
He's up and down.
He's unable to sleep
until the very end of the psalm.
David's experiencing what
the novelist Charlotte Bronte described.
She said,
a ruffled mind
makes a restless pillow.
You've had those nights.
You look at the clock.
If I could fall asleep now,
I'll get six hours of sleep.
It doesn't happen.
If I could fall asleep now,
I'll at least get four hours of sleep.
That's one REM cycle.
It doesn't happen.
Man,
in 40 minutes,
my alarm is going to go off.
If I could just close my eyes
and snooze,
then I'll wake up
and I'll feel better.
And it doesn't happen.
You've had those sleepless nights.
So God's enemies,
they hate the Prince of Peace
and they hunt down his people.
If you're a Christian,
Jesus said,
in this world,
you will have tribulation.
1 John 2.16
tells us that God has enemies
and those enemies come after God's people.
They hunt you in the same way.
From that,
the church has gotten the three enemies.
Historically,
it's the world,
the flesh,
and the devil.
You see all three right here
in Psalm 4,
don't you?
David says he's been swarmed
by lies and vanity
in verse 2.
He says,
there are many.
I look around
and I see most people.
They have no hope in God.
They look to anything else
to give them a kind of blessing.
David says his soul
has been empty
of any kind of gladness.
He can't come up with joy
on his own.
He's depressed.
He needs it to come
from outside of himself.
And in this state,
David is tempted to sin.
He feels like he can't bear this
any longer.
And he says in verse 2,
how long?
And that phrase,
how long,
is normally used as a lament.
And it's usually taken
to the throne of God
and declared,
God,
how much longer
until you will step in?
Well,
notice though here,
David in verse 2,
he turns this lament
into preaching
at the nation.
And the word of encouragement
is this,
that God does lead his people
to enjoy true peace
in this world
that rages against God.
And God gives his people
fitting weapons
for this battle.
My first point
comes from the superscription
of Psalm 4.
Look at that.
The superscription
is that little description
at the top of the psalm.
It says the context
and how it's to be sung.
So you see in your Bible,
mine reads,
to the chief musician,
on Niganath,
a psalm of David.
That's the superscription.
And I want to try to argue
that God gives us,
his people,
fitting weapons
for this battle
that we are all in,
one of which
is congregational singing.
See, Satan,
he knows that your flesh
wants to believe
happiness is possible
without God.
And Psalm 4
attacks that lie.
You will not find happiness
without God.
Satan knows that
he can cut you off
from God's family.
And if he can cut you off
from God's family,
God's army,
God's church,
he will shut you up.
Now the Spirit says,
no,
no one can clutch you
out of my hands.
But Satan tries.
He tries to cut you off
of God's people.
And Satan knows
that isolation
leads to depression.
Depression leads to sin.
Sin leads to guilt.
Guilt leads to you
feeling like your fellowship
with God is broken.
When you feel that way,
you don't enjoy peace.
You have no joy.
You see the battle
that's going on
for your soul?
But notice David says,
take up the stringed instruments.
And he gives orders
as the king
to the chief musician.
What's the weapon?
What's the weapon
that the Spirit
is calling the church to use?
It's congregational singing.
There's musicians.
There are instruments.
There's the army gathered.
The army is the choir.
We're going to sing Scripture.
We're going to do this
because God put this
in our hands
as a weapon
against his enemies.
Here's the importance
of congregational singing.
It's not only
for our own good.
It's also for the glory
of God.
Look at Psalm 4, verse 2.
David said,
the enemies of God
have turned my glory
into shame.
I know it's been a few weeks,
but flip back to Psalm 3.
Notice in Psalm 3,
verse 3.
What is David's glory?
Or better,
who does David say
is his glory?
He prays that to God.
God, you are the lifter
of my head.
You are my glory.
And now the very next Psalm,
he says,
they've turned my glory.
They've turned my God
into shame.
So let's take up
our singing.
Let's take up instruments
and let's declare
the true glory
of our God,
which has come under attack.
And as we bring
God glory
to his name
through congregational singing,
he protects our souls
for our good as well.
Isn't that a blessing?
God calls you
to sing regularly
with his people.
I know that's so simple,
but that's a call
from King Jesus
on your life.
You are the musicians.
You are adding your voices,
even if it's off tune,
you're adding your voices
to the stringed instruments.
In Revelation,
heaven is described
as having an army
of harp players,
stringed instruments.
Our guitar players would say
those are probably guitars.
They're using a prophetic idiom
to describe heaven
full of instruments,
full of congregational singing.
And as simple as we be,
no matter how bad you sound,
when you add your voice
to the congregation
of God's people
to declare his glory
and sing scripture,
you are singing
as a soldier
in his army.
This is one of the weapons
he has given us to use.
God's army is not silent.
The army is a choir.
And we sing God's word
back to him.
That's what we try to do
every week, isn't it?
The spirit-breathed word
in Psalm 4
and through all the Psalms,
it calls us to sing to God
for his glory,
for our good.
Remember, this is David
who would play the harp
in the court of King Saul,
who was wicked.
And even King Saul,
the wicked king,
who didn't know
the glory of God,
even he found
peace and comfort.
How much more
if you have the Holy Spirit
in you
and it's God helping you
to declare his glory.
Martin Luther,
when he's portrayed
in the late Renaissance,
you know,
with the different reformers,
usually next to Luther
is a lute,
a little stringed instrument
like a mini guitar.
Luther in the lute.
And Luther said,
when my heart was sick
and weary,
it has often been solaced
and refreshed by music.
When Luther would give
his little table talks,
he would have the young men
that were wanting
to get biblical training
and discipleship
into his home.
They would sing using the lute
and they would lift
their praises to God
even though they were exiled
from their countries,
from their families.
So picture King Jesus
on his throne.
Picture him singing
over his people
like Song of Solomon's
describes him.
And picture all of the congregation
responding
and adding our voices
to that soaring melody
of King Jesus
from his throne.
And that's a taste,
a small little sample
that we get now
of the peace
and the joy
and the music
that fills heaven.
God loves music.
Read your Bible.
You'll see that.
God loves music.
Heaven's joy
spills onto the church
through his word,
through congregational singing.
That's one of the ways
God gives us fitting weapons
for this battle
against our soul.
Well, how else
does God lead his people
to enjoy true peace
in a world
that rages against him?
As God's people
sing gospel truths together,
look at what happens
to David.
God reforms
your thinking.
And when you have
right thinking,
be transformed
by the renewing
of your minds,
Romans 12.
As your thinking
gets reformed,
you enjoy the peace
of being right
within the world
God created.
So,
look at verse 1.
First,
David declares
and applies
God's truth
to himself.
That's our application.
David says,
hear me,
answer me
when I call,
O God
of my righteousness.
He declares,
God is my righteousness.
Jehovah Sidkenu.
Sidkenu.
He declares it
and he applies it
to myself.
Therefore,
hear me.
Don't hear me
because of my righteousness.
You are my righteousness.
Therefore,
by your righteousness,
hear me,
one who you've taken in.
1 Corinthians 1.30
declares that
Christ
is
our
righteousness.
And since
God is my righteousness,
I know
he hears me.
That's a simple syllogism.
If God
is your righteousness,
through Christ,
then God
hears you.
So,
cry out to him.
Number two,
David remembers
God's past
faithfulness.
We should do the same.
Look back on your life.
Have you ever seen
God be faithful to you?
Were you ever
hard pressed
and cornered
and God showed himself
faithful
and true?
Well,
remember those times.
Draw them back up
to your mind.
Remember God's
past faithfulness.
David says
in verse 1,
God,
you enlarged me.
You gave me relief
when I
was in distress.
David was,
he was cornered
and trapped.
He was in distress
like an animal
that was
being preyed upon,
about to be devoured.
And even though
physically he was,
he was distressed
and entrapped,
he says God
enlarged him.
Even if his outward
circumstances
didn't change,
his soul
found
an expansion
and space
and room
to breathe.
He was no longer
suffocating.
God gave him
what his soul
needed
to survive.
And because God
has been faithful
in the past,
he appeals to that
past faithfulness
and applies it now,
Lord.
You will be merciful
to me
again.
He appeals to
God's gracious
nature.
See,
he says God,
you are
gracious.
Have mercy upon me
again in verse 1.
Be gracious to me
and hear my prayer.
Because you are
my righteousness,
because you have
been faithful,
because you are
gracious,
hear me now.
What a great prayer
for us
as well.
Reform your thoughts
about who you
are in God.
Trust what God
says through
his word about
you.
Trust that it's
true.
See,
David goes after
the mind.
Look at verse 3.
He says,
know,
know in your mind.
Be reformed
in your thinking.
Know that the
Lord has set
apart the godly
for himself.
Know it.
Believe this
in your mind.
This is what God
says in scripture.
Know that this
is true for you.
We know this
from Ephesians 1.
Before the foundation
of the world,
you are chosen
in Christ.
He has set
you apart
for himself.
Know that this
is true.
It's what God
has declared.
This is what Paul
says in Ephesians 6.
To know
is to cover
your head
with this truth.
He calls this
the helmet
of your salvation.
You're under attack.
Put on the helmet
on your head.
Know in your mind
who you are.
You are saved
because you are
set apart
for God's purposes.
Now you're set
apart not because
of your good works.
John Gale
clarifies this
very helpfully.
Godliness
and good works
are the fruits
of God's election,
not the causes
of it.
But if God
has set you apart,
it will show up
as gospel fruit.
And so you add
your voice to the
choir with these
truths as well.
You testify in song.
I am set apart
for Christ,
my righteousness.
I cannot
be condemned.
Christ is
my righteousness.
God hears me
because I belong
to him.
Christ has covered
me like a helmet.
I know in my mind
I belong to him.
Therefore,
he hears my cry
and he leads me
to enjoy
his true peace.
Make that your
prayer today.
Call out to God
with confidence
that he hears you.
Well, David's
not done.
How else
does God put
true peace
and heavenly
gladness
inside the hearts
of his people
in this world?
As you rehearse
gospel truths
with God's people,
we see in
psalm 4 that
God not only
renews your mind,
makes you know
this,
he also
transforms your
heart and
your life.
See, the light
of the gospel
through the mind,
God causes you
to grasp
and behold
how glorious
he is,
then it works
its way into
your heart
and from your
heart it works
its way out
in your life.
Look at verse 4.
Stand in awe.
Be dismayed.
Stand with
angry trembling
is the Hebrew
poetry,
but do not
sin.
The world
and the enemies
of God
come hard
after your soul
and we need
to withdraw,
we need to
retreat
into stillness
and solitude.
How often,
one commentator
pointed out
that man
reverses this,
we sin,
yet we don't
tremble at God.
David says,
tremble,
tremble in fear
and anger,
but don't sin.
Commune
with your own
heart,
ponder in your
own heart
upon your beds
in your private
retreat where
you've turned
the TV off,
you've left
the phone
in another room,
it's you
alone with
your maker.
You are
preparing your
soul for
eternity with
God.
Your soul
is being
prepared for
heaven.
You're preparing
yourself for
your day
of your
death.
In that
moment,
let God
get real
with you.
Tremble,
tremble at
what lies
ahead of
you.
You be
silent.
Let the
truth of
God's
word sweep
over you.
See,
many have
given up
on true
peace and
that temptation
is there
for every
single one
of us,
as long
as we're
in the
flesh,
as long
as we're
in this
world,
and as
long as
Satan
is
roaming
about
like a
lion,
seeking
whom he
can
devour.
Your
conscience
accuses
you,
the flesh
and Satan
and the
world say,
well then
sear your
conscience.
Just give
yourself to
those temptations
and sear it
so it stops
hurting.
Or numb
your conscience,
numb that
guilt,
self-medicate,
alcohol,
drugs.
you won't
have peace
with that
kind of
a conscience.
That's the
temptation of
the world
and the
flesh and
the devil.
And that
temptation is
real for
every single
one of
us.
David
confesses
in that
anger,
in that
powerful
temptation,
you need
to look
at verse
five,
you need
to offer
up the
sacrifice
of
righteousness
and put
your trust
in the
Lord.
God has
set you
apart for
himself.
You are
not enslaved
to sin.
You have
no reason
to fear
any longer.
You can
know true
peace and
you must
practice.
You must
practice living
out who
you are
in Christ.
George
Swinock,
Puritan,
said,
commune
with your
own self.
Think about
that phrase,
commune
with your
own self.
You're
asking your
soul these
questions.
Where are
you from?
Well,
God made
me.
For what
end were
you made?
For God's
glory,
to know
him and
enjoy him
forever.
How are
you living
this life?
I need
more of
Christ.
How is
it going
for you?
When I
don't trust
Christ,
it goes
bad.
Do you
have true
joy?
When I'm
in Christ,
I do.
What's
your tomorrow?
When you
wake up,
what's your
future?
God has
to guide
me every
step.
I need
to trust
him more.
Do you
know
true
peace?
in the
quiet,
in the
silence,
offer
your
sacrifice
of
righteousness.
He
declared
already,
verse 1,
God is
my
righteousness.
Now he's
saying,
that righteousness
that God
gave and
put over
me,
it works
itself out
in my
life.
It does.
Slowly,
through
stumbling,
but it
works itself
out.
That's the
conclusion Paul
comes to in
Romans 12.
offer up
your bodies
as living
sacrifices.
You belong
to God.
What a joy
that you
belong to
him.
You don't
want to
belong to
yourself.
So you
offer your
body,
not as
your own
substitutionary
sacrifice to
be made
right with
God,
but because
you have
put your
trust in
the Lord
as your
righteousness,
you offer
yourself as
a living
sacrifice because
this is
your reasonable
act of
service.
You obey
because you
are grateful
to be made
right by
him,
by grace
alone.
You ponder,
Benjamin
Keech said,
how from
Christ flow
to you the
assurance of
God's love,
peace of
conscience,
joy in the
Holy Spirit,
increasing
grace,
perseverance
to the
end.
You ponder
this glorious
gospel,
all the
blessings flowing
from the hand
of Christ,
your mediator,
your righteousness
for the rest
of your life
in increasing
measure until
that final day
where you get
him physically
and consummately.
This joyful
gospel melody,
it reigns in,
it gives peace
to our wild
emotions.
You can talk
to a music
therapist,
they'll see a
little child
with their
emotions going
wild,
and the
soothing sound
of a melody,
it helps to
settle them
and that melody
draws those
wild emotions
and it starts
to teach them
a rhythm
and a cadence
and settles
them in.
The melody
wins over
the emotions.
In the silence
before God,
you need a
mediator,
you need Jesus
Christ alone
and when you
hear the melody
of his gospel,
he brings you
into alignment
by the work
of his spirit
and he changes
you.
He draws in
your wild
emotions and
he brings you
joy, the joy
of heaven and
the peace that
passes understanding.
It works its way
out from your
mind into your
heart, into every
aspect of your
life slowly, but
for a lifetime
without fail.
The good work
that God begins,
he always sees
through to the
end and that is
true for your
life.
love.
I want to draw
your attention
next to verse
six because God
transforms from
the inside your
love.
God transforms
what his people
love.
So you love
something different
than you used
to love and
then God
satisfies what
you most desire.
Verse six,
seven, and
eight are the
glorious verses
of this psalm.
In verse six,
David says,
there are many
who say who
will show us
some good.
There's the
contrast, the
way that
perishes versus
those who are
set apart for
God.
In verse two,
he had said
there are many
who love vain
words.
He's looking at
their hearts,
their desires,
what they seek.
He says they
seek after lies.
See, if you
stay on that way
that perishes,
if your loves,
if your heart
are never
transformed by
God, you
will never
find joy.
You will
never have
peace with
God unless
he changes
what you
love.
And there
are many,
there are many
who are chasing
after peace
and chasing
after joy
that will
never find
it.
They trust
in man,
they will be
disappointed.
They trust
in their own
good works
or some
other man-centered
method,
they will be
disappointed.
Buddhism says
kill your
desires.
many people
are swept
into these
eastern
false religions
and it says
just don't
desire anything.
Don't love
anything,
don't be
attached to
it and that
way you
won't experience
pain.
That's not
how God
works.
God gives
you a deeper
desire,
an overcoming
love and
the love for
God and for
what God
loves sweeps
over and it
transforms your
loves and your
desires.
It doesn't
kill off
passion,
it replaces
fleshly
passion with
a greater
love,
a greater
desire for
Christ and
his kingdom
alone.
Jesus said
seek first
my kingdom
and my
righteousness.
Jesus came
to satisfy
the deepest
longings of
our soul.
Look what
David exclaims
in verse 6.
He says,
Lord lift up
the light of
thy countenance,
the light of
your face upon
us, O Lord.
That's what he
loves now.
That's what he
desires.
He wants to
know nothing
else except
the face of
God, the
fellowship of
God, the
peace of
knowing I am
right with
God.
Let your
face shine
upon me.
This is
language from
the Aaronic
blessing, the
brother of
Moses, Aaron,
the high
priest, who
is a picture
of Christ and
he would bless
the people.
May the face
of God shine
upon you, his
people.
And that's
only possible by
the work of
God on
your behalf.
God
transforms
your love.
And then he
satisfies that
new desire.
Look at the
glorious declaration
in verse 7.
God, thou
hast put
gladness in
my heart.
Who put the
gladness in
David's heart?
God himself
put gladness in
his heart.
And how did
David get
gladness inside
his heart?
God put it
in him.
He couldn't
fabricate it
for himself.
And he
says, what
kind of
gladness is
this?
The best
way he can
describe it
is it is
more joy
than they
have at
harvest time.
At harvest
time is when
their grain
abounds.
It's when
they're collecting
all the
grapes and
pressing them
into wine.
There's
abundance.
They are
happy because
of temporal,
worldly things.
And he
sees their
gladness.
But the
gladness that
God put in
his heart when
he's all
alone, empty
without anything
of this world,
it surpasses
that by far.
It's a
gladness that's
otherworldly.
It's the
gladness and
joy from
heaven put in
his heart by
God.
And that's
why we can
believe what
1 Peter 4
teaches us,
that the
spirit of
God's
glory,
the shining
face of
God,
it rests
upon you
too,
church,
through the
work of
Christ Jesus.
Watson points
out this
contrast for
the Christian,
there is
more difference
between heavenly
gladness than
earthly gladness
than there is
between eating
the finest
banquet and
looking at a
mere painting
of one.
In verse
8, David
says,
I will
both lay
down in
peace and
sleep.
He says,
in peace,
I will both
lay down and
I will,
when I'm
putting my
pajamas on,
I will know
that when I
lay down,
I'm going to
be asleep.
The reason I
can lay down
and sleep is
because you,
Lord only,
you alone,
God, make me
dwell in
safety.
one pastor
pointed out,
they sleep
most soundly
whom faith
rocks to
sleep.
No prayer
so soft
as God's
promise,
no cover
so warm
as assurance
in Christ.
Ask God
to put his
gladness in
your heart,
to rock you
to sleep
with that
gift of
faith,
that warm
blanket of
assurance of
knowing you
belong to
God and
he alone
makes you
dwell safely
in his
arms this
night and
when you
take your
final sleep
at the end
of your
life.
When you
think of
heavenly
things,
Proverbs
says,
Proverbs
321,
that you
will sleep
more sweetly.
When you
think of
God as
you go to
bed,
Proverbs
622
says,
your head
will be
fuller of
good thoughts.
There's a
great hymn I
heard for the
first time
with the
church that
we visited
overseas a
couple weeks
ago.
One of the
verses goes
like this,
the day you
gave us,
Lord,
is ended.
The darkness
falls at
your request.
To you
are morning
hymns
ascended.
Your praise
shall sanctify
our rest.
If you
can fall
asleep with
the praise
of God
on your
lips,
the thoughts
of God
on your
mind,
isn't that
a glorious
thought that
even as
you're sleeping,
the Holy
Spirit is
sanctifying you,
you rest
in safety.
So to bring
it together,
I've tried to
show you from
Psalm 4 how
God leads
His people.
I want to
remind you,
God leads
all of His
people to
enjoy true
peace, both
in life and
in death.
This is just
as true for
you as it
is for our
brothers and
sisters in
South India.
And they
don't know for
sure what
they're going to
feed their
family tomorrow,
but they have
the peace that
passes understanding.
They have the
joy of heaven.
The church
around the
world each
night can
pray Psalm
4.8,
In peace
I will
sleep.
For Thou
Lord only
and You
alone, O
Lord, make
me and my
loved ones
dwell in
safety.
That hymn
that I
mentioned a
moment ago,
it goes on
to describe
this glorious
truth of the
church falling
asleep throughout
all the
different parts
of the
world.
Picture the
prayer lifted
up by the
church throughout
the day and
then the sun
sets, but a
new part of
the world
receives the
light and
their new
day begin
and their
praises go
up.
The English
used to say
the sun never
sets on the
British Empire.
Well, this is
way more true of
the church of
God through all
centuries.
The sun never
sets on the
praises going
up to heaven.
And as one
part of the
church falls
asleep, the
other parts
are waking
so that 24-7,
even on earth
as it is in
heaven, God
is being glorified
through singing,
through praise.
The hymn
says, we
thank you that
your church
unsleeping
while earth
rolls onward
into light,
through all
the world
her watch
is keeping
and never
rests by
day or
night.
As over
continent and
island each
dawn leads
to another
day, the
voice of
prayer is
never silent,
nor do thy
praises die
away.
I've been
so humbled
in the last
few weeks,
I've got to
rub shoulders
and just
encourage
brothers and
sisters from
around the
world.
And I think
of Leonardo
in the
Philippines and
his study of
Romans 8.
I'm so
encouraged by
what he's
doing.
I think
of Singhi
in Nepal
working with
children who
don't have
access to
good education
and they're
bringing them
Christian
education at
great peril to
their families.
I think of
Paulus in
South India
who signed
up officially
with the
government as
being a
Christian,
knowing that
it would
eliminate job
opportunities for
him and his
family.
I think of
Arted in
Latvia, the
church planting
that's going on
in Eastern
Europe, former
Soviet countries,
and I'm so
encouraged by
their zeal for
the Lord.
I think of
Sam who we
heard from last
week in North
Africa, the
work that God
has put on their
heart to do to
take the gospel to
this people who
would never hear
otherwise.
I think of
Clint in
Calgary,
Canada, and
the Lord planted
their church I
think 17 years
ago, and
now he's
seeing many
more come to
the faith and
a church being
planted by
God's grace.
You see, as we
move over the
continents all the
way around the
world, God is
at work.
In that hymn, the
last verse says,
God promised of
Christ's glorious
day in Isaiah 51
11, that the
ransomed of the
Lord shall return
with singing.
Sorrow and
sighing shall flee
away.
Everlasting joy
shall be upon our
heads, and we
shall obtain
gladness and
joy.
Picture Christ on
that last glorious
day when we will
see his face
shining upon us,
and he will
see the great
harvest.
More than when
any earthly
fields abound in
harvest, here
comes the harvest
of King Jesus,
the harvest of
souls who he
purchased with his
precious blood.
And that same
joy, Jesus Christ
puts in you while
you are yet in this
world.
When your days on
earth have
ripened and the
end has come for
your soul, as
someone put it, to
enter Christ's
heavenly rest.
The harvest of
your soul is
coming.
There is a rest
that's yet to
come, Hebrews
tells us.
So as you
prepare each
night, you say
Psalm 4a, I
will both lay
me down in
peace and sleep
for thou Lord
only maketh me
dwell in safety
today and for
my soul's
eternal destiny.
Yes, Jesus
said in this
world you will
have tribulation,
but I give
you my
peace that
where I am
there you
will one day
be with me.
If you are in
Christ today,
dear friends,
you don't need
to fear your
death.
You need to
joyfully practice
for your death
each night when
your head hits
the pillow.
You can lay
down in peace
and sleep.
If you trust in
God as your
righteousness, he
leads you to
enjoy true
peace more and
more each day
and each year
that he gives
you to live.
Praise be to
God.
Would you pray
with me?
God can, is
God next good
care.
Allah