Psalm 4: Answer Me When I Call

There seems to be a connection between this psalm and the previous one — like a follow-up of Psalm 3.  David appears to be in distress again and he expects an imminent relief that can only be received from a merciful God — the “God of his righteousness,” indicating that any righteousness we have comes only from God.  Any righteousness not from God is self-righteousness — a self-deception of the kind.  David knows that because God has relieved his distress in the past, He will do it again.  So he calls upon God’s grace to be heard in his prayer.

In verse 2, it appears that people who have not only turned from him, but have also turned from God to pursue delusions, are dishonouring David.  What sort of delusions?  Useless kinds and lies.  These can consist of anything.  For example, there has been an ongoing development of Christians turning from true doctrine and pursuing false ones such as pursuing and/or supporting the homosexual lifestyle, in spite of what God’s Word says against it.  They abandon God and His true Church.  They dishonour God’s true people by discriminating against them who choose not to abandon His inerrant and infallible Word.  Even worse, they dishonour God by living unrepentantly in sin while simultaneously redefining sin, as well as spreading false doctrine.  As God set David apart from those who abandoned him, so God sets His true Church apart from those who abandon Him to chase after useless delusions such as homosexuality, and God will sort them out at the Judgement.  God hears us when we call to Him, and His ears are closed off to those who abandon Him.

While there are similarities between Psalms 3 and 4, there are also some differences.  In Psalm 3, David prayed that God “break the teeth of the wicked” (v. 7).  In Psalm 4:4-5, however, he appeals to his enemies to not allow their anger to lead them to sin and to repent and “offer right sacrifices,” as well as to trust in God.  Why the sudden change of heart — from cold wishes to warm admonition?  Remember that David was a sinner like any of the rest of us — capable of failure and being flawed (indeed, we see his human frailty in his sin with Bathsheba and poor fathering skills in dealing with his sons’ poor behaviour).  Perhaps he realised his harshness and regretted it.  Or perhaps it’s the desperate plea of a father to a wandering son (Absalom).  Whatever the reason, we can all take his advice here.  Even the apostle Paul borrowed his advice in Ephesians 4:26, “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger.”  Never go to bed angry.  When night falls and you find that you’re still angry about something, eliminate that anger before you go to bed.  Whether it’s through prayer, confronting and resolving the issue, or talking to someone to help calm you down, do whatever you need to do to get rid of that anger (so long as it’s done healthfully, of course).  If you don’t do this, it doesn’t mean that you’re sinning.  Getting rid of your anger before you go to bed at the end of the day just makes living your life that much easier and stress free.

When we desire goodness, only God can give it to us.  When we ask for good providence in our lives, only God can supply it.  In verse 7, David acknowledges that god gives greater joy than the joy that people have when they lavish in their material riches.  The joy of the Lord is eternal; the joys of materialism perish.  Just like in Psalm 3, David can sleep assured that god will keep him safe, “for the joy of the LORD is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10b).

Psalm 4 Prayer

O Lord, You never fail to preserve me.  It is by Your strength alone that I need not worry under cover of night.  For those who have separated themselves from You, I ask that You guide them back to You — help them to conquer their sins as You have helped me, as Your will be done.  Silence my anger — calm the raging seas of my desire for vengeance.  Bless me with Your joy so that it may infect others around me.  In the name of Jesus I pray, amen.

Psalm 3: Save Me, O My God

Read Psalm 3 in your Bible.

David wrote this psalm in regards to his fleeing from Absalom, which is recorded in 2 Samuel 15-18.  This psalm can therefore be applied to anyone who has experienced betrayal.  David’s enemies were not only numerous, but they were also attempting to undermine his faith.  Every Christian experiences this at least once in his or her life.  If it hasn’t happened to you yet, it will.  We have enemies everywhere.  They not only seek to destroy us (like ISIS currently), but our enemies also seek to undermine our faith (atheists like the infamous Richard Dawkins).  However, in spite of the war against us, like David, we have hope in the Lord’s presence and preservation.

A shield gives us the image of a shield in front of one’s body as it absorbs death-threatening blows in hand-to-hand combat.  Christ is our shield, for He took the blow of death for us, and we thus have hope in the resurrection of the dead (refer to Romans 6:3-7, 10-11).  While in the midst of persecution, we recall this hope and call upon the Lord for deliverance.  Indeed, He answers our call as we trust and rely on Him, just as David did on numerous occasions.  David’s confidence in the Lord’s preservation enabled him to sleep in spite of his life-threatening predicament.  When we face overwhelming worry, stress, and anxiety, many of us suffer from insomnia.  But complete confidence in the Lord’s preservation can soothe one’s mind and enable sleep.  How do we know that we can trust in His preservation?  Go back to the end of the second psalm:  “Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.”  There is no distinction.  Because we have the hope in Christ who is to come again, we can experience a lack of fear in spite of our thousands of enemies.  Anyone who is not in Christ is considered an enemy of God (James 4:4), and therefore our enemies.  So we are literally surrounded by enemies, both known and unknown.  But how many of us are afraid of this reality?  I’m not afraid because of the hope I have in Christ, and from God’s preservation in the past.  I know that He will continue to preserve me.  This is only possible through the peace of the Lord (John 14:27), and I pray that you all experience this peace.

We experience God’s preservation either through Him preserving our safety in the midst of trouble or danger, or by Him wiping out our enemies.  People use the existence of suffering as “evidence” of either God’s non-existence or that He is hateful or indifferent rather than loving.  Such people ignore the evidence of His preservation.  Let’s use World War II as an example.  The atheistic argument proposes that God allowed Hitler to reign, therefore God is either hateful, indifferent, or simply doesn’t exist.  (It is hilarious that those who don’t believe in God presume to fathom His character.)  However, is Hitler still in reign?  Obviously not, for through the efforts of the Allied Forces, God preserved His people (Jewish and Gentile alike).  Since the human concupiscence is to sin since childhood (Genesis 8:21), we have the natural tendency to view evil as an absence of God when God is always active.  Evil is not the absence of God altogether; it is the absence of God’s love and good in the human heart.  Where evil is present, God is not inactive.  Rather, it is where He is the most active, for no evil act lasts forever.  Just because we can’t immediately recognise His presence doesn’t mean He’s not there.

David accentuates our hope in Christ at the end of this psalm:  Salvation comes from God, which is effective through the works of Christ, in whom we have hope.

Psalm 3 Prayer

In the case that you fear for your safety, be it life-threatening or just from overwhelming worry, anxiety, or stress, here’s a prayer I’ve prepared:  Father, please keep me safe.  In Your mercy, preserve me.  I trust in Your preservation.  If it be Your will that I come home to You, so be it.  But if it be Your will that I continue to dwell amongst my enemies [or suffer through anxiety, etc.], I ask that You guard over me and grant me solace.

[If you suffer with insomnia]:  Father, like David, grant me Your peace so I may sleep, that I may battle this anxiety and continue my living tomorrow, and each day that follows.  Grant me rest, O Lord.  Help me to be resilient so that I may win the battle of anxiety.  Lord, thank You for Your preservation, and thank You for Your salvation through Christ.  In the name of Jesus I pray, amen.

Psalm 2: The Reign of the LORD'S Anointed

Read Psalm 2 in your Bible.

This psalm starts off with a rhetorical question.  Resisting God's authority is a futile effort, so why do nations seek to be independent of God, or enemies of Him and His children?  The word "anointed" in the text is the Hebrew word that translates in English to Messiah.  The New Testament makes it clear that this psalm was written in application to the coming Christ (Acts 13:32-33), as all the psalms are about Christ (Luke 24:44).  So, the nations set themselves against God and the Anointed One, Jesus Christ the Messiah, desiring to "burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords" from them — that is, to be independent of them and not bound by God's authority.  Indeed, this pattern continues today across many nations, and increasingly so in America.

Of course, God laughs at such futility.  You may deny God's authority, but denying His authority does not unbind you from it, and neither does it make Him any less real.  You are bound by His authority whether you like it or not.  So believing one can be released from His authority truly is hysterical.  When such futile denial occurs, God ridicules them.  In His ridicule, He passes judgement upon them, be it by oppression, famine, pestilence, war, whatever He finds suitable.  In America, it seems that this nation is perhaps being punished by a near economic crisis as it continues to condone and even encourage sins such as homosexuality.  In Scripture, Zion is often used to signify the city of Jerusalem.  Zion was a southern hill upon which a Jebusite stronghold was fortified until David conquered it (2 Samuel 5:6-7).  After some time, it became synonymous with Jerusalem.  In verse 6, God declares King David (and therefore the royal line of David and therefore Jesus Christ) as the only king with the representation and authority of His authority.  Going back to God laughing in verse 4, Luther comments:

Let us laugh at raging Satan and the world (yes, even at sin and our conscience in us). Truly, because the punishment of the godless is delayed up to now, it is certain that God is also laughing, God, who is in heaven and cannot be driven from there by impious men. Therefore He rightly laughs at their vain attempts (Luther's Works American Edition, 12:25).

The sudden change to the first person in verse 7 is an affirmation of the one being anointed — Jesus Christ.  Indeed, God the Father gives His only begotten Son the heritage of the nations through the line of David, giving Him also the earth as His precious possession, and therefore ruling over all those who inhabit it.  In Mesopotamian texts, a king's reign was likened to smashing pottery.  So "break" here means "reign" or "rule," and "iron" as "strength," and "potter's vessel" as "weakness."  So the Anointed One — Jesus Christ — would reign over the nations with strength and the power to shatter their weaknesses.

Verses 10-12 turn back to the kings of the earth, serving as a warning with a therefore.  These are the kings who are set against the Anointed One — the one who has power over the earth with the ability to destroy.  If they are wise, they will acknowledge God in reverence and piety and honour Him lest His wrath be incurred, for His wrath occurs quickly — no warning is given except the words provided here.  The psalm ends with a concise gospel message — that God's allies have His protection and will be blessed.  Blessed how?  Refer back to Psalm 1:3, "He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season,  and its leaf does not wither.  In all that he does, he prospers."

This second psalm can be applied to our nations today.  Nation after nation is setting itself into a contemptuous disposition against God and His Anointed One, Jesus Christ, to whom dominion over the entire earth (and Heaven) was given.  If the rulers of today's nations continue in their disposition against the King of the earth, the wrath of the Almighty will come down upon them without warning.  Those nations who are God's allies, however, will remain protected.

Psalm 2 Prayer
Father, I pray for my nation.  Every day that passes, she becomes more godless.  You know that the governmental actions of my nation do not reflect the true actions and desires of Your children.  I ask that You not forget Your people who live in godless nations, those who have not forgotten You.  We seek to serve and honour You with our whole heart, in spite of our government's godless actions.  But if it be Your will, I pray for our government.  Give them wisdom in their governance, and please help to turn them from their godless ways — to refocus on You and Your Word rather than the words of men, for they fear men more than they fear You, O God.  If it be Your will that our government should perish in due time, save Your people who take refuge in You.  In the name of Jesus I pray, amen.