Psalms 4:1

The Bible says in Psalms 4:1, “Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.” David called God “my righteousness.” That shows a lot of spiritual insight. When a person accepts Jesus as Savior, God accounts that person as being righteous. Because we are sinners, we do not have any righteousness of our own. Jesus is our righteousness. That is why we are always accepted by the Lord. That is why we will not be punished for our sins. That is why we will be allowed into heaven.

David also says in verse 1, “thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress.” David can look into the past and he can remember other times when God delivered him. That is part of growing in faith. Since God took care of me in the past, I know that He will take care of me now too. Since God gave me victory over my enemies in the past, I know that He will give me victory now too. Since God forgave my sins in the past, I know that He will forgive me now too. And so David also says to God, “have mercy upon me.” That is a good way to start any prayer. Our sins must be forgiven if we are to have a true relationship with the Lord. Unconfessed sin can be a block to answer to prayer. It says in Psalms 66:18, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.”

The Bible says in Psalms 4:2, “O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing? Selah.” No matter how many times the Lord gives us victory, as long as we are in this life there will be new battles to face. David asks the question twice, “how long?” The answer to that question is, “As long as you live upon this earth.” At least there are intervals of refreshing and peace. But one battle will follow the next. Jesus talked about the nations of this earth in the age in which we live, and Jesus said, “There shall be wars and rumors of wars.” That includes life from a spiritual perspective also. Unbelievers are on the opposite side of truth. It is impossible for them to see things God’s way. They are not surrendered to God’s will. They will try to turn the tables. God chose David to be king. God set him up and gave him authority. People who did not know God were against that. Instead of honoring David, they wanted to shame David. The unbelievers “love vanity.” They do not love God. They do not love that which is eternal. They love the things that are of no value and that will perish. They are of this world and temporary. They also do not love the truth. They “seek after leasing,” “Leasing” is an old English word that means “lying.” Believers love the truth because they have joined themselves to the truth, who is Jesus Christ. But unbelievers are a part of the lies of the world. They lie and say that Jesus is not important. They lie and say that they do not need to turn from their sins. The commandments of God are not important to them, and one of those commandments is, “Thou shalt not lie”.

The Bible says in Psalms 4:3, “But know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the Lord will hear when I call unto him.” In the face of opposition and enemies David knew two things. He knew his relationship with God, and David knew that God would answer his prayers. Who are the godly: those who have believed upon Jesus with saving faith. At the point of salvation God becomes a part of our life. We want to do what is right. That is godliness from a practical standpoint: the desire and the purpose to serve God and to do what is right. That is part of the motivation when a person comes to Christ: I want to turn from my sins and start doing the right thing, and so I turn to Jesus. Once you do turn to Jesus, one of the many benefits is “the Lord will hear when I call unto him.” We (the Christians) belong to God. We have a personal relationship with the Almighty. He will protect us. He will answer our prayers.

The Bible says in Psalms 4:4, “Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.” Two different positions of the human body are mentioned: standing and lying down in bed. The point is that whatever situation we are in, we should be thinking about God. We are told to be “in awe” about God. We have an awesome God who died for our sins. We have an awesome God who is all-powerful, and God will use that power to guide, to protect, and to bless the believers. If you have been praying about everything, and you think about the details of your life, and you understand them, then you will notice how God has moved and worked in all things. We are told to “be still.” One of the things that happens to Christians who become non-spiritual and who fail to walk close to the Lord is how busy they can become. They do not do anything wrong, they just become so very busy with work, family, school, hobbies, children’s sports and other activities. They can barely get enough sleep, let alone be still and commune with their heart with God. If they do not have enough prayer and communion with God, then verse 4 calls it “sin.”

The Bible says in Psalms 4:5, “Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the Lord.” In the Old Testament under the law there were countless sacrifices of animals to be a constant image of what Christ would do for us on the cross as the Lamb of God. This verse says that we should give to God “sacrifices of righteousness.” God wants us to do the right thing. Do right and then “trust in the Lord.” But do not rely upon the good deeds that you do as giving you favor with God, but rely upon the Lord. We are depending upon what the Lord does for us.

The Bible says in Psalms 4:6, “There be many that say, who will show us any good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.” This verse is about people who do not have a positive outlook about life. They look at the negative instead of the positive. They are gloomy. They are not happy. They see the bad in people instead of the good. They think about the bad things that might happen instead of the good things that might happen. They say, “who will show us any good?” One of the benefits of being a Christian is that instead of being negative and gloomy, we can be very positive and very happy. We can look on the positive side of things. Because we have trusted in Jesus to be our Savior, at the end of our journey on this earth, we will end up in heaven. And while we go through this journey, we have all the promises of God to enjoy. Jesus promises to always be with us. Jesus promises to answer our prayers as long as we pray in the name of Jesus. He promises to guide us. He promises to protect us. He promises to use us so that we bear fruit for His glory. He promises to make everything that happens to us to turn out for good. The question that negative people ask is this: “who will show us any good?” The answer is: God will show us a lot of good. That is why the end of verse 6 says, “Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.” It will take the grace of God to go from a negative person to a positive one, but God can work that miracle too.

The Bible says in Psalms 4:7, “Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased.” David said that he had gladness in his heart. He was happy. How did David find happiness? God put happiness into David’s heart. That is exactly how to be happy: by the grace of God to have a work done in your heart that can only be done by divine intervention. Notice that David described the happiness that he had as being “more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased.” If you have ever suffered financially, then you understand the importance and the blessing of having things go your way from a material standpoint. Hopefully you will give thanks to God and use what God has given you for His glory. If you are blessed financially, you should be thankful and you should be happy. But there is a type of happiness that is much greater than what material prosperity can give you, and that is the happiness of knowing the Lord Jesus as your Savior.

The Bible says in Psalms 4:8, “I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.” When you have many enemies, and many people causing you trouble, how can you lie down in peace? Since Jesus is the Prince of Peace, He can bring you peace in your heart no matter what are your circumstances. He can give you safety. Jesus rules over all, even those who do not know Him. Jesus is a wonderful Savior. Jesus takes care of His children.

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