PENINSULA BIBLE CHURCH CUPERTINO AN INVITATION TO PRAY1 Catalog No. 7159 Psalm 4 Steve DePangher September 26th, 1999 Background and Context we have when we place our hearts before him in prayer. The two We do not know much with certainty about the background or most probable contexts for Psalm 4 will provide us with exam- context of Psalm 4. Unlike the header to Psalm 3, which specifies ples and pictures that will help fill out and apply the truths that it was written when David had fled from Absalom, the head- found in this psalm. er to Psalm 4 simply says: The life of prayer For the choir director; on stringed instruments. Psalm 4 opens with an interesting cry. Notice its combination A Psalm of David. of confident declaration of what God has done in the past as well Psalm 4 was meant to be sung in accompaniment with musical as its sense of urgency about the present: instruments, and its author is David. That much seems clear. But Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! some who have studied Psalm 4 closely find other clues to the Thou hast relieved me in my distress; setting of its composition. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer. Leaning heavily on the fact that the word translated “good” in We have a present tense call to God for help, a recognition that verse 6 is sometimes clearly used for “rain,” some believe that God has come to David’s relief in the past, and then another Psalm 4 was written at a time of drought. The king of Israel had present tense call for help. At first, I found this confusing. But as I gone before the Lord and asked for rain, but none came. Frustrat- reflected over several weeks on this psalm, it became clear to me ed, the courtly nobility around the king advocated that sacrifices that the wavering tension found in this verse is a very precise and prayers be made to other gods besides Yahweh. The king and freeing picture of how I stand before my God. David moves wrote Psalm 4 in response to God and to the nobility at this time from call to help to statement of fact and faith and back again of testing, drought, and frustration. rapidly and freely because he knows that he is free in his conver- Others believe that Psalm 4 was written at some time when sation with God. He doesn’t have to be “correct,” he has to be David was in exile – forced away from his home and loved ones true. by Absalom or perhaps by Saul, giving Psalm 4 the exact same In reflecting on this I found that I do not have this sense of context as Psalm 3. The fact that this psalm comes in the Psalter freedom in my conversations with God. Instead, I have fallen when it does – i.e. just after Psalm 3 – lends some credence to this into the habit of appearing good before God, of trying to say hard possibility. These interpreters see Psalm 4 as coupled with Psalm things in the “right way.” I have allowed myself to be ignorant or 3, just like Psalm 2 is with Psalm 1. indecisive before God, but not agitated, frustrated, or impatient. As we read through Psalm 4 (NASB), we can sense the validity This psalm has begun to give me some of that freedom. But we of both points of view: need to look more closely at David’s words before drawing out this application too far. Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! Thou hast relieved me in my distress; First, David calls God the “God of my righteousness.” This Be gracious to me and hear my prayer. phrase means that David’s God is the one who is responsible for O sons of men, how long will my honor become a reproach? the vindication of David. David’s God is David’s savior and re- How long will you love what is worthless and aim at decep- deemer. It is God who steps in and acts to defend, protect, and, in tion? [Selah] the end, make David righteous. The phrase does not somehow But know that the Lord has set apart the godly man for Him- mean that David has stored up enough righteousness or good- self ness in his spiritual bank account so that God is now free to be The Lord hears when I call to Him. his God. The English translations don’t make this point very clear Tremble, and do not sin; until we get to the second part of the verse: Meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still. [Selah] Thou hast relieved me in my distress; Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, And trust in the Lord. Literally, David says that God has “enlarged” him, i.e. placed Many are saying, “Who will show us any good?” him in a wide-open space, when he was in trouble. The idea here Lift up the light of Thy countenance upon us, O Lord. is that troubles close in on one. We use the phrase “boxed in” or Thou hast put gladness in my heart, “fenced in” or “cornered” sometimes in the same way. But the More than when their grain and new wine abound. phrase is used in an unusual way here. Typically, some particu- In peace I will both lie down and sleep, lar part of the body or psyche accompanies this phrase. One’s For Thou alone, O Lord, dost make me to dwell in safety.2 mouth is “opened wide” to speak (Ps 35:21) or the heart is made “large enough” so that God’s commands can be obeyed (Ps In both cases, there are hints from the vocabulary or the con- 119:32). Here, though, David simply says that God has “en- text of the Psalm which make both interpretations possible. My larged” him. own inclination is to see Psalm 4 as being written at very nearly the same time as Psalm 3, i.e. when David had fled from Jerusa- So, David’s prayer begins with a recognition that God is help- lem because of the rebellion of Absalom. er and savior, the one who acts to vindicate and make righteous. God does this by making David “big enough” whenever David But the context may not matter much when it comes to apply- approaches God in prayer, constantly crying out to be heard. ing Psalm 4 to our lives today, because in either case, God has Martin Luther was fascinated by the emotional and spiritual se- given us a picture of how to pray, to order our inward being, in quence of this prayer. He said: times of anxiety, stress, or persecution. He reveals the freedom 1 Therefore the prayer leads to answer, the answer to righteous- proach” in the NASB, is kelimmah. The idea of kelimmah is public ness, the righteousness to tribulation, the tribulation to conso- damage or ruin to one’s reputation or status. Whatever has hap- lation…Note carefully, that the end of this verse is not in the pened that caused David to write this psalm, it includes public “enlargement,” so that we may know that for us the end does ridicule and humiliation. He is disgraced. What should be a not consist in this life, but that we must ask and pray for mer- source of respect and admiration has become a public joke or dis- cy at all times and until death…If we will thus look at [this grace. It should be what President Clinton experiences in our verse] in the right way, there will not only be prescribed for us society today for his scandalous and very public misconduct. It is the finest way to praise the Lord, but the whole basis for living a mark of how depraved American society is that there is no ke- and praying is here embraced.3 limmah for rulers who misbehave. I don’t know how we can re- store a sense of shame to a society once it has been lost. Like I suspect that for many of you, this seems like no big deal. many other social conditions, we probably need to start with our Some of you have had this kind of freedom in prayer for years. If own hearts individually, asking God for forgiveness and re- so, please pray for me as I speak for a moment to those who, like newed purity, and then stepping back to watch our sovereign me, need to learn this truth. Put simply, Psalm 4 gives us the free- Lord act. dom to be honest before the Lord. For some, like me, we need to understand the freedom we have to say whatever we wish to The second observation is that David knows that idolatry God: to complain, to express anxiety, frustration, and uncertain- must play no role in the restoration of his honor or reputation. To ty; to shout for joy or sing; to cry or pout. Freedom of speech seek out Baal for rain, or to plot militarily against Absalom or with God is fundamental to the psalms, and we will see the Saul is to engage in idolatry. In the first case, the idolatry is obvi- theme played out again and again in Psalm 4. ous. The second might require more explanation. David con- fronts the men around him with loving what is worthless and The Daily Temptation of Idolatry aiming at deception.