Psalm 4:1-2
The Safety of the Faithful. A Psalm of David.
Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness!
You have relieved me in my distress; Have mercy on me, and hear my prayer.
How long, O you sons of men, Will you turn my glory to shame?
How long will you love worthlessness and seek falsehood?
Selah
It seems like times have not changed much. Anybody who seeks to do right and punish wrong doing will be attacked and maligned. We have people in government and in corporations that support and favor worthless ventures; ventures that are completely against God’s Word. This is the biggest battle the church has, to fight against this corruption, but not by “fighting” but by being salt and light in a dark world. David struggled with this as well. To know specifically what battle or what problem of the many David faced that caused him to write this Psalm, or if this is still the aftermath of his sin with Bathsheba, we could only guess. However, what matters is how he deals with it. He implores God, “Hear me,” and not just hear me but “God of my righteousness.” As if to say “all of who I am is reliant upon all of who You are. ” God has been many things to David through the years, God of my salvation, God of my hope, God of my strength, the God who trains my hands for war, my Rock and High Tower, etc.
And all these titles or truths of God are like armor (Eph.6) that David relied on to defeat the enemy. Be it the enemy in the field, or the enemies within his government, or his own insecurities. The sword that David is using in this Psalm is the truth that God is his righteousness. For God knows the truth and knows that these accusations are worthless, “turn my glory to shame?” Worthless accusations by worthless men, much like today. David stands forgiven and in favor with his Good Shepherd but without David knowing that, fear, doubt, anger, insecurity, jealousies etc. could cripple him as it cripples the human soul today. These negative emotions are like a cancer that invade every thought and emotion. If we are controlled by these emotions we are like puppets on a string. Satan has only to pull our strings of insecurity, or anger or fear, to cause us to act as he pleases. We must be wiser than him by being well grounded in God’s Truth. We must remember that Satan knows the scriptures too, but he spins them to his gain, confusing the weak believer as he did with Eve and millions of people ever since.
It’s very expensive both financially, emotionally, and spiritually to be a weak believer. We can be so easily deceived. It plays out in our families and individual lives from excessive arguing, to divorce, to debt, to crippling worry and fear, to a sense of being lost, or not feeling loved. These emotions and more are a result of not knowing God more intimately.
1 Peter 5:8-9
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (consume or destroy). Resist (stand your ground) knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world (the word vigilant reminds me of a lighthouse, ever searching, ever looking for harm and danger).
To stand against requires conviction, and conviction comes from the truth you believe. To know that God is still greater even if the situation doesn’t change, or even gets worse means your faith is fixed on the Lord where the impossible is simply where He begins. We are not looking at circumstances but at a God who is not limited. He can work out His will and is still able to keep you. Faith defeats fear, insecurity and doubt, the very things the enemy would want to intimidate us with.
However, before this verse is one that is mighty and powerful, said so simple that most believers skip over it to get to verses 8&9, verse 7.
But God gives grace (strength) to the humble, therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting ALL your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
Humility is the secret weapon of the righteous. All those who are mighty in God are mighty because of one truth, all of them has kneeled to all of God. There no longer exists an ego that wants or needs to be acknowledged. It does not care, only that Christ is exalted. As John the Baptist said when his discipline told him that Jesus’s followers where increasing,
John 3:29-30
He who has the bride (the church) is the bridegroom (Jesus); but the friend of the bridegroom( John) who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.
And that is the movement or the underlining force of any believer who is dynamic in their faith. They seek to decrease so their Lord may increase. There is an active movement towards humility, even an embracing of it. For in humility there is the freedom that the Holy Spirit has in them to make them dynamic. Yet it has nothing to do with them other than they have become an open road for the Spirit to travel.
Continuing with our Psalm…
Psalms 4:3-4
But know that the LORD has set apart for Himself him (or her) who is godly;
The LORD will hear when I call to Him. Be angry, and do not sin.
Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still.
Selah
To know that our devotion and faithfulness to the Lord is such that He sets us apart, separates us as His own. As a little boy I played marbles a lot and would trade marbles, but there were four marbles that I would never trade. These were my special marbles. We are the Lord’s “special kids.’’ This is His doing. And because it is so, “The LORD will hear when I call to Him.”
However I wonder if the reality of GOD hearing us is hard for some of us to grasp. We pray because it is expected of us, but do we really believe He hears us? And when “He answers,” did He really answer or did things just turn out that way; was it coincidence? Because of this gray area in us, something we really don’t talk about, I find that many via their actions do not make prayer or Bible study a daily practice in their lives.
This God, Jehovah Yahweh, a name so sacred that the Jews would not even pronounce His name completely; human lips were way too unholy, HE DOES hear us, and it’s absolutely amazing, “off the charts” kind of stuff. It’s wonderful if you can truly believe, for it will change your behavior.
There’s at least a couple reasons for the doubt. One, we do not understand the Cross. We’ve heard Christ died for us, but this HUGE TRUTH is minimized almost to the point that we get tired of hearing it. This is a definite sign of a calloused heart. If this is you know that you are in danger. Your spiritual apathy is hurting you, robbing your joy, your peace and you are probably not that easy to live with. God has some definite concern over your life.
Revelation 3:1-6
To the Church in Sardis
“And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.
“‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Remember (reflect back to when you first accepted Christ), what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. The one who conquers (materialism, selfish ambitions, love for the world and self) will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his/ or her name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
I definitely want The Father and the angels to know my name because Christ my Savior told them, don’t you? Next do we clearly understand why Christ had to die for us? The answer is found in several verses, I’m sharing two.
Ezekiel 18:19-20
“Yet you say, Why should not the son suffer for the iniquity of the father?’ When the son has done what is just and right, and has been careful to observe all my statutes, he shall surely live. The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
Romans 3:23-25
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation (payment) by his blood (His life) to be received by faith (faith is an action word, to believe, to account it to be true). This was to show God’s righteousness ( holiness combined w/ the deepest love) because in his divine forbearance, he had passed over former sins.
Christ died to redeem us; to buy us back. Redeemption is a legal term and a legal process. To free someone from the rulership of sin in their lives they must confess faith (belief) in Christ’s work and accept the blood atonement of Christ for them. Once that is done then legally satan has no more authority over them. Much like quitting your old job and then getting a new job. Your old boss no longer has authority, the ability to order you. It’s exactly the same. We have a new Boss and proof of the change is the gift of His Holy Spirit. This is our guarantee or a down payment of our new life. The Holy Spirit needs to grow in dominance and strength in us. Therefore to be redeemed, a word that literally means to be purchased from the slave market of sin, involves a change of life, via habit, desires,and thoughts. So the truth of redemption is binding in the spiritual world.
We have talked about this numerous times, and it’s beautiful to me. At the same time we must do our part and live a life of abstaining from the flesh and the world. Otherwise the “roar of the lion scares us and we lose faith and give in to fear, worry, and do things that we normally would not do causing us to sin. Remember our verse?
1 Peter 5:8h
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
Therefore to continue to live a lukewarm, compromised state, remaining slaves to sin makes no sense other than we are blind. We simply do not get it. The second reason why we remain lukewarm is complicated but it has to do with a lack of intimacy between parent and child. We never grew up feeling special, so it’s hard to believe that God finds us special.
This is, unfortunately, a common problem due to the break up of the home. A child’s mind does not think mommy and daddy cannot get along so they are divorcing, no a child’s mind thinks that they do not love me enough to stay together and work things out. And this feeling of being unloved gets grafted into their soul and begins to remake their identity. That’s why God in Malachi 2:14 -16 says this.
Malachi 2:13-16
And this second thing you do. You cover the LORD’S altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand ( or hears or answers your prayers) . But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the LORD was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. “For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the LORD, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the LORD of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.”
The way this identity crisis is solved is by the child, possibly now an adult goes through some really tough and often painful situations. It forces them to pray and when those prayers get answered it’s not just luck or happenstance, it’s GOD answering. And when God answers, everything in us changes; we feel important and we feel special.
Next concern is where are they today with the Lord. I hear stories of God’s faithfulness and they are beautiful to hear; their countenance is bright and filled with joy. Then, and sadly so, l learn that this event happened 10 years ago. They’re living on memories, and it’s sad. It should not be this way. God says He’s the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He is not just the God of Abraham, the God of the past, but He was Isaac’s God and then Jacob’s God and now He is our God. We need to live today with Him. Allow the memories to encourage us of His faithfulness, but press into Him today! He’s as much a God of the present as He has been of the past.
Jeremiah, though a prophet, struggled with depression. His ministry was tough, people didn’t like his message. It was a hard message, repent or go into captivity. If you think about it, it’s the same message today. We can either live free serving the Lord and share in His peace, love and joy, or become a slave to our passions, to our insecurities and fears and
serve the gods of this world. Different gods, but its the same enslavement. Jeremiah could have remained discouraged but he chose rather to think on the character and goodness of the Lord. Its a choice he made and it’s a choice we too must make.
Lamentations 3:16-25
He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes; my soul is bereft of peace;
I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say, “My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the LORD.”
Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me( and there’s much more to his struggle that he writes about in prior verses),
But this I call to mind ( a deliberate action), and therefore I have hope:The steadfast love of the LORD NEVER ceases;( when we are fighting are energies are becoming depleted and it’s easy to give into depression), “however”his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; GREAT is your faithfulness.
“ The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him ( to wait is to trust
and not panic and do our own thing out of fear or anxiety, to stay the course of faith).
Even King Ahab, a weak and Godless King experienced God’s might in a most desperate situation.
1 Kings 20:27-28
And the people of Israel were mustered and were provisioned and they went out against them (the Syrians). The people of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of goats, but the Syrians filled the country. And a man of God came near and said to the king of Israel, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Because the Syrians have said, “The LORD is a god of the hills but he is not a god of the valleys,( I Kings 19) therefore I will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD.’”
These “Ahab” events that occur in our life not only do we know it’s all God’s doing it, but God confirms by so doing that we are definitely on His radar. Sometimes we think that God doesn’t have time for us, but we learn through these trials that, that is simply not true. And this builds our faith knowing that He is truly our God. He is quite an amazing God when you think about all He does. Him becoming our Good Shepherd, our Provider, our Counselor and our Friend and our Savior is worth all the struggle and wrestling we go through to mature to this point.
Nothing can compare to the knowing that I am His and that He is mine. It destroys insecurity and fear and gives an undeniable purpose and sense of worth and importance that is deep and unpenetrateable. And that is how intimacy between us and God is built. We must go through the furnace, but we come out stronger and better for it provided we stay the course.
Talking about a change in our identity. We are now putting on the shield of faith, thus protecting the our heart from the lying darts of the enemy, and putting on and always wearing the helmet of salvation to protect our minds from the godless thoughts he wants us to believe in so as to manipulate us. And because of His great Grace and kindness we are humbled. It is the privilege of being a sheep in His fold. He is the Good Shepherd that hears and is tuned in and turned to His flock.
With such attention, anger, a natural human emotion has no need to control us. Things will happen that are wrong, very wrong at times, but prayer is the best action towards the wrong done to us or to others. Take our political environment right now, there’s a lot to be angry about but to what end? Will being angry change the outcome? No, but if God’s people pray and beseech the Lord He will act on our behalf.
2 Chronicles 7:13-14
When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
We need our land healed. We need righteous people in government, people that fear and love God, and as a people we must pray and vote for those people. And not just any prayer, but intercessory prayer where we get down on our knees and pray in earnestness to affect change in our government. If we took our privilege of prayer more seriously our prayers would be as laser guided missiles where we could see bondages broken, evil and wrong punished and righteousness exalted. We would have very little to be angry about. In this election year there should not be one believer who is not beseeching God for leaders who love Him, respect His ways, and support life and a life of faith. This is our chance to have just rulers over us; to not do so is to be asleep at the wheel and we know bad things happen when that happens (there is much looming ahead of us if Biden gets in, Harris will replace him and she is so extremely liberal).
The attention and face of God (figuratively) is found when we understand who it is we are approaching. He is High and Lifted Up, and He rules over the affairs of man and over the circle of the earth, He is to be greatly praised and greatly to be held in reverence.
Daniel 4:17
The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, the decision by the word of the holy ones, to the end that the living may know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will and sets over it the lowliest of men.’
Psalms 51:15-17
O Lord, open my lips,and my mouth will declare your praise.For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Psalms 145:8-11
The LORD is gracious and merciful,slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The LORD is good to all,
and his mercy is over all that he has made. All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD,
and all your saints shall bless you!
They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power.”
There is no better life on this side of Heaven. Seek it, sacrifice for it, die to self and the passing ventures of this life to gain a life that cannot be taken from you and show your love ones the way to life so they too follow in your footsteps.
Father God,
We are living in difficult times with the darkness of man’s heart being openly on display. It’s evil and unabashed. We must join in prayer and become an invincible force. We can conquer and we need too. This is the time for believers to stand up and be counted. May all our voices become a strong cry before the Throne of our Father. We must live what we preach, forsaking the world and following hard after You Lord.
God Bless you – Arthur
personal note: This Thanksgiving, despite the uncertainty of our lives currently there is still much to be thankful for. God has not changed, He is the same God and is very capable to enter into the events of man and affect change. There’s no such thing as defeat when God is in control. That doesn’t mean things can’t become difficult and hard, it just means according to the difficulty is His Grace. Amen.