Psalms 4

Psalms 4:1-8

Morning and Evening Prayers Psalms 3:1-8; Psalms 4:1-8 These psalms probably date from David’ s flight before Absalom, 2 Samuel 16:1-23. It is the perfection of trust to be able to sleep when our foes are many and set upon our destruction. So Jesus slept, Mark 4:38; and Peter, Acts 12:6. Be sure that you are where God would have you to be, and then resign yourself to His loving care. Even though pursued by the results of your sins, you will find that God will save you, on condition of your being contrite. Let us begin the day and close it with thanksgivings and prayers. Godly means having the power to love. Dost thou love God and His saints? Then know that He has set thee apart-that is, separated thee-for Himself. Seek His will alone. Be content to let the world go by. Thou hast no need to envy the prosperous worldling. God suffices for heaven; why not for earth?

Hear me when I call!Psalms 4:1A prayer. We must be sure that our cause is a righteous one before we can ask God to vindicate it; and we do well to go back to God’s former deliverances. Build supplication on recollection.

Psalms 4:2-3 An expostulation. Vanity refers to Psalms 2:1 –“a vain thing”; leasing is Old English for lying. Absalom’s rebellion is a type of all those plots against Christ and His saints which begin in falsehood, and end in confusion. The Hebrew word translated godly means one who loves. Dost thou love God first, and afterwards His saints? Then know that God hath set thee apart (i.e., separated) for Himself. Seek his praise alone. Be content to let the world go by. Thou canst not fail; his cause and thine are one (Lamentations 3:58).

Psalms 4:4-5 Loving counsel.The Apostle gives a very remarkable application of Psa 4:4 in Ephesians 4:26. If men communed with each other less, and with God more, allowing the heat of passion to cool in the silences of the night, they would discover the futility of fuming and fretting against the Lord’s people and cause. To all of us the injunction, Be still, is most appropriate. It is only in standing water that silt settles, and in quiet nights that the dew distils. In the night, when the eye is closed to all the world, let it be opened to self-examination. Sacrifice here is the whole burnt offering, and corresponds to entire surrender, out of which trust naturally springs.

Psalms 4:6-8A wise deduction and resolve.How true is this of the “many” everywhere who know not God!–But all is vain when God’s face is hidden. How rich is the soul on which its light rests! (Numbers 6:24-26). Absalom, and his conspirators, with all that David had left them, had not as much true bliss as the fugitive monarch enjoyed. In the hour of his sin he had asked to’ hear joy and gladness (Psalms 51:8); and this was the reply. The saint has no need to envy the prosperous worldling (John 4:13-14). May the Holy Spirit “put gladness in our hearts” to-day (Galatians 5:22). Psalms 4:8 means, “I shall go to sleep as soon as I lie down.” God alone is enough for any soul. He suffices for heaven: why not for earth? In solitude, let us turn to Him (Ezekiel 34:25).