Psalm 4: Rest for the Anxious Soul – Praying Peace Before Sleep

[Music] [Laughter] Well, hello and welcome to the Pastor Patrick podcast. My name is Patrick Daly and I am the pastor of Ontario Community Church. I'd like to welcome you here to the podcast. Whether you are listening or watching online, you are welcome here. Whether you are a believer or you are unchurched or dechurched, whoever you are, wherever you are on life's journey, you are welcome here.

We have been going through the Psalms together. We've been going through um each psalm every episode so far. And Lord willing, we're going to get through this together. And uh Lord willing, we'll see what happens as we are continuing through this podcast. So today we're be going to be going over Psalm 4 together.

And uh what we'd like what I'd like to do is go ahead and open in a word of prayer and we'll go ahead and get started on this fourth psalm. So let's bow our heads together and we will go ahead and get started. Dear Lord and heavenly father, I'd like to thank you just for giving us once again the time and the opportunity for us to to come together online, whether listening or watching online in real time or later whenever this is. Um, I just pray that whoever is listening or watching will come to know your son Jesus Christ, that they will grow in him and be moved to do good in his holy name. Father, I ask that you bless this time together and I just pray that truth is spoken here and that your word is being living and active will be spoken in such a way that it is understood by those who are watching and those who are listening.

Bless this time together in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. And so I'd like to go ahead and turn to Psalm 4. I I am using the NIV, the New International Version. I'll go ahead and read it and we'll just go ahead and get started here.

So Psalm 4 here it is what is known as the evening hymn. It is written during affliction and distress. So here it is. Answer me when I call you my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress.

Have mercy on me and hear my prayer. How long will you people turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods? Know that the Lord has set apart his faithful servant for himself. The Lord hears when I call to him.

Tremble and do not sin when you are on your beds. Search your hearts and be silent. Offer the sacrifices of the righteous and trust in the Lord. May many Lord are asking who will bring us prosperity. Let the light of your face shine on us.

Fill my heart with joy when their grain and new wine abound. In peace I will lie down and sleep for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety. And so we begin in here in this in this psalm here, right? Where it's again, this is known as the evening hymn. It's confidence in God, right?

Knowing that um trusting in God leads to peace even when life feels uncertain. This is one of the many patterns that exists in the book of Psalms where knowing that there are David is crying out to the Lord in times of stress or distress, in times of chaos or in crisis, it is turning to the Lord in any and every season of life. When we place our faith and trust in God, there is it is knowing that there is a peace that surpasses all understanding. Right? It's leading to peace.

peace that is un unrecognizable compared to what we have in earthly peace. And even when life feels uncertain, God is always there for you. And when you lay down at night, this is kind of our opening question here. When you are laying down at night, are you resting in God's peace or are you wrestling with your own thoughts? I know sometimes when I'm laying in bed, there's a lot of things that are going on just the dayto-day, right?

um working at here at the church and and there's the ministry that's going on. There's friends, there's family, there's obligations, right? Five kids and a wife and then my own um time of study, time of prayer and devotion. So much can be going on. so much that can just pile up and just be overwhelming at times.

But at night, it's always good and even for myself to be reminded that we are to rest in the peace that comes from the Lord and comes directly from him. It's one of the many benefits that comes from knowing the Lord. Not only does God give us salvation by placing our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, but it's also in the knowing that he supplies us with peace, with comfort, with wisdom, with understanding, with joy, right, with the hope in Christ. There's so many um just abundant blessings and God and not even can factoring in God's grace that is in abundance that is available for us. It's just absolutely remarkable.

It is wonderful, right? And certainly there are times where we wrestle with our thoughts. There are times where we are anxious. There are times where we are just stressed out. But it's a reminder for us to trust in him and lay in bed in the peace of God.

And so we start off with this uh verse one here, right? In Psalm um in Psalm 4, right? So it says, "Answer me when I call you my righteous God. Give me relief from my um my distress. Have mercy on me and hear my prayer." Right?

So David is beginning pleading right making a personal plea to God. He is calling God my righteous God right answer me when I call you my righteous God. It is what's very interesting is that this is a title that is found nowhere else in scripture. So we know that God has helped David in the past before and David has confidence in his God that he will help again. That's one of the really great encouragements in in in scripture and in verses like this is knowing that the same God that leads you into situations, right?

Or the same God of every season, the God of the heavens and the earth is always going to be there with you in every season, right? Knowing that in times of crisis, in in critical moments, in the highs and the lows, and the hills and the valleys of life, God is always going to be there with you. And just as David is placing his confidence in God, we too should place our trust and our full confidence in God. No matter what is happening because we are people, we are limited in our understanding. But God is unlimit unlimited.

He is limitless. God is greater than our understanding. God is I like to tell this to um a lot of people that I've talked to, right? That God is greater than our understanding. He is greater than our theology even, right?

Our God is far greater than in and our and then than our knowledge our our wisdom right all the things the knowledge of the world is nothing compared to what God has to offer here and so it's knowing again that God has helped David in the past and David is placing his full trust in God. It's a good encouragement for us that knowing that God is constant, we can place our trust in him no matter what. It is a cry for mercy and it's a reflection on God's grace. Right? And in moments like this when we are ever placed in a situation or a circumstance, you have to ask yourself, are you placing your trust in God?

That's a common question. But do you also recognize that God has been there all along? That that that's a good question for you to consider. Think of the times for for you as a Christian, if you are a Christian, um knowing that God's been there for you before, he'll be there for you again. That's a good encouragement for us, right?

Um and just are you going through a critical time? Are you going through a moment where you need to make a plea to God or cry out to God or go to him in prayer? It's something that only you can answer because um you know your situation better than others and you can always come to the Lord of all and come to him before him. We then go into verse two where it says, "How long will you people uh turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?" Right?

That's a good question, right? How long is this going to happen? How long is this going to go on? David is confronting the people that dishonor God's name. It's a frustration that happens uh not only with David but also for even us as Christians when we see people that are sinning or people that are doing the wrong thing.

It can certainly be a frustration that happens to many of us. But um in this case, these are people who are dishonoring the name of God, right? When it's saying, "How long will you people turn my glory into shame?" Right? It's people that are right. It's the mockers, right?

If you remember when we were going into um Psalm 1 when it's saying um blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers. This is a reoccurring theme that's happening here, right? Where these are the kind of people that mock God, right? They mock his presence. They mock his promises.

And not only is that something that happened back then, it it has happened throughout history. And it continues to happen even today. There are always going to be people who are against God just as there's going to be people that are for God. And that's something that we have to factor in and things that something that we have to keep in mind, right? So when we when David is asking that question, how long, right, it grieves him just as it grieves us when we see um bad things that are happening, sin that's happening, evil in the world.

That is something that is a reoccurring theme just as it says in Ecclesiastes that there is nothing new under the sun. So that's again something for us to factor in. I'm moving here for a second here. Something for us to factor in, right? It then goes into three and four.

Know that the Lord has set apart his faithful servant for himself. The Lord hears when I call to him. Tremble and do not sin when you are on your beds. Search your hearts and be silent. Now, this is a very powerful verse that's happening, right?

Because number one, right, when it says, "Know that the Lord has set apart his faithful servant for himself. The Lord hears when I call to him, right? He knows his own." It's just like how scripture says um what is it when Christ says my sheep they know me when when they hear my voice kind of thing right um so God hears his own right he hears the cry of his people right he hears those who he has chosen right and when when David is saying further on in that verse four tremble and do not sin when you're on your bed search your hearts and be silent that's kind of a warning right it's saying here he's saying look you got to self you got to examine yourselves for right It's that famous saying, check yourself before you wreck yourself here, right? Um, search your hearts and be silent. Do not sin.

Don't continue doing the wrong thing here. Right? And so, one of the things that we can um when we're looking at this, think of how God sees you, right? In knowing the Lord, I want you to know that God hears you when you're praying to him, when you cry out to him. But if you don't know the Lord, right, these people may they are mockers, right?

And it's a much different situation in that. And before we go to bed at the end of the day, what I want you to think about is when you go to sleep, think about God's love for you. Think about God's mercy for you. Right? And it's absolutely appropriate to pray before you go to bed, obviously, but also to ask God to work on your heart, to align your heart with his, to align um your your pursuit, right, your life with his.

Asking God to lead and guide you in this life is so powerful. This then leads us then into verses uh we have verses 5 through8 right surrender right surrender and trust is what we're talking about so it says in verse 5 offer the sacrifices of the righteous and trust in the lord right so verse five is saying it's offering your whole self to the lord right um offering the sacrifices right so you have the doing of the work and the trusting in the lord Right? It's not just about what you do. Well, and especially when we're talking about the Old Testament, right? There was it was more of a worksbased kind of system.

When we think about us as Christians today, we can think for a moment that it's about believing in the Lord Jesus Christ and still upon salvation doing the work that God has for you. So, it's it it that's something to to factor in, right, when we're saying here, offer the sacrifices of the righteous and trust in the Lord. Um and and David is pointing to this idea here that there is a sacrifice, right? Um to trust in him and to trust in his way. That's something that is incredible.

And and knowing we know as Christians that the greatest sacrifice that was ever done by the Lord is was through Jesus Christ. Here, sorry, I'm moving my notes here. We then go into verses six and seven, right? Many Lord are asking who will bring us to prosperity. That seems like a question that's even asked today, right?

Who's going to make us rich? Right? Um and it goes on saying, "Let the light of your face shine on us. Fill my heart with joy when the grain of their new wine abound." Right? So David is finding joy in being in the presence of God rather than in the material things of this world.

Right? the world looks for joy or happiness in things, right? And and it's such an interesting thing that in in many instances in scripture, we find that just just like in scriptures, just like how it is today, that there are people that their their whole identity, their whole life is in their achievements or it's in money or it's in the material things of this world. But our trust should be in the living God. That which does not fade, that which is everlasting.

Right? Because when I mention that God is our constant, he is he does not change. He remains the same. When we think of uh buildings and empires and cities and even us people, we get older, we deteriorate, we fade away. But God on the other hand does not.

And so joy, we should have joy in the Lord. our trust being in the Lord because that surpasses any materialism, any material thing that exists. Now, that's not to say that having good things, having nice things is a bad thing. It is to say that we are to place our trust in that which is higher. We can enjoy, you know, a a good meal.

We can enjoy things, but that should not be our God. That should not be what we worship, right? And when they're asking this question here, um, when it's asking, who will bring us prosperity? Uh, let the light of your face shine on us. Well, it's these people are talking about materialism.

Who's going to who's going to make us rich kind of thing, right? And let the light of your face shine on us, right? They want to have abundance of materialism. But when it goes on into later on, fill my heart with joy when their grain and new wine abound, right? It's going on further than that.

Um, it's just recognizing and for you who are listening, I want you to understand, place your faith and trust in God first and foremost. Seek first the kingdom of God. It's about you believing in Jesus Christ first and foremost. From that, then everything right. Um, seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness and then all these things will be added unto you.

God should be at the center of our life. And so then in verse 8, in peace I will lie down and sleep for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety. And this is very similar to what we were finding uh just like in um Psalm 3 for for last week. And what's very interesting, so I want to go back to Psalm 3 for a second here. When David is saying, "I lie down in sleep.

I awake again because the Lord sustains me." Well, in this time it's saying, "In peace I will lie down in sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety." So, the context of Psalm 3 had to do with the idea that there were all of these enemies that were um just rising up. I think it was thousands or 10,000. Let me let me turn there real quick. When it's saying um how many rise up against me and then it's saying I will not fear the tens of thousands, right? And here he's saying that in in that Psalm three, I will lie down and sleep, right?

I will trust in you knowing that there's a a bad situation that's going on. I'm going to continue to trust in you. I'm going to sleep soundly at night, right? Knowing that I'm going through this situation, knowing that it's stressful and and makes me anxious kind of thing. When we're looking at here, then in peace I will lie down and sleep.

You alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety. Right? So here it's you have the mockers, right? You have these people that are making fun of God, right? And David's saying, "Look, tremble, don't sin, right?

Fear the Lord, like we've talked about previously, the fear of the Lord is being in awe and wonder of who he is." The only time we should actually be afraid of God is when we don't know the Lord, right? When we're talking about the fear of the Lord as a Christian, then it's again being in that sense of awe and wonder of who the Lord is, right? And he's saying look many are asking who will bring us prosperity. The all these people in this in this chapter are caring about money. They're not caring about the things of God.

Right? When it's saying how long will you people turn my glory into shame? How long um will you love delusion and seek false gods. That that sounds exactly like how things are today. When we look at the world that we live in, the culture in which we live in where there are people that are seeking things that are um making them feel an emptiness inside, right?

There are people who chase after money. There's people who chase after fame and notoriety. There's people that are chasing all of these things. It's like the famous saying of chasing the wind. They're chasing after the things that well, it's not that they don't matter, they don't last, right?

Gold and silver, they fade away. When we think of God though, he is constant. He is the firm foundation again. He is everlasting to everlasting. He does not change.

That is why we place our trust in the living God because he is the creator. And we don't worship that which is created. We worship the God who created everything even including us, right? The the earth, the sky, the universe, all of these things. I mean, I'm always in amazement about all of the galaxies and the planetary systems that are out there, right?

and um just seeing the distance or even the depths of the ocean, right? When we're looking at all these really funny and weird, bizarre creatures that are at the bottom of the ocean that have never seen the light of day, all of that. So that that's something that you have to consider is what do you worship? Are you worshiping that which is created or the creator? Right?

Um it's just like when you hear in in many different things, right? When we look at a phone for example, right? It's the class it's the classic thing you hear in Christianity even in apologetics you have that which is made and that which is the thing that makes right so for everything that is created there is a creator at least that's the idea behind it and so in this case when David is saying how long will you love delusions and seek false god seek seek false gods right know that the Lord has set apart his faithful servant for himself right Well, the faithful servant is going to be Jesus Christ when he's foretelling of what is going to happen in the future. That's a big thing to to keep in mind, right? Um, let me see if I have that right here.

Um, did I move that? So, I think I have it. Yeah. When it's saying how Yeah. when it's talking about his servant, right?

Many times that's referencing that is going to reference the coming of Jesus Christ here, right? Um, and so how important is that for us to know David is really in this case he's very frustrated at the at the mockers, right? He's he's grieving, right? He he's he he could be angry. He could be frustrated.

He could be in just in grief. Whatever it is, it's a mixture of emotions here that he's like, "Look, how long are you guys going to seek things that are lower, right? You need to seek God. You need to stop sinning, right? you you you need to turn to the Lord basically.

And it it's something that is common even today. And so, man, when he can lay down in peace and sleep, recognizing that, look, there's there's going to be people that are going to mock God. There's going to be people that um are evil, right? There's going to be people that are seeking things that are lower and not seeking the things that are higher. Despite this, just like in Psalm 3, despite the enemies and the bad things that are going on, I'm going to sleep soundly knowing that you're with me.

Here it's saying, knowing that there's mockers, there's people that make fun of God. There's people that are um worshiping that which is created, not the creator. Um those that are um have these delusions, these false gods, knowing look, I know that the Lord has set apart his faithful servant, right? which could certainly reference Jesus Christ. And despite all of this, these people that care about money and material material possessions, I am going to lie sound asleep for you alone.

You make me dwell in safety. Because it's knowing that there is safety and there is security in our Lord and our God, right? The creator, the one who made everything, including us, with intentionality. I mean, I know there's a lot of verses that talk about how God knew us before we were born. There's a lot of that.

But it's also knowing that God gives us potential. He gives us the ability to to right to have talents and he calls us. He invites us into the invitation in which we can make a decision. Right? I I've talked about this a few times before.

It's the balance between divine um providence and sovereignty and human responsibility. And it's important for us to know that that God calls for us and we are to respond to God's call for our life. God's call for salvation and God's call for what we are supposed to do in this life. And so what I would encourage for you um if there's anything to take away in this it's it's just the basic premise that knowing that there are people who are um seeking things other than God or seeking money, fame, notoriety or other gods. knowing that you who believe in the Lord, you can sleep soundly at night.

Now, of course, there's always the encouragement for you to share in the gospel message, sharing in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and being an ambassador for Christ and uh every single day, right? Representing Christ in what you say and what you do. Absolutely. But certainly be blessed, right? Think of that Psalm 48.

That can even be a prayer before you go to bed and says, "Father, in peace I will lie down and sleep for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety." That can certainly be a prayer for you. And so, in all of this, then this comes then to the interpretation, right? I've been going over the observation and all of the intricacies of this scripture, but what does this mean for us, right? When the world is dishonoring the Lord, right? when they're um mocking or when when the world is uncertain or when people are seeking things other than God, we have to remember that God is our anchor.

He is our foundation. He is our solid rock and we need to seek him and grow in him and certainly share in the good news of the gospel. That's so critical and that's so important for us. We also can think the second thing then is that the world is full of noise and delusions and empty pursuits. Right?

We think of Tik Tok, we can think of Instagram, YouTube, all the social media platforms, the news channel, the streaming services that are out there. There's a lot of noise out there and it's certainly much more than ever before. I mean, you can endlessly uh what is that? Doom scroll over and over and over and see that there's so many things that are just happening in the world. So many voices and so many opinions that can distract you from what really matters, right?

your your faith and your relationship with the Lord, your friends, your family, your church if you're a part of one, those kind of things. And it can be uh an empty pursuit, right? So there's a lot of noise, there's a lot of delusions that are out there just like it mentions in this verse. And then in all of that, there's also empty pursuits, right? How many actors are out there um and they find that there's their life doesn't have meaning or there's emptiness or people that have all the money in the world and they feel a void in them, right?

It's seeking God and the fulfillment that comes from him, right? Knowing that in believing the Lord, we are a new creation. That God calls for us to put on the new self and to be transformed, right? not only just as a one-time thing of being saved, but to be continually transformed each and every day. That God is going to put us on this journey in Christ.

You hear me say that all the time. I pray that you are on a spiritual journey first and foremost to know who Jesus Christ is. And then upon salvation, may you be in a journey in Christ, being transformed from the inside out, your ability to love, right? your ability to live and love like Jesus Christ. That is so critical and that is so important for us to continue to grow and to certainly begin on that journey.

Never stop growing in Christ. That's a huge thing, right? So God offers us rest and peace. And that's not the only thing that God gives us. He gives us the um joy that comes from him, right?

There's um the peace that surpasses all understanding. There's so many benefits in knowing the Lord. And one of the greatest things that encourages me as a pastor or me as a man, as a husband, as a father, is that it's continued transformation that God is going to make me more like him every single day. And look, I'm not perfect. I am never going to be perfect, but it is God who is transforming me.

And I wish to seek him in his word and through prayer and my daily interactions with Christians and even non-Christians. Right? it it's kind of how do you represent Christ even to you know other people you know one of the things about the uh ministry at Ontario Community Church is that we have a Buddhist temple that's right next door to us how do you represent Christ to Buddhists right how can you be the um exhibit the light and love of Christ to people of different faith traditions right or different denominations that's something to factor in it's factoring on the things that when it comes to other denominations the primary tenants of the faith and then in other faith traditions you hold to your convictions but you also are a light of Jesus Christ and again what you say and what you do that's so critical right so that's that's just another thing right God offers us rest and peace knowing that Jesus Christ is the way the truth and the life and I firmly believe that and I hold true to my convictions right and when we think think of God. The third thing that we can um learn from this is that um God protects us day and night, right? He is our protector.

And just as I I mentioned in um I think it was Psalm 3 that God is a shield for us, right? He protects us. He comforts us, right? That God being the great shepherd is is a really big thing. Um and so just knowing that we can dwell in the safety and then in the security of our Lord and our God.

God provides us safety, right? God provides us salvation. He provides us safety in him and security in him knowing that we are saved by grace through faith, right? And because of that salvation, that security and safety, that is why we are called to live out that faith every single day, right? um extending the invitation to others, right?

And and and um having conversations with people, meeting people where they're at, just as Christ did for us. And we do the same. We have the privilege of doing the same thing. And so what I encourage for you in this is to reflect. Let God calm your heart, right?

Um let God calm you down. pray to him. Uh whether you're having a long day at work or um whether you you're getting frustrated by the mockers, right, or the naysayers of the world, right? Turn to the Lord in prayer, right? Let God calm your heart and maybe ask God in your prayers at night or in your prayers throughout the day, asking God to comfort you, to calm you down from the frustration of what's going on in the everyday.

I mean, that can certainly be a wonderful prayer to ask for the Lord for. And so in all of this, this then leads us to the application then having right how do we live this out. I will always mention this that um I use in my sermons and even in this podcast what is known as the OIA method. It's nothing new under the sun, right? It is observation.

We observe the text. We look at what's going on. The interpretation is what are the lessons that we can learn and the A is what can we do about this? Right? So what can we do about this?

Well, number one, remember God's faithfulness, right? And it's knowing, right? You should know the Lord in what he has done for you, right? By sending Jesus Christ into the world, right? The word made flesh, right?

Um, and remember it. Never forget that all the days of your life, right? If you don't know the Lord, you should know who he is, right? 1 Corinthians chapter 15:es 1-4 the simple gospel believing in the death burial and resurrection of Christ right believe in the Lord and be saved it's that simple right and remember that don't forget who God is all the days of your life when you're living it out right and and and challenge the challenge is to live that out right the challenge is knowing that God is faithful despite the pursuit of other people despite the frustration from other people. It is living it out.

Hey, I am going to remember that God is faithful, that God provides salvation, safety, and security for my life, right? And so maybe it's a good call for you to pray to the Lord, like I said, at the end of the day, and also maybe journal um how God is working in your life. It's always, you know, it's something I wish I would do a little bit more is journal, right? Um how God is not only um worked in my life, but working in my life and how God answers prayers because I believe that God continues to work today. God continues to speak to us.

God continues to work in and through us. God's word is living and active. God is living and active. He's not a dead God. He continues to work and he continues to speak to us today.

The second thing then is to trust, right? Set your heart apart for God. Right? It is practicing the moments of stillness. And what that means is quietly trusting in the Lord, praying to him, taking moments in the silence and in the stillness to the Lord.

Maybe sometime this week, you know, right now, um, we had Palm Sunday and we're getting ready for Easter. It's a really powerful time to reflect and meditate on God's word. Now, that word meditation, I know I've mentioned it before, has a very negative connotation, but it doesn't have to. Why would the word of God say to meditate upon the word? You are filling your mind with God and the things of God, especially the Bible, right?

Especially the word. And so perhaps take some time to practice stillness, meditating on the word of God or just being in prayer. So practice those moments being you and God one-on-one, right? And the third thing is to rest in God's peace, right? Um when you go to bed, just like I said in Psalm 3, go to bed knowing that God is with you, right?

Um, go to bed knowing, let your last thought be your trust in him, knowing that there's that safety and security in him, right? Rest in God's peace, knowing that there is a peace that surpasses all understanding. And it's in him that helps us in our confidence and in our walk with the Lord, knowing that God is going to be with us. He's not going to abandon us. He's not going to forsake us.

And just like in Psalm 3 where there are these enemies that were rising the by the thousands here there's the mockers, the people that are pursuing um the things of this world. May you seek the higher things. May you seek Christ. May you have a relationship in with him. May you grow in him.

Right? May you seek the things that are higher. Just as it says in Colossians, not focusing on the elementary things or the things that divide us. focus on the things of God and the higher things and let us continue to grow together. And so in think about that Psalm 4 is a reminder that it is God that sustains us.

It is God that provides safety and security for us. Who are you trusting in? What are you trusting in? Are you trusting in the world to bring you peace or are you trusting in the living God? You can rest in the Lord knowing that he's always there for you.

And so with that, let's go ahead and close in prayer. I'm sorry that the sun's starting to get over here. So let's pray together. Dear Lord and heavenly father, we thank you for this psalm for you are the creator, the redeemer, and the sustainer. You sustain us.

You provide us salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. By responding to him, right? By believing in the death, burial, and resurrection of your son. Father, this psalm is really just a reminder for us that there are people that are going to pursue riches or mock you or uh have empty pursuits in this life. But may we fully trust in you and remain in you and be a light into this world being salt and light into this world.

We love you, we praise you, we glorify you and we honor you. It is in the name of Jesus Christ that we pray. Amen. Thank you so much for tuning in. My name is Patrick Daly and this is the Pastor Patrick podcast.

May you live and love like Jesus. Bye-bye. [Music] [Laughter]