An Evening Psalm

Let's turn again to the book of Psalms, and tonight let's look at Psalm 4. Psalm 4. 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. Oh, you sons of men, how long will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love vanity and seek after leasing? But know that the Lord has set apart him that is godly for himself. The Lord will hear when I call unto him.

Stand in awe and sin not. Commune with your own heart upon your bed and be still. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness. Put your trust in the Lord. There be many that say, who will show us good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us. Thou hast put gladness in my heart more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased. I will both lay down in peace and sleep. For thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.

Notice, first of all, that we are told that this is the Psalm of David, but we are not told when he wrote this psalm. We know that King David, when he brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, he pitched a tent there for the Ark. He had orders of priests, of Levites, to sing and to praise the Lord. And we see that this hymn, this praise, this psalm, was dedicated to the chief musician, that is, to the choir director He who had the best voice could teach others how to sing. And then we see that it was also written for a stringed instrument called a neganoth. And no one knows for sure exactly what that instrument was. Many of the writers refer to this psalm as an evening psalm.

And they do so because of the last words where David said, I will both lay me down in peace and sleep, an evening psalm. And those same writers refer to the psalm we looked at last time, Psalm 3, as a morning psalm. Because of verse 5 in Psalm 3, when David said, I laid me down and slept, I awaked. These two psalms are psalms that complement one another according to many of the writers, a morning psalm and an evening psalm. And those same writers believe that it was written, that Psalm 4 was written at the same time as the third psalm was written. And we were told when that was, it was when he fled from Absalom. Now, it's easy to look at it in that context, that it was at the same time this psalm was written, at the same time that David was fleeing from Jerusalem, that he had to leave his throne and the palace and flee for his life.

But I've divided the psalm into three parts for us tonight. First, I want us to consider David's words to his God in verse one. David's words to his God. And looking at this text, we're going to ask and answer three questions. Who did David cry to in distress? Who do you cry to in distress? Who do I first cry to in distress? David, we see here, he cried unto God who he calls, O God of my righteousness.

Now, righteousness and justice are the same, and what he tells us here is he called to the Holy Lord God. The Lord Jesus Christ, in what we call his high priestly prayer in John 17, he addressed the Lord. He addressed his Father one time in the same way, O Holy Father, Not just father, but oh, holy father, oh, righteous father.

So that's the first thing I point to tonight is in distress. And David was in distress when he wrote this psalm, whether it was when he was fleeing from Absalom or not, he was in distress. And what he did in distress was he called his God. And you notice that word my, Oh God of my righteousness. Remember Martin Luther, the reformer, he said these personal pronouns is what makes the gospel precious to a child of God. My God, my Savior, my Lord. It's one thing to speak of him as the Lord, as God, but when we can say my God. My Lord.

And we know that's one of the promises of the everlasting covenant, that God is a God to all of those named in that covenant. All of those for whom the Lord Jesus Christ stood as a surety. If you are a believer tonight, that covenant of peace that he made before the foundation of the world and named you in it, He named the Lord Jesus Christ as your surety. And therefore, he looked to him for needs.

Or the second question is, why did David cry to his God? Well, notice, this is what I noticed, he said, thou hast. Hear me when I call, O God of my righteous, thou hast. That's past tense, isn't it? Thou hast before in times of distress. And this wasn't the only time that David was in distress, that David found himself in distress. And we know that this is common to the people of God. God's children in this world many times are in distress. In fact, the apostle said, if we be without chastisement, then are we bastards and not sons. Because God chastens every son that he receives. And many times God's people are in distress.

But David was able to say, thou hast. In other words, he had experienced He had something to fall back on. He had experienced God's help before. This wasn't the first time. And think of this, when he said, thou hast, thou hast enlarged me when I was.

Now, whenever he wrote this psalm, think of the various things that we're told in 1 Samuel about David. 1 Samuel, as God was bringing him to the throne. Remember, King Saul wanted to be soothed. He had an evil spirit from the Lord, the scripture says. And he thought, or his counselors thought, if they had someone there who could make soft and peaceful music, that it would soothe him.

And so they found David to do that job. And you remember one time, Now Saul wasn't like I am. I could take a javelin, you could be back there, and I could pitch it at you and probably miss you. Saul was a warrior, and his intention was fully to put that javelin through the heart of David and nail him to the wall. And God delivered him. God enlarged him. That's just one example.

Think about the time when Saul and his army was pursuing David, and David in some cave. And wouldn't you know it, Saul comes along with his army, and they go into the cave. Picture that in your mind. There's David and his men in the back of the cave. There's only one way out. And Saul is there at the mouth of the cave with his army, The Lord enlarged me.

How did he do it? He caused a great sleep, didn't he? So that David and his man just passed on through. David, what I'm saying is that David had experienced God's deliverance. He had something to fall back on. And now, whatever this trouble was, whatever this distress was, He was confident in crying unto his God.

And every child of God, every child of God here tonight, without exception, you, I, we have cried unto the Lord. Haven't you? Sure you have. You have cried unto the Lord when you said, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. And God heard you. And God in mercy quickens you and brought you to himself. Yes, every child of God has experience in calling upon God and being in Lord's being delivered. Now the third thing, third question, what did David desire from his God? What did he desire? What did he ask for? Have mercy upon me and hear my prayer. You say, Preacher, are we to understand that after being called, this man... after God's own heart, and now, after having served the Lord for so many years, that he's still crying...

Absolutely. And as long as I'm in this world, and as long as you're in this world, in this body of flesh, carrying about with us this old nature, the old man, depraved. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. It was born flesh and it's going to die flesh. Yes.

But we're going to be crying for mercy on our deathbed. We're not going to be priding ourselves in anything we've done. I was reading about one man, a pastor, and he was on his deathbed and someone tried to console him by telling him, think of all the messages you've preached and how God has used you. He said, I don't want to think of that.

My thought is upon Christ and his mercy. Yes. Mercy found me. Mercy saved me. And the Apostle Paul in the New Testament, remember this in Colossians, speaking to believers, as you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, how did you receive him? He had mercy upon you, so walk you in him. As long as we're in this world, we're saying that him, free from the law, amen. free from the law. The law no longer condemns us, does it? Why? Because Christ, he bore our sins in his own body, satisfying the law of God for us.

All right, here's some words to his enemies. So that was David's words to his God. Now, in these next few verses, David's words to his enemies, O you sons of men, Now by that is meant those men, those leaders, those nobles of Israel who had aligned themselves with Absalom in this rebellion. Remember last week I mentioned that man by the name of Ahithophel. He would be one of these that is included. Oh, you sons of man.

Well, we know in the Gospels it was the Sanhedrin It was the chief priest and elders who were the enemies of Christ. The common people, remember that was one of the charges against him, that he eateth with sinners. He receiveth sinners and eateth with them. But the religious leaders were against him, the nobles, the high priest, The same is true here by sons of men.

He's talking about those men in authority while he was king. Oh, you sons of men. In Psalm 3 and verse 3, notice if you look back there, he called the Lord his shield. But now when we read in verse 2 of Psalm 4, O you sons of men, how long will you turn my glory into shame?

I don't think he's referring to God there as in Psalm 3 when he confessed God to be his glory, but now his glory was his glory as a king, the king of Israel. And these men were attempting to despoil him or dethrone him, to rob him of his glory, to turn his glory into shame. He had been a king for, if it was the time of Absalom's rebellion, he had been a king for almost 40 years. The glory that he had, all the nations he had conquered and Him as a King of Israel and now here these rebels were trying to turn His glory as a King into shame, living out under the stars, sleeping rather out under the stars at night.

So the Lord Jesus Christ, we know when we look at these Psalms, we're trying to see and hopefully can see types and pictures of the Lord Jesus Christ. David confessed they tried to talk about our Savior. He confessed to be the only begotten Son of God. What did the elders and rulers say? That he was born of fornication. What about that? Turn His glory as the only begotten Son of God into shame, being born of fornication. And David, we see next, he expostulates, or he reasons with his enemies.

How long, how long will you love vanity? And vanity, of course, means vainness, doesn't it? It's a vain thing. What you're attempting to do, it's a vain thing. It's an empty thing that you seek to put Absalom upon the throne. You're resisting God. Whether you realize it or not, you're fighting against God. For it was God who put me on the throne. It was God who raised me up as the King of Israel. How long? How long will you love emptiness, vainness, in your attempt to set Absalom upon the throne? Think of the Lord Jesus Christ.

His enemies were guilty of the same. I'm sure that those chief priests thought, if we can If we can get Pilate to give the order to crucify the Lord Jesus, of course they wouldn't have called him the Lord Jesus. If we can get Pilate to crucify Jesus, we'll be done with him. We'll be done with him. That'll be the end of him. We won't have to have him teaching and preaching in our in our synagogues and in the temple, men following him and saying, is not this the son of David? We'll be rid of him.

That was a vain thing, wasn't it? It was an empty thing. The very thing that they were doing, their motive was, as I said, to do away with Christ, but in doing what they wanted to do, what were they doing? They were doing God's will and raising up his son to sit upon his throne. Empty thing. Vain thing.

How long? How long were you leasing? I remember when I first had any real interest in the Bible, reading the scriptures, I came across that word leasing. You find it, I think, only in the psalm. What does that mean? Leasing. We lease a house? We lease a car. Well, obviously, that's not the meaning. It's an old Saxon word from what I've read, and it means to lie, to lie. Now, what is a lie? A lie is a deceit, a deceit. A lie deceives.

And they were deceived in David's day to think that they would overthrow God's anointed king. That's just not going to take place. And the same was true of Christ. Psalm 2, a few weeks ago, the kings of the earth set themselves against the Lord and against His anointed.

But who had the last word? Who will Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion. He had the last word, God does. Sometimes with your children, they don't want you to have the last word, do they? They don't want you to have the last word. And a parent, because he is a parent or she is a parent, and God has given you children, and you must remember that you are the parent, they don't get the last word. You do.

And these men that crucified the Lord Jesus, they didn't get the last word. And these men who would set Absalom up on the throne and dethrone David, destroy him, they didn't get the last word either. Notice in verse 3, but no, there's something you must recognize, you must know this, that the Lord has set apart him that is godly for himself. Now, we could preach from that text, it'd be a good text to preach on the truth of God's sovereign election, wouldn't it? Because that's certainly what it says, and that's certainly what David experienced.

You remember when God sent Samuel down to Bethlehem, to Jesse's house? And he told him to go there to anoint one of Jesse's sons to be king. And Jesse just happened to have seven sons. And the oldest son came before Samuel, and Samuel thought in his heart, I guess, that's him. That's him. That's the man. evidently was a nice looking fella and had all the attributes, physical attributes, that is, to be a king. And what did God tell Samuel? Don't look at the appearance, look at the heart. I look at the heart. And so after they go, you know the story. I love it, don't you?

After they went through six sons, finally Samuel said, Are these all your sons? Well, no. There's one other, but he's out there taking care of the sheep. We'll go get him. Send for him. And when he comes in, God said to Samuel, that's the man. That's the man. God has chosen. Know you that the Lord has set apart him that is godly for himself. Stand in awe. Now remember, I said David is still, these are words to his enemies. That's the way we're looking at this. Words to his enemies. Stand in awe. Stand in awe in the fear of God. And discontinue this pathway of rebellion in which you have gone.

Get along. Get along. That's always good advice. It's difficult to seek the Lord in a crowd. Get along. He tells them, on your bed. Stand in awe and say not. Commune with your own heart upon your bed and be still. Meditate on this. Think upon this, what you're doing, the vanity of it, the futility of what you're attempting to do. Think about this. Stand in awe. Stand in the fear of God. Be still. Psalm 42, I believe. Be still and know that I am God. I am the Lord. Be still and know that the Lord, he is God.

And then he says, offer the sacrifices of righteousness and put your trust in the Lord. What better advice could this man of God give to these rebels? They were in Jerusalem. That's where the sacrifices were offered. But David admonishes them to offer the sacrifices of righteousness. In other words, don't just go through the habit. They, you know, it's Monday morning and we're supposed to sacrifice a lamb here. Another sacrifice in the evening, so forth and so on. Just go through the ritual, go through the habit.

It's kind of like those poor people, deceived people that have those prayer wheels, right? They put a request on that wheel and as the wind turns the wheel, then it goes up to God and comes back down, and how many times is that request going up to God? God doesn't hear that. And how much, that's what David is saying, your heart has to be engaged.

Yes, you're in Jerusalem, that's where the sacrifices are being offered, but offer the sacrifices in righteousness. In other words, look to the anti-type, not just the type, the lamb, but look to the antitype. It pictures Christ, it pictures the Redeemer that God has promised. A sacrifice to be accepted must be offered in righteousness, must be offered trusting in the Lord.

You know, even our praise. We're here tonight and I love our singing here on Wednesday night, and when we sing and praise the Lord, If we don't have the Lord Jesus Christ as our mediator, and thank God we do, but if we didn't, our praise, God wouldn't accept it. God wouldn't accept our sacrifice of praise or any other sacrifice except it go through our savior, our mediator, our intercessor, our surety, our redeemer, our savior.

How many names does he have? Our beloved. Well, notice this last part. David's words to his friends in verses 6 through 8. Now remember, he's fleeing, and he's got a bunch of people with him. They're his supporters. They're against Absalom, and they're fleeing with him. But I say these last words, he says to his friends, because I see in verse six that little word, us, us.

There be many that say, who will show us good? Well, us, that includes David, doesn't it? If I say us, that includes me as well as all of you. There be many that say, and I don't believe that word any should be there, it's been added, who will show us good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.

Again, not everyone that was with David had David's faith, did they? David believed God. David had experienced deliverances after deliverances, as we've already seen. Not everyone that was with him, that yes, they loved him, yes, they supported him, but they saw the situation as anyone would have seen it that night. Here's a king fleeing barefooted, covered his head, and running. The situation's dire. Who will show us? Good. Well, David answers, doesn't he? And not only does he give his answer, but at the same time, he prays. He prays. Notice, and there'll be many that say, who will show us any good Lord?

Lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us. Now you look at that, what does that, I'm not gonna put anybody on the spot, I've had time to think about this more, but when you look at that, lift up the light of thy countenance upon us, what does that remind us of? Well, certainly it reminds us of the blessing, the blessing that God gave to Aaron, the first high priest, to put upon the people of God, upon the Israel of God. It's found in Numbers chapter 6. On the great day of atonement, after the sacrifice had been offered, the blood had been put on the mercy seat, the scapegoat had been led away, then the high priest is to put God's blessings upon His people, and that blessing is the Lord bless thee and keep thee.

The Lord make his face to shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. And here it is, the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace. Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us. Who will show us good? Well, David was convinced the Lord would. The Lord would smile upon them. The Lord would lift up the light of his countenance upon them. David had experienced this before and he could testify that the Lord's grace, the Lord's smile gave him more joy.

Look at that in verse 7. Here's some people, they've gone out, they've plowed the fields, they've planted the fields, and the Lord is blessed. The rain came and the sun shined, and they've got a big harvest, and they're reaping the harvest on their way home. And boy, they're so thrilled and so full of joy.

David said, his joy was more. Thou hast put gladness in my heart more." In other words, God's smile upon me, God visiting me, God manifesting His love to me in my heart. I have more joy than these people that find that great joy, no doubt, in a wonderful harvest.

And you know, you've experienced that yourself, I'm sure. You've been alone with God, maybe in prayer, and God has visited you, and there's nothing like it. There's nothing like it. Not every day, not every time you call upon the Lord is it. Wish it was. But sometimes God just smiles upon you, and you just experience his presence, his love, his grace, his mercy. in a special way. David said, I've had that.

And that's more joyful to me than the time of harvest. And notice the last thing. I will both lay me down. A lot of people lay down at night. But they don't have any peace. And they don't sleep. They toss and they turn. Why? Because they have a conscience that troubles them.

But the believer, the child of God, He knows he has peace with God. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. May the Lord bless this psalm to all of us here tonight. Morning psalm and an evening psalm.

An Evening Psalm

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An Evening Psalm

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