Psalm 4

Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; be
merciful to me and hear my prayer. (1)
David, the psalmist, at a time of distress calls out to God, reminding himself that God is
righteous, that God is merciful, that God hears and answers prayer
God (our Creator) does not need to reminded of those things, but we (His creatures) do
God allows us to come to Him in prayer personally; even though God responds to our prayer
as a loving father responds to his children, prayer does not change God but prayer changes
us
When at one of the lowest points in his life, David returned from battle with his men to
Ziglag, only to discover that all their women and children had been taken by the enemy; they
had no knowledge of the fate of their families, the city was in ashes, and as a result Davids
own men began to speak among themselves of stoning him to death (I Samuel 30:1-6)
The turning point for David? He got alone and encouraged himself in the Lord (I Sam
30:6)
We encourage ourselves in the Lord when we get alone and speak to Him; we can follow
Davids pattern of reminding ourselves of His goodness, mercy, faithfulness and love
How long, O men, will you turn My glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and
seek false gods? (2)
As a part of his prayer, David speaks for God not presumptuously but to identify with Him
Men turn Gods glory into shame because of the sinfulness of their hearts: The heart is
deceitful above all things and exceedingly wicked (Jeremiah 17:9); and they exchanged
the glory of the immortal God . . . they exchanged the truth of God for a lie (Romans 1:2325)
Yet we are delivered from delusion when we confess our sins and trust in Christ: If we
claim to be without sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us; if we confess our
sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness (I
Jn 1:8-9)
Know that the Lord has set apart the godly for Himself; the Lord will hear when I call to
Him. In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent.
Offer right sacrifices and trust in the Lord. (3-5)
David continues to remind himself of great truth that the Lord has set apart (the literal
meaning of sanctified) His followers for Himself, and consequently will hear their prayers
So those who love God and know Him as their Father should not allow anger to lead them to
sin; anger is unavoidable, but our response is our decision: Be angry and sin not (Eph 4:26)
He who loves God communes with Him even through the night: In the night, Lord, I
remember your name (Ps 119:55), in contrast to those who plot evil on their beds (Ps
36:4)
Many are asking, Who can show us any good? Let the light of Your face shine upon us, O
Lord. You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound.
I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. (6-8)

 This Psalm teaches us that true goodness results only from the manifestation of Gods glory
When the light of Gods face shines upon us, we are forever changed, just as was Moses
when he encountered God on Mt. Sinai and experienced His glory (Exodus 34:29)
The Apostle Paul describes the same change in us: For God, who said, Let light shine out of
darkness, made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the
glory of God as we see in the face of Jesus Christ (II Corinthians 4:6)