What Keeps You Up at Night?

Introduction

What keeps you up at night?

Is it stress?

Anxiety?

Anger?

Guilt?

I have often heard the old joke where someone will ask a person, “How do you sleep so well at night?” and the reply is, “A peaceful conscience!”

Perhaps that is true of us tonight. As we read Psalm 4, we need to keep in mind what we talked about last week with Psalm 3.

We don’t know for sure when this psalm was written and if it was during the same event as Psalm 3 with Absalom chasing David, but it seems that the organization of Psalm 4 following Psalm 3 is intended to have us consider both together.

Remember that it is often said that Psalm 3 is a morning

** When reading to the congregation, pause instead of saying the words “selah.”

Psalm 4 ESV

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of David. 1 Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer! 2 O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame? How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah 3 But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself; the Lord hears when I call to him. 4 Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah 5 Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the Lord. 6 There are many who say, “Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!” 7 You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. 8 In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

Structure:

opens in prayer

addresses enemies

closes in prayer

Steven as a NT example

1. A Plea for God to Hear (v.1)

4 imperatives: “answer me, give me relief, be merciful, hear my prayer”

God always hears the cries of His children

The psalmist reminded himself of God’s past faithfulness and deliverance

God of my righteousness - Our righteousness is not our own but comes from Him (God is the source of all righteousness, because He is the ultimate good and defines what is good)

It is a mercy of God that He would hear the prayer of sinners

straits - narrow passageways, this is the distress of the psalmist (he is painfully restricted)

Spurgeon instructs us to “always take our suit, not the petty courts of human opinion, but into the superior court, the King’s Bench of heaven.”

We may find out that we were wrong and need to repent

We won’t change things by complaining to others and we might just hurt our witness

2. A Reminder to His Foes (vv. 2-3)

they dishonor the King

they pursue worthlessness

they chase after lies

David warns them that God is on his side

God sets apart the godly for Himself - they are elect

God delights in these who share in this character and holiness

Election is the guarantee of complete salvation, and an argument for success at the throne of grace. HE who chose us for himself will surely hear our prayers. The Lord’s elect shall not be condemned, nor shall their cry be unheard.

-Spurgeon

God will answer His cry for help

3. A Warning About Anger (vv. 4-5)

Addressed to the sons of men - these are the highborn men or the powerful ones who are causing his distress

Remember Jesus - the leaders caused his distress, but He trusted in God

Don't let human anger cause you to sin

6 imperatives: Be angry, do not sin, be silent, offer sacrifices, put your trust in God

God alone is the judge

James 4:11–12 ESV

11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

You may be in the wrong or find yourself fighting against God

Paul instructs us to not let anger turn to sin and give opportunity to the enemy

Ephesians 4:26–27 ESV

26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil.

Do we get as angry at sin, both our own and that of others, as we do at our perceived injustices against our own glory?

James 1:20 - our anger cannot produce God’s righteousness, but that does not meant that we should not have a holy anger towards our sins

Word for be angry means to be agitated, or to tremble from fear - this is a holy fear

Meditate on God's Word and what is going on

Be still - God isn't calling you to do anything

He will fight your battles for you or cause you to see if the sin lies within your own heart

Next they are to offer right sacrifices = repent

Put your trust in God

2nd Selah - pause and think about it before moving on

4. A Hope in the Lord (vv. 6-7)

Lift the Light of your countenance - a way of saying “Look on us with favor”

quoting from Num 6:26

Numbers 6:23–26 ESV

23 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, 24 The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

Aaron's blessing

Answer to the question of who will show us any good

To lift up the light of the face is to show favor

It signifies peace and joy in the presence of God through a relationship

Genesis 3:8 ESV

8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Moses speaking face to face with God is not meant to be literal, but signified that Moses was in the presence of God in relationship with Him - i.e. Moses was friend of God

Exodus 33:11 ESV

11 Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.

Ps 80 has the refrain three times "Cause year face to shine”

God gives gladness

There is joy and gladness in the presence of the Lord

Psalm 16:11 ESV

11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

No matter the situation

Gladness is of the heart and is not determined by our circumstances

Agricultural illustrations - All speak of material blessings

When harvest comes - grain and wine increase

Security knowing the harvest has been gathered and come in

God gives our troubled souls rest

Evening hymn (Ps. 3 was a morning one - I awake - Ps 3:5)

5. A Peace in the Storm (v.8)

Lie down in peace and sleep

You alone make me dwell in safety -

Only God can be omnipresent and omnipotent

Deut 12:10 - Covenant promise

Deuteronomy 12:10 ESV

10 But when you go over the Jordan and live in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and when he gives you rest from all your enemies around, so that you live in safety,

Conclusion

Spurgeon wrote of our confidence in God:

It is not to be imagined that he who has helped us in six troubles will leave us in the seventh. God does nothing by halves, and he will never cease to help us until we cease to need. The manna shall fall every morning until we cross the Jordan.

Spurgeon

God will be with us. We must think over His promises and not sin in the process.

Christopher Ash reminds us:

“...for these angry men there is heart work to be done before they sleep (cf. Eph. 4:26). Rather as a parent says to an angry child, “Go and lie down quietly for a while, to calm down and think it over (and don’t take your phone with you),” so our King counsels us. We need to do this in our own hearts, on our own, undistracted by the voices of peer pressure, the cries of the (sometimes digital) crowds, the pressures of those around us. We need to settle the restless anger that rages against God’s Messiah. Selah prompts a timely pause.”

Christopher Ash