I Lay Me Down

Text:   Psalm 4

God is not a genie! You remember the tales of the Aladin’s Lamp? You rub the genie’s lamp and you get how many wishes? Three!

God is no genie.

But notice the way David prays, “Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: Thou has enlarge me when I was in distress…” Or it could be translated, “You have given me relief when I was in distress.” In other words, you have done it before, do it again! This is another instance in which David pleads upon past mercies.

This should be a good message to us tonight: How many times will God answer our cry for help? Once? Sometimes, I am afraid we think it is only once. Or is it twice? Maybe it is six times. God does nothing in halves. He will never cease to help us until we cease to have need.

Do you remember the Israelites in the wilderness? God sustained them with manna for forty years! When did the manna stop? It stopped when they crossed the Jordan. Your manna will stop when you cross the Jordan.

Notice also, David begins to argue with his enemies. He pleads with them against their vanity and desires for deception and lies. But look how he turns the argument to the reality of their battle in verse 3. “But know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the Lord will hear when I call unto Him.”

In other words, “Your true fight is against God when you come against the godly!” This looks to be quite an arrogant argument. Be careful what you do to the “godly?” Is David calling himself godly? Yes! On what grounds? Notice this: “God has set apart him that is godly for Himself.” Who set the godly apart? God did. The action is on God. He is doing the setting apart. But on what basis does God set apart? Is it any good in men? “There is none righteous, no, not one.” The modifying word here is godly, but it is based upon God setting men apart to Himself and not on their own goodness or righteousness. David said this in verse one – “O God of my righteousness.”

So, why is David saying this? David’s argument to his enemies is “How long will you keep up this game without realizing you are fighting against God?”

Look at the godly courage. In the midst of the hot battle, David, by the authority of the King of Glory commands men to:

Fear, Repent, Be still long enough to talk and reason with your own heart, Offer right Sacrifices (which could be our “bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God,” but better the Sacrifice of Christ) and Trust in the Lord.

You remember in the third Psalm, “I laid down and slept?” Here he is again. I will not sit up fretting over my enemies or my problems. I will not lie awake listening to every rustling sound. I will lie down and sleep. How can he do this? Where does he get the fortitude? When true fear strikes, who could sleep? Only knowing that God makes me to dwell in safety keeps the mind calm and the heart at peace.

I love Paul’s list in Romans 8.28-39