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Psalm 4:1–8 — In Peace I Will Lie Down and Sleep · A Tithe of Time Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to a tithe of time, rooted in wisdom, growing wiser, one passage at a time.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: Today we'll be looking at Psalm 4, 1-8, reading from the ESV.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: You have given me relief when I was in distress.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: Be gracious to me and hear my prayer.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame?
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: How long will you love vain words and seek after lies?
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Selah.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: The Lord hears when I call to him.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Be angry and do not sin.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: Ponder in your own hearts on your beds and be silent.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: Selah.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the Lord.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: There are many who say, Who will show us some good?
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: In peace I will both lie down and sleep.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: For you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's look closer.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: David begins by asking God to answer him, but notice what he remembers immediately.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: You have given me relief when I was in distress.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: His prayer for help is built on what God has already done.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: David is facing pressure again, but he is not praying as though God has never helped him before.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: Then David turns toward the people opposing him.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: He calls them, O men, but the psalm does not identify exactly who these men are.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: We know they are opposing David, turning his honor into shame, loving vain words, and seeking after lies.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: Beyond that, the text does not tell us who they were or exactly how they were attacking him.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: But David answers that pressure with confidence.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: His confidence is that God hears him.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: Then comes an important line.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: Be angry and do not sin.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: That does not mean every feeling of anger is automatically sinful.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: The warning is about what anger can lead us to do.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: A person can be angry and still choose not to act sinfully.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: David immediately follows that with, ponder in your own hearts on your beds and be silent.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: Instead of reacting in the heat of the moment, the picture is of stopping, thinking, and examining your own heart.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes wisdom means getting quiet before anger turns into words or actions you cannot take back.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: Then the focus shifts to trust.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: Offer right sacrifices and put your trust in the Lord.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: Outward worship and inward trust belong together.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: Near the end, some people are asking, who will show us some good?
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: They are looking for something visible that will prove life is going well.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: But David says God has put more joy in his heart than others have when their grain and wine abound.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: That is a powerful comparison.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: Grain and wine point to material abundance and a successful harvest.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: David says the joy God gives him is greater than the joy that comes from having plenty.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: And then the Psalm ends where Psalm 3 ended, with sleep.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: In peace I will both lie down and sleep.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: David's final reason is simple.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: His peace rests in the Lord.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: Here's the picture Psalm 4, 1-8 leaves us with.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: When pressure rises, wisdom remembers God's past faithfulness, refuses to let anger become sin, slows down long enough to examine the heart, and finds security in the Lord.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: This concludes Psalm 4 1 8.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: Next, we'll continue in our Rooted in Wisdom series with Proverbs 2 1 15.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: And remember, tithe your time.