Psalms

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Psalm 4


When I call, answer me, O God of justice;
from anguish you released me, have mercy and hear me!

O men, how long will your hearts be closed,
will you love what is futile and seek what is false?

It is the Lord who grants favours to those whom he loves;
the Lord hears me whenever I call him.

Fear him; do not sin:  ponder on your bed and be still.
Make justice your sacrifice and trust in the Lord.

“What can bring us happiness?” many say.
Lift up the light of your face on us , O Lord.

You have put into my heart a greater joy
than they have from abundance of corn and new wine.

I will lie down in peace and sleep comes at once
for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.

Commentary

This lovely psalm belongs to the Davidic collection of the Psalter. In it he speaks to friends and neighbours who are disheartened and discontented because of difficult times both socially and nationally. No indication is given as to the actual circumstances which provoked David to pen this beautiful prayer, in which we see him achieve true peace of soul and tranquillity because of his unshakeable trust in God.


When I call, answer me, O God of justice;
from anguish you released me, have mercy and hear me!

O men, how long will your hearts be closed,
will you love what is futile and seek what is false?

It is the Lord who grants favours to those whom he loves;
the Lord hears me whenever I call him.

Fear him; do not sin :  ponder on your bed and be still.
Make justice your sacrifice and trust in the Lord.

“What can bring us happiness?” many say.
Lift up the light of your face on us , O Lord.

You have put into my heart a greater joy
than they have from abundance of corn and new wine.

I will lie down in peace and sleep comes at once
for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.
                                                                 (vv. 1-8).

The psalm begins with a ringing call to God as the redeemer, the One who manifested His true righteousness through His plan of redemption. From the time of the Exodus the people had learned to cry out to God to save them. Their first prayer was for deliverance from Egypt, but as they began to understand the significance of God’s intervention there, they realized that the Exodus was a model for any deliverance from any enemy, spiritual or temporal. They had been released from anguish and dangers before; they could throw themselves on God’s mercy in the present situation, and find Him as loving as ever. This action of theirs strengthens our faith and enables us peacefully to trust God in the present crisis.

David now addresses the leaders of society in particular: “You men of rank” (N.A.B.). He is amazed at their lack of wisdom and perception. If they allow themselves to be embroiled in political intrigues, and in the web of deception and corruption which is so easy for those in power, with public money at their disposal, then they show the world how foolish and empty they really are. We have abundant evidence in our own day of political “heads rolling” after a bout of vanity and deceit that they hoped would bring them profit. The greater the conniving, the greater the fall afterwards.

Those who are wicked and devious know nothing of the wonders that God works for His friends, especially those who are faithful to Him. They know nothing of the joy and peace in the heart, nor of the abundant fruitfulness of the life. They are unaware of deep communion with God or the joy of answered prayer. This is the way that the friends of God can show to the men of the world. If these men of the world do not turn to God to be clothed with heavenly wisdom, then they are greatly disadvantaged, for the least of God’s servants is more wise and prudent than they are. The Lord works wonders of grace in all those who come to Him with openness of heart, those ready to learn and to grow; He grants many favours to His faithful friends. Unfortunately the majority of people are unaware that God wants this intimacy with them.

The first stage of growth is to tremble and sin not. The words of this translation “fear him” are given in most translations as “be angry and sin not”, or “tremble (with fear or anger) but sin not”. It is all right to feel angry and upset about something, but we must not use that feeling as an excuse to hurt another person physically or verbally. Verbal abuse can be as damaging as physical abuse. This is, therefore, a serious call to think well before acting. If we are to come to know God deeply, we must go to war with sin, and with the self-seeking that underlies all sin. The reason for this is that sin destroys the relationship with God, isolates us from our neighbour and cuts us off from that wisdom which would make us great leaders in society (see Ephesians 4:26-27).

The next stage is to do some quiet reflective thinking and praying, in solitude or apart from others. Combine this with the reflective reading of Scripture, and God will show you a whole new perspective on life. You will quickly see how vain and futile are the things that keep worldly people away from God, and indeed, how petty are the things that keep God’s servants back from true greatness. But this is not enough. It must be combined with the offering of true sacrifice to God in our daily lives. The people of Israel offered material sacrifices to God; they thought that nothing unworthy of Him, nothing maimed or blemished, should be offered.

We Christians have the awesome privilege of offering Jesus, the perfect Lamb, to God in the holy sacrifice of the Eucharist each day. Nothing can be greater or more powerful than this. Yet it does not take away our obligation to offer our lives as spiritual sacrifices to God. We, too, must become little “eucharists”, and our lives express our thanksgiving to God in the myriad ways of self-sacrifice and self-denial (see Malachi 1:13-14; Hosea 6:6; Hebrews 13:15-16; Psalm 141:2).

Worldly people spend themselves in an endless pursuit of happiness which forever eludes them, for they refuse to seek it in the only way it can be found. “Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee” is the famous declaration of Augustine, the converted sinner. He had learned, with all the saints, to lift up his eyes to the Lord in prayer, and let the radiant light of God’s glory shine upon his life, releasing him from darkness and sin. No one can describe for others what the radiance of the Lord is like: all he can do is testify that it is the place of unutterable peace and joy. Not all the combined pleasures of the world could equal the sense of fulfilment and peace that it gives. The world’s pleasures do not give joy or peace; they leave you unsatisfied, restless, craving for more. “But whosoever drinks the water that I give him will never be thirsty; no, the water that I give shall become a fountain within him, leaping up to provide eternal life”(see John 4:14, N.A.B.; also Isaiah 55:1-3).

Because of our deep trust in God we sleep peacefully, utterly serene in the knowledge of His love and divine protection. Not because we are good, but because He is so good to those who seek Him. As we grow closer to the Lord in our personal relationship, we find the words of this psalm take on a deeper meaning; we begin to cry out for deliverance from the greatest enemy of all, the self, which hides in our own hearts. To cooperate with God in the deliverance from self involves deep and radical self-denial in our daily life, but the result is worth all the sacrifice, for it is a permanent peace and joy, regardless of external circumstances, a joy no one can take from us. This leads us, eventually, to lie down in the sleep of death, utterly secure in God’s love, and expecting to awake to eternal bliss.

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