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Well you can turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 4. Psalm 4, I'll begin reading in verse 1, to the chief musician, with stringed instruments, a psalm of David. Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness. You have relieved me in my distress. Have mercy on me and hear my prayer. How long, O you sons of men, will you turn my glory to shame? How long will you love worthlessness and seek falsehood? Selah.

But know that the Lord has set apart for Himself Him who is godly. The Lord will hear when I call to Him. Be angry and do not sin. Meditate within your heart, on your bed, and be still, say Allah. Verse 5, offer the sacrifices of righteousness and put your trust in the Lord. There are many who say, who will show us any good? Lord, lift up the light of your countenance upon us. You have put gladness in my heart, more than in the season that their grain and wine increased. I will both lie down in peace and sleep. For you alone, oh Lord, make me dwell in safety.

Amen. Well, let us pray. Our Father, we thank you for the Psalms, we thank you for these songs of Zion, these songs of our Lord Jesus Christ, and may we indeed internalize them for our own prayer lives, may we sing them back to you, may we rejoice in the teaching of what we find here. We ask now that your Spirit would guide us again, that you would forgive us for all of our sins and those things that darken our understanding, and we ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Well, as we come to Psalm 4, it is connected to Psalm 3, not just numerically, and I don't think contextually. If you go back to Psalm 3, verse 1, it tells us the occasion upon which David wrote it, a Psalm of David when he fled from Absalom, his son.

I'm not certain that Psalm 4 was written at that same time, but the editors intended or superintended by the Holy Spirit when they put the Psalter together connected Psalms 3 and 4. And essentially what we have are some obvious links between the two. We've got the distress of the psalmist in chapter 3 or Psalm 3 verse 1 and Psalm 4 verse 1. the glory of the psalmist in Psalm 3-3 and Psalm 4-2, the cry of the psalmist and the hearing by God in Psalm 3-4 and Psalm 4-3, and then as well the sleep of the psalmist in 3-5 and then again in 4-8. So most likely the historical occasion is not the same, but there's a thematic connection. And perhaps, as in the opinion of many commentators, what we have in Psalm 3 is an evening psalm And then what we have in Psalm 4 is a morning psalm. I'm sorry, Psalm 3 is a morning psalm like Psalm 5 and then Psalm 4 is an evening psalm. And I would suggest there's a connection between Psalm 4 and Psalms 1 and 2.

The blessed man of Psalm 1, the Lord Jesus Christ, is that only begotten Son of the Father who is the glorious and sovereign King of Psalm 2. And I take Psalm 4, 3 to be a description of that same man. But know that the Lord has set apart for himself him who is godly. The Lord will hear when I call to him. So I want to look first at the petition of the psalmist in verse 1. Secondly, the exhortation of the psalmist. So after he expresses his petition to God, he exhorts the sons of men around him. And then thirdly, the contemplation of the psalmist in verses 6 to 8.

But if you look with me at Psalm 4, specifically at verse 1, and that's the superscription to the chief musician with strained instruments, a psalm of David. David appointed the singers in Israel. And that wasn't because David thought that they should be like the nations around them. It's because God told David what to do. In other words, worship has never been left up to the worshipper, but God demands how it is we're supposed to worship. In the Reformed tradition, we call that the regulative principle of worship.

You see that not only in the Old Covenant, but you see it in the New Covenant as well. And with reference to David, he assigned specific people to do specific tasks within the tabernacle, and then what would be the temple under Solomon. So just a couple of passages that we see this in. 1 Chronicles 6.

We won't give this bit of information every time we come to a superscription that speaks of the chief musician, but I think it's important for us to be reminded that the Psalms were for use in public worship. The children of God, the children of Israel in that old covenant setting were supposed to sing these things. They were supposed to chant these things. They were supposed to pray these things. And again, because God had commanded them. Notice in 1 Chronicles 16 verse 1.

So they brought the ark of God and set it in the midst of the tabernacle that David had erected for it. Then they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord. Then he distributed to everyone of Israel, both man and woman, to everyone a loaf of bread, a piece of meat, and a cake of raisins. And he appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, to commemorate, to thank, and to praise the Lord God of Israel. So these Levites didn't just wake up one day and say, you know what?

We've got musical abilities. We've got musical inclinations. Let's go ahead and become a band and serve Yahweh. No, it was by the appointment of David who received this from on high. Worship is prescribed by the Most High. The light of nature tells us that there is a God. The light of nature tells us that we must worship this God, but it's special revelation, God communicating to us in Old and New Covenants as to how we are to approach that God. We don't just willy-nilly go. As I've said many times, God's not looking for innovators and creators when it comes to worship. He is looking for obedient people who obey the scriptures as given to them by God. Then notice as well in 1 Chronicles 16 at verse 31. First Chronicles, I'm sorry, that's not the text. First Chronicles 16, not 31. Let's see, First Chronicles 25, one and two. First Chronicles 25, one and two.

Moreover, David and the captains of the army separated for the service of the son, some of the sons of Asaph, of Heman, of Jedithon, who should prophesy with harps and stringed instruments and cymbals, and the number of the skilled men performing their service was, and then it indicates the specific men.

So when we come to these superscriptions in the Book of Psalms, they are musical directions. They are for corporate worship. And specifically, we have here in Psalm 4, 1, to the chief musician, meaning the psalm is composed, it's given to the chief musician. The chief musician then leads the congregation in the singing of this psalm in praise to God Most High. As well, they would have chanted them, and as well, they would have indeed prayed them.

And so, with reference to these Psalms to the chief musician, there are 55 of them in the Book of Psalms, and then Habakkuk 3.19 indicates the same thing. As well, in our superscription to the chief musician with stringed instruments, that occurs seven times in the superscriptions in the Psalms.

Stringed instruments were commanded in Old Covenant worship. Stringed instruments were not developed by those outside of the cult and brought into the worship of Yahweh. No, God commanded. Everything that they used in public worship was authorized by God. Old covenant worship was regulated. New covenant worship is regulated also.

We're supposed to pray the Word, we're supposed to sing the Word, we're supposed to sing the Word, we're supposed to preach the Word, and we're supposed to see the Word in the sacraments of the Lord's Supper and Baptism. In other words, the regular principle of worship applies both to Old and New Covenants. Now, ceremonially or positive law, there's differences to be sure. In this new covenant setting, we don't have a priesthood, we don't have sacrifices, we don't have incense, we don't have a tabernacle, we don't have temple. Those were positive institutions under a particular covenant, but the underlying moral principle is that you worship God in the manner that he demands, in the manner that he commands.

And so what we find here in Psalm 4 is its usefulness for public worship. We're to sing it, we're to pray it, we're to muse on it and contemplate it. So specifically with reference to the petition in verse 1, the psalmist says, hear me, when I call, O God of my righteousness, you have relieved me in my distress, have mercy on me and hear my prayer. So the petition to hear, and I think this expresses faith. We don't call upon a God who we don't believe is present.

Hebrews 11.6 tells us that without faith it is impossible to please Him because we must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. And so faith is expressed by the psalmist when he says, hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness. I would suggest that earnestness is demonstrated there as well. We go through the front door of heaven in prayer, brethren.

We don't knock, you know, kind of beat around the bush. Well, I kind of want to make sure that God doesn't think I'm being presumptuous. Well, we're not supposed to be presumptuous, but a boldness at the throne of grace is bought and paid for by our Lord Jesus Christ. We have access. We have blessed access, according to Hebrews chapter 10, and we ought to utilize it.

And if we have issues, we have needs, we have petitions, we come to God and say, hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness. and that recognition of righteousness. I think in this instance, David understood where his righteousness was, and of course in the mouth of the Savior as he prays, he addressed his father as righteous father in his high priestly prayer. But for David and for us, God is our righteousness. For David and for us, Jeremiah 23, 6 is all too real. The name of Messiah in the new covenant when he comes will be the Lord our righteousness.

James, not the apostle, but the brother of our Lord, half-brother of our Lord, says the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Have you ever considered that in your own righteousness? You ever thought, you know what, I'm coming to pray today and yet I know and I'm conscious of the fact that I'm not righteous. Well the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

Praise God that God is our righteousness. Praise God for the imputed righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ received by faith alone. Praise God that in justification he not only pardons all of our sins but he accepts us as righteous in his sight only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone. So as the psalmist comes to pray, the psalmist shows faith in his prayer. The psalmist as well shows earnestness in his prayer. Hear me when I call. And the psalmist acknowledges in prayer his righteousness. Later, in Psalm 66, 18, he's going to say, if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.

I think that's a principle that is built into us. If we are hypocritical, if we are full of sin, if we are full of unrighteousness, if we are full of filth, it seems bad or wrong or not right to pray to God in that frame or disposition. Well, confess your sins, trust in the righteous mercy of God, trust in the blood and righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ. Invoke His righteousness as the ground upon which you come to God with that believing prayer, with that earnest prayer.

And then notice, not only does he give a petition to God to hear, but he gives an argument to God as to why he should hear. And that's not untoward in the Psalms. You see arguments presented by the psalmist as to reasons why God should listen and answer prayer.

But note the middle of verse 1. Well, beginning in verse 1, hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness, you have relieved me in my distress. What's the argument? You've relieved me in my distress, so relieve me in my distress. Beautiful. In other words, the precedent of what God had done for him in the past serves the present impetus for him to go and ask God in the present. It's a beautiful manner of argument. Hear me when I call, O God, of my righteousness. You have relieved me in my distress."

In other words, as Spurgeon says, I've tried and proven that my God is faithful. And based on the fact that my God is faithful, I'm going to keep coming back to Him. I'm going to keep believing. I'm going to keep being earnest. And I'm going to keep resting in that righteousness that He Himself has supplied unto me. And I'm going to point to his past victories and triumphs in my life, and I'm going to bring that to him in the present condition and say, since you did that of old, I trust that you'll do that for me now.

It is a beautiful form of argumentation, the precedence of God's faithfulness as an argument. You have relieved me in my distress, therefore God, relieve me in my distress. You have blessed me with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, so continue to bless me. You have shown me the greater in that you did not spare your own son, but delivered him up for us all. So I trust in the lesser that you'll also with him freely give me all things. This is biblical prayer. This is good argument. The practice of God's people at the throne of grace. Pray as those who have tried and proven their God and his faithfulness.

And again, consider a couple other places in the Psalter, Psalm 102.1, a prayer of the afflicted when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before the Lord. Brethren, it's not wrong to be in earnest at the throne of grace. I would suggest it's wrong to not be in earnest at the throne of grace.

I mentioned the importunate widow last week, Luke 18. Jesus teaches that men ought to pray and not to lose heart, and he points to that importunate widow. She went to the judge. She wanted a verdict. The judge, who didn't fear God, the judge who didn't regard man, got tired of her continuing to come to him, so he went ahead and gave her the verdict. I mean, you couldn't make it more of a comparative that Jesus gives us there in Luke 18. The son just shows he doesn't fear God, he doesn't regard men. But what was he upset about or what tried him, what vexed him, what brought him to the place where he just said, okay, I'm going to answer. Don't look surprised, parents.

You've been worn down by children a number of times if you're like any other and every other parent. Okay, are you doing it out of altruistic motives because you only genuinely ever want their benefit and joy and happiness, or you don't want to keep being bugged? You're all looking perplexed. I'm sorry, I've got bad things in my past, so I guess we'll just use this time to rehearse that. You know what that's like.

You're not giving in to them because you're godly. You're giving in to them because you're not. That's what Jesus says. He says, based on this importunate widow that continuing to come to this judge, and the judge finally renders the verdict, what's Jesus' point? Shall not God avenge his own elect who cried to him day and night? If the unjust judge does that, just because he's bugged at some gut level with this woman that won't let him go, shall not God judge his own elect who cry to him day and night? Of course he will. That's the emphasis in Jesus' teaching in that particular parable of the importunate widow.

Psalm 116, 1 and 2, I love the Lord because He has heard my voice and my supplications, because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live. I don't know that we do that. I love God because, kind of sounds mercenary, right? I love God because, well yeah, we love God because He made us, because He takes care of us, because He redeemed us, because we had water this morning or coffee, even better, because we're going to have food today. We love God because of His provisions. As the child of God, as the blood-bought children of God, we love God for the gracious provision of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The psalmist had no problem saying, I love God because... but then notice what he says.

I love the Lord because He has heard my voice and my supplications, because He has inclined His ear to me in the past. In the past, when I prayed to Him, He inclined His ear to me, that then functions for Him to say, therefore, I will call upon Him as long as I live.

You see the same pattern here in Psalm 4.1. Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness. You have relieved me in my distress. And then notice the specific petition there. It's likely the margin reading, which is better. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer. God, turn your ear to my particular distress. Vindicate me for your cause in your name and bless me such that I can engage in the various challenges that this present evil age throws at me." So the petition of the psalmist. Notice then the exhortation of the psalmist in verses 2 to 5.

Well, this is David rebuking the sons of men in his own generation. It's Jesus rebuking the sons of men in his generation. And typically, sons of men in this psalm is interpreted as men of renown, the leadership. And if you think about our Lord's ministry, who did He go toe-to-toe with a lot in His earthly ministry? It was the religious leadership. It was the Sanhedrin. It was the unbelieving Jews that had resisted Him, that had rejected Him, that ultimately delivered Him up to be crucified.

So, what we have here in verses 2 to 5 is the words of our Lord Jesus in His ministry according to His humanity, and as well, David. So, the ministry of Jesus to the men of renown, David to the men of renown in his own day. As well, it's similar to Jesus speaking as wisdom in the book of Proverbs. There's times or instances in chapters 1, for instance, in chapter 8, where we have the personification of wisdom. And wisdom gives specific instructions on how to live. Wisdom gives exhortations. That's Jesus, brethren. That's Jesus. When you're hearing that wisdom in the book of Proverbs, you're hearing from the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ. So notice what He does.

He first rebukes them in verse 2 and then he exhorts them in verses 3 to 5. Notice in verse 2, How long, O you sons of men, will you turn my glory to shame? How long will you love worthlessness and seek falsehood? How long, O you sons of men, will you turn my glory to shame?

Now for David, according to Psalm 3, God is his glory. for the Lord Jesus in His earthly ministry, it's He, the Son of the Father, sent by the Father in order to save His people from their sins. So a despising of or a rejecting of His glory is who He is, His person and His work.

Remember, the Old Testament prophesied and foretold a divine Messiah, Psalm 27. The Old Testament prophesied and foretold a human Messiah. Well, in the New Covenant, we see that it's the Word became flesh who dwelt among us. The second person of the Trinity assumed our humanity. And so, the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, as he walked the earth and as the sons of men rejected him.

Remember John introduces the prologue under this hat. He says, he came to his own and his own received him not. The prophet Isaiah tells us he would be a man of sorrows and he would be acquainted with grief. He has no form, no comeliness. There's nothing about him that draws our eye and says, wow, that must be Messiah.

He was rejected, he was scorned, he was rebuffed, he was despised and ultimately crucified. So I think this is the language of our Savior rebuking the sons of men in his generation. How long, O you sons of men, will you turn my glory to shame? How long will you love worthlessness and seek falsehood? That worthlessness is just what we see in Psalm 2. Why do the nations rage and the people plot what? Worthless things, vain things, vanities, things that have no substance. And how long will you love wickedness and seek falsehood?

Again, in the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ, what does He say to the disciples in the upper room? He tells them you're going to suffer. He tells them you're going to be opposed. 1518 to 1614. What does Jesus alert His disciples to? If they hated Me, they're going to hate you. But as well, if they hate Me, Jesus says, they hate My Father. In other words, you can't hate the one whom the Father sent all the while trying to maintain that you love the Father. If you resist and reject the Son, ergo you resist and reject the Father who sent the Son.

Very pointed words by our Savior with reference to unbelieving Israel there in John's Gospel in chapters 15 and 16. It's hard to dance around it, brethren, and the implications involved. And when you add that to what he says in John 8, you are of your father the devil. And in John 8, you're not the sons of Abraham. If you were the sons of Abraham, you wouldn't try to kill me. John the Apostle in his second epistle summarizes it this way, whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.

It's very clear, very simple teaching. So, what the Son of Man is saying in Psalm 4 in terms of reproof to the men of his generation is, how long, O you sons of men, will you turn my glory to shame and denial of my person? How long will you love worthlessness, the vanities and the follies of any generation and seek falsehood? Do not claim to be sons of Abraham and do not claim to be the true sons of Yahweh when you're rejecting the very son of Yahweh's love that He sent into this world to save His people from their sins. That's the logic of the gospel with reference to the Lord Jesus in His ministry. Now He turns to exhortation. Look at this. Verse 3 is what they need to know and verses 4 and 5, what they need to do.

So he's rebuked them, verse 2, how long are you sons of men? Will you turn my glory to shame? How long will you love worthlessness and seek falsehood? He could just stop there and say, that's it, AD 70, you're going to get clobbered. You're done. It's over. History. But he doesn't do that.

You get that when Jesus laments over Jerusalem in Matthew's gospel at the end of chapter 23. Just on the heels of 24, when he prophesies the destruction of the temple. Does he enter into that prophetic statement with a glibness? Does he enter into that prophetic statement with a, hey, this is what's coming to you guys? No, he laments, he weeps. How many times I would have gathered you the way that a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.

The prophet is tempered with that compassion and that love and that mercy and that grace. And that's the same thing you see evidenced here in Psalm 4. Yeah, there's rebuke, verse 2, but there's exhortation. Notice what they need to know according to verse 3. But know that the Lord has set apart for himself him who is godly. The Lord will hear when I call to him. And again, I think that's Jesus, the blessed man of Psalm 1, the glorious king of Psalm 2, the death resurrection of the Savior in Psalm 3, 5.

That's the Savior we're talking about in Psalm 4.3. God knows His godly one. Know that the Lord has set apart for Himself Him. Not everyone, but Him specifically, singular, who is godly. The Lord will hear when I call to Him. So I think the emphasis is that the godly man is Christ. The godly man is set apart.

By God the Father, for Him, His glory, you see that? The baptism, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Transfiguration, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Backdrop, Isaiah 42 verse 1, my elect one, the one whom I love. The Father is supremely glorified in the Son. and he sets him apart for that specific action.

And so the Savior rebukes them, verse two, and then the Savior exhorts them that you not only need to understand who it is that is set apart by the Lord, but you also need to understand at the end of verse three, the Lord will hear when I call to him. Again, jump into the gospel ministry, or the gospel records. Can you imagine the one that you have been waiting for, for however many hundreds of years, the one promised by Yahweh in the Old Testament? You had Isaiah, you had Micah, right down to the place where you'd be born. This is not an obscure thing. Jesus didn't just kind of make the grade when it comes to, you know, answering the prophecy. Everything.

Man born of woman, Genesis 3.15. Lamb who takes away the sin of the world, Genesis 22. Prophet in the vein of Moses, Deuteronomy 18. The one born upon whose shoulders the government will rest, Isaiah 9. Isaiah 5, whose goings forth are from of old, even from everlasting.

Where is he going to be born? Bethlehem. What's the prophet Micah saying? That in the past there was a cradle in Bethlehem that proved the answer for Israel in the person of David. That same cradle in Jerusalem, or Bethlehem rather, is going to prove the redemption of Israel through David's greater son.

It's not just a one-off. Well, he kind of almost fulfills something of the Old Testament. This is why it's so bad and why we need to point this out that sin has a powerful influence on people. And I'm not picking on first century unbelieving Jews alone. We were all the same. People told us the gospel. Perhaps we were raised in churches where we heard the gospel.

Did we immediately say, wow, Jesus is that man prophesied by Jeremiah 23.6, the Lord our righteousness. Did we immediately conclude that Isaiah 53 is obviously talking about? No. What taught us that? Who taught us that? It's the Spirit of God. It was grace that taught my heart to fear. So we're not supposed to get proud. We're not supposed to get arrogant. We're not supposed to get puffed up.

But in the historical context, he came to his own, his own received him not. But what they never ever seemed to get was that he always had the ear of his father. And I think that's the end of verse 3. He gives them the rebuke in verse 2, identifies himself as that man in verse 3, and at the end of verse 3, the Lord will hear when I call to him. So a bit of a sort of negative emphasis with reference to the rebuke.

In other words, if I could just bring it very simply, Jesus is very gracious. The Lord our God saves sinners. The Lord our God forgives sins. It's an amazing thing. I mean, just coming to the Lord with sin, with guilt, with just all kinds of mess, and to have the pronouncement forgiven and counted righteous.

Not because you're righteous in yourself, but because of the righteousness of my son, I'm gonna give that to you. What could be better? And you know, preachers, I hope, make it an emphasis as to why you should come to Jesus. Because there's blessing. Because there's forgiveness. Because there's a righteousness given by God to you.

There's heaven at the end of all this. It's not a pie-in-the-sky dream. It's not sort of a wish thing. It's promised in Scripture. There's a time coming, a place coming, an eternal age where God will wipe away every tear from our eyes. There'll be no more sorrow. There'll be no more hunger. There'll be no more thirst. There'll be no more death. So preachers hopefully try to encourage people to come because of all the benefits and the blessings.

And that's legit, and Jesus does that. John 7, at the last great day of the feast, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Matthew 11, he says, I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for thou didst hide these things from the wise and the prudent, but you revealed them unto babes. And on the heels of that, he says, come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Do you see that in the earthly ministry of our Lord? Do you see that in the apostolic preaching? Come to the cross for the benefit. Come to the cross for the blessing. But there's also a come to the cross, or you will endure the punishment of the Most High. If Yahweh hears the cry of the man, the godly man, that has been reviled, that has been resisted, that has been rejected, and has been crucified, if Yahweh hears His voice, there's going to be judgment.

There's going to be punishment. There's going to be a cutting off. I mentioned AD 70 earlier. I think that's what's going on in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21. It's a basic fulfillment of Deuteronomy 28. You sin against Yahweh, what happens? You're gonna get cut off. You're going to be sent away. You are going to be punished.

And I think that's probably part of what's going on at the end of verse 3. The Lord will hear when I call to Him. So that's what they need to know. But then notice what they need to do in verses 4 and 5. They need to repent and believe. Not far different from the New Testament, is it? In fact, haven't we seen a gospel thread running through all these Psalms? The gospel, right? That's what verses 4 and 5 is.

Be angry, do not sin, meditate within your heart on your bed and be still. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness and put your trust in the Lord. So the prohibition here is be angry and do not sin. I think I like the old King James better here. It says, stand in awe and sin not. Or even NASB and NIV, tremble and do not sin.

Angry is part of it, it's in the semantic range, but I think it's similar to what you have in Psalm 46.10, be still and know that I am God.

We take that and we apply it to the people of God and well we should because all of us need to be still and know that God is God. But likely in the context in Psalm 46, it's a reproof to the nations. It's a reproof to the heathen. It's a reproof to those who would trouble the children of God. Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth.

I think that's the vein here in verse 4. Be still, tremble, contemplate. Get your head in the game, we might say. You see somebody perpetually making mistakes in their lives, at some point it's helpful for us to say, get your head in the game. Get it together. Stop going down this path. Stop pursuing lawlessness. Stop pursuing wickedness.

Don't we say that? You see your kid making a mistake? You see your kid hardened? You see your kid in a particular pathway? Don't you at some point say to that kid, you need to stop and you need to survey and you need to contemplate and you need to think through the choices that you're making.

I think that's what we do. That's Psalm 4, 4. Be angry. Do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed and be still. Ash gives us this. Be angry means to tremble or to be agitated, excited or disturbed. We might say to be heated up. The Septuagint, quoted in Ephesians 4.26, translates the Hebrew with a clear anger verb. Again, it's within the range and it's perfectly acceptable. Be angry and do not sin. But the idea is probably more like agitation. Don't be heated up. There's your prohibition. Don't get riled up at the reproof of our Lord. Doesn't this happen?

Somebody comes and reproves you? Somebody comes and tries to correct you? Somebody tries to say, we talked about this in the last hour, you know, brother, I think you're in sin, you need to repent. What's our usual response? You're right, I'm a wretch, please forgive me. That comes minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years later. What's the initial response? We're agitated. We're frustrated. We're angry. How dare you come to me and try to correct me?

The psalmist is heading this off at the past. You need to know something about Yahweh. You need to know something about the one He has set apart, this godly man. You need to understand that the Lord hears this godly man, according to Psalm 3. As a result, tremble, but don't sin. Be agitated, but don't sin. You need to reflect and contemplate on your position or your situation under God at this particular moment. The necessity to meditate upon the person of Christ. Again, Ash says we need to settle the restless anger that rages against God's Messiah. The first century application of this is all too well, all too real.

A lot of those guys should have been told be angry or be agitated or tremble, but don't sin. Get on your bed, meditate, ask the question, who did the Old Testament promise Messiah was going to be? He'd be a man, he'd be God's son, he would do miracles, Isaiah 35, he would live, he would die, he'd be raised again, all through scripture in the Old Testament. So the exhortation is very simple. Yeah, be angry, tremble, be agitated, but don't sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed and be still. In other words, repent.

Stop going down this same path of rebellion and rejection against Yahweh's Christ. It's the same thing you see in Psalm 2, 1 to 3. Why do the nations rage and the people plot of vain things? They set themselves against Yahweh and against His anointed. Well, that problem didn't vanish by the time the psalmist got to Psalm 4.

It didn't vanish in David's historical reality, and it didn't vanish in our Lord Jesus' historic reality. And it hasn't vanished today, and it does us well to say to people, you need to think through the implications of what you're hearing. And some of you people might be here this morning. You might be hearing this right now, and I'm going to tell you, tremble and do not sin.

Get alone with yourself, your Bible, some time of prayer, and understand that meditate within your heart on your bed and be still. I love the insertion of the Selah here. It's a good time to pause, good time to reflect, good time experientially to really take a deep breath and ponder, where am I at with God? Where am I at with Jesus? You know, in a couple of weeks time, you're gonna hear a lot about Jesus. The world likes Jesus on December 25th.

As long as he comes with a tree, lots of presents, and juicy turkeys. Then Jesus is perfectly acceptable. Even more so when he's a baby in the womb, a baby in a manger when he's at a position of disadvantage. We like a Jesus we can pick up. We like a Jesus we can put in our hand. We like a Jesus we can tame. We like a Jesus we can control. We like a Jesus that makes us money if we're in the marketplace. We like that Jesus.

We hear a lot about Jesus. I'm going to ask you, even before we get to that place, where are you at right here, right now, with Jesus? If he is that man set apart by God, if he has the ear of God at all times, if he is that man that the psalmist tells us in Psalm 3, 5, I lay down and slept, I awoke for the Lord sustained me, if that is typical of what Jesus does in terms of death and resurrection and ascension on high in current session. And if Psalm 2 gives us that picture of the son who has comprehensive dominion and sovereignty and power over all things, you need to reckon with this. Where am I at with this Jesus? Have I believed? Have I looked to him in faith? Do I value him? Do I prize him? Is he altogether lovely? Is he chief among 10,000? We're not going to just go to David's time. We're not going to just go to Jesus' time.

We're going to bring this psalm because it is for the church. It's the whole Christ, the head and the body. The psalm is for us. And this exhortation abides. You need to understand the claims of our blessed Savior. Know that the Lord has set apart for Himself, Him who is godly. Know that the Lord will hear when I call to Him.

And know as well, be angry, but don't sin. Be trembling, but don't sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed and be still. So that's repentance, but then notice the faith component in verse 5. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness and put your trust in who? Put your trust in the Lord. A constant refrain through the book of Psalms, 2.12, blessed are all those who put their trust in Him. This offering of righteousness, it's not yours, it's an invoking of His. It's not I'm going to buckle down and do good and then present that to my God. No, it's a recognition of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

It's a recognition of 2 Corinthians 5.21, God the Father made Him, God the Son, who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. It's a recognition of 1 Corinthians 1, 30 and 31, Christ is our righteousness. It's a recognition of Jeremiah 23, 6, the Lord our righteousness.

So for the new covenant believer to offer a sacrifice of righteousness is not first and foremost, go out and obey. It's put your trust in the Lord. It's look to the altogether lovely. It's believe on him, the way the New Covenant always emphasizes, as does the old, when Paul and Silas are in that jail, and that Philippian jailer's about to do himself in, and Paul and Silas say, don't do that, don't kill yourself. What does the Philippian jailer say? Sirs, what must I do to be saved? Have you ever thought about that? This was a prison. It wasn't just Paul and Silas in that prison. There were other prisoners.

He doesn't ask them. Something about Paul and Silas, something about those men invokes from him the specific question, sirs, what must I do to be saved? Arguably, it's because Paul said, don't kill yourself. But if the prison was, you know, populated to any degree, it isn't interesting that he asks Paul and says, what must I do to be saved? I'd be dumb enough to ask the guy who just robbed a bank and had no clue what I must do to be saved. He asked the right men. What was the response?

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. It was Psalm 4, 5. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness and put your trust in the Lord. And that brings us then to the contemplation of the psalmist. Notice in verses 6 to 8. 6a starts with the question of many. Dare I say the question of everyone? Doesn't everyone want happiness? I mean, you meet the odd person now and then.

Yeah, I want misery, I want pain, I want destruction. But those aren't the majority of the population. Most people want happiness. I think, I mean, we bear God's image. We want not misery, pain, and destruction. I mean, the fact that we eat the proper things, we get a little bit of exercise, and we sleep indicates at some place a desire for self-preservation, not pain, not misery, not destruction. We don't walk in the middle of train tracks when the train is coming. There's something in us that doesn't want misery, pain, and destruction. Unless you're a political liberal, then you thrive on misery, pain, and destruction, but I digress. Notice the question in 6a.

There are many who say, who will show us any good? Isn't that true? Aren't there many who say, who will show us any good? They go after good in the way that they understand it. Some go after good in sin. Some go after good in rebellion. Some go after good in things that aren't necessarily sin and rebellion, but things that cannot necessarily provide good.

In fact, Ash, again, says the word good in this context embraces all the blessings of the covenant, things like fruitful work, happy marriage, children, safety, prosperity. These people want the blessings without submitting to the Messiah. If the many say it, they do not think the true blessing is to be found through loyalty to God's King. Here is what Augustine calls the chatter, the daily questioning of all foolish and unjust people who crave peace and tranquility in this earthly life, yet do not find it.

So you see what the psalmist is doing. There's a rebuke in verse 2, what they should know in verse 3, and what they should do in verses 4 and 5. Repent! Believe! And then in verses 6 to 8, he comes with those blessings. He comes with those promises to those in the covenant. He comes with those every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. So there are many who say, who will show us any good? So where does he go to define what is good? He goes to God. He goes to the light of His countenance. He goes to the gladness of His own heart. He goes to that peace and that safety which Yahweh alone gives to His people.

It's a beautiful argument. Psalm 4 is a great evangelistic psalm. You get in an airplane with somebody and they want to hear the gospel, go to Psalm 4. You can do it all right there. It's beautiful. So, notice what he says concerning the blessings of God. They come through faith, 3b, in the godly man of 3a. And when by grace you are positioned safely in him for your justification and righteousness, then notice what comes as a result of being God's people. So, there are many who say, who will show us any good? Well, here's the good that God gives to those who are in Christ.

Lord, lift up the light of your countenance upon us. I think the backdrop to Psalm 4 here is the Aaronic blessing of number six. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

You see it backdropped as well in Psalm 67, verse one, which is a missionary psalm about God's face shining upon all the nations. So what the Aaronic priesthood is doing in that benediction in Numbers chapter 6 has lasting power for the people of God in all subsequent generations. And so the psalmist is saying, here's where good is.

And again, back to the 21st century, right here, right now. Not David's time, not Jesus' ministry in the 1st century. But here right now, do you have a longing for good? No, I like misery, pain, and destruction. Well, I would encourage you not to, but if there is an inkling in your heart for good, know that good comes from God.

It's the light of His countenance. It's communion with Him. It's why the Song of Solomon describes our blessed Jesus as altogether lovely and chief among 10,000. Don't you want to be with the one who's altogether lovely? That one who's chief among 10,000?

And you know, that language may sound effeminate. It's placed in a context of marital love. It's not effeminate. He really is altogether lovely. That means every good thing is in Him. He is chief among 10,000. And again, that's idiomatic. It doesn't mean He's not the chief of the 10,000 and first. It means everything and everybody.

Christ is supreme. It's the light of God's countenance that we enjoy by His grace through faith in our Lord Jesus. Turn to Psalm 73. Psalm 73, which is an interesting psalm as psalms go, it's ascribed to Asaph. And it's a psalm that gets right at the perplexity of the righteous in an unrighteous age.

Does it ever bug you when you see the wicked prosper? Does it ever bug you when you see the righteous suffer? Yeah, it does. I mean, there's wicked people enjoying, you know, all kinds of created benefits. And it, at some level, it bugs me. Maybe it doesn't bug you. You're probably holier than I am. And then you've got righteous people, Peter and Myanmar, that suffer every single day. At some gut level, visceral place, this bugs us. It bugged Asaph. It bugged Asaph. Look at Psalm 73, the Psalm of Asaph. Truly God is good to Israel. This is axiomatic, verse 1, to such as are pure in heart. This is where he begins. Whatever I'm going to tell you about myself in the few verses following, know this, God is good to Israel, to such as are pure in heart.

But as for me, he says, verse 2, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped, for I was envious of the boastful when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no pangs in their death, their strength is firm, they are not in trouble as other men, nor are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride serves as their necklace, violence covers them like a garment, their eyes bulge with abundance, they have more than their heart could wish.

They scoff and speak wickedly concerning oppression. They speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens and their tongue walks through the earth. Do you see, brethren, that at times prayer is real? We're a bit too polished to cry to God and actually admit that it bugs us that the righteous prosper. Asaph wasn't. He took seriously what Peter would later say, quoting a psalm, This is a burden.

Living in a world where these guys are making bank and they're wretched? They're making bank through killing babies? They're making bank through killing old people? They're making bank through mutilating children? It's just tough to comport with. That's what ASAPH is saying.

Maybe not exactly, but you know, you get the sense. Verse 10, therefore his people return here, and waters of full cup are drained by them. And they say, how does God know? And is their knowledge in the most high? Behold, these are the ungodly, who are always at ease. They increase in riches.

Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence. For all day long I have been plagued and chastened every morning. Do you see that? That frustration? I'm seeking to honor you, God. And I'm not trying to impose too much on Asaph, but the feel is, what's it got in me? I see these people and they made it. I see the righteous and they suffer.

Again, the Psalms go where we want but we're too polished. The Psalms express the trueness of the heart of man in a way that only God Himself would evoke from us. We didn't have these. We wouldn't pray like this. We're too dignified. We don't want to suggest that God doesn't notice what's happening in terms of the godless prophet. Asaph pours it out.

He says, If I had said, I will speak thus, behold, I would have been untrue to the generation of your children. When I thought how to understand this, it was too painful for me. It was too painful. It hurt. He's tired of seeing the righteous prosper. He's tired of seeing these people make billions on lawlessness and rebellion and then reading an email about our dear Peter getting tortured. It's just not cool. It's not bueno.

When I thought how to understand this, it was too painful for me until, see it's God's perspective that he needed. It's a God's eye view that is necessary in an Asaphian moment. Until I went into the sanctuary of God, then I understood their end. Then it all made sense.

Then I knew that you set them in slippery places. You cast them down to destruction. Oh, how they are brought to desolation as in a moment. They're truly consumed with terrors as a dream when one awakes. So, Lord, when you awake, you shall despise their image."

You see what he says? When he went into the sanctuary, it reset everything. Oh, that's right. Oh yeah, truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. They will be with him in glory. They will participate in every spiritual blessing. The wicked will be punished. The wicked will be cast out.

How did he learn that? Public worship. How did he learn that? Through the preaching of the word. Until I went to the sanctuary of the Lord. You think pastors and preachers just want to harangue and scold people? Come to church, because we just like to have a lot of people in our church. That's not why, brethren.

It's kind of like your, what do you call them, the physical trainer. Why do you listen to the guy that's training you? Because he's 200 pounds of rock hard muscle. And you've got to conclude that he kind of knows something about nutrition, rest, and exercise, right?

I'm not suggesting I'm 200 pounds of rock hard muscle, but I am suggesting that pastors actually care for their people. It's true. I probably don't show that enough. I probably am not the guy that emails you every week. I love you, brethren. I love you, brethren. I pray for you, brethren. And I know what's best for you, brethren, at this point. It's coming to church.

It really is. Not so because I'm going to be upset if you're not here. No. I just know from Scripture and experientially that God blesses people who use the means. Just like that 200 pound physical trainer knows that if you eat a heavy diet of protein and fat, moderate carbs, you get a lot of rest, you pick up heavy things and put them down, most likely you're gonna burn fat. Just maybe.

Of course he knows that. when he went into the sanctuary, reset what he was interpreting in a carnal manner. I saw the righteous suffer, I saw the unrighteous prosper. That made me almost stumble until I went into the sanctuary. And then it became crystal clear. And look at his value system at the end of the psalm, and this is where I wanted to go, verses 25 and 26.

Home, have I in heaven but you, and there is none upon earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. The NAS renders it, the nearness of God is my good. That's Psalm 4, the light of God's countenance upon us. You in the world, the many who say, who will show us any good? True good is God himself.

And that God, not only in the light of His countenance, makes our hearts glad. Brethren, I ask you, how come we can say, verse 7, you have put gladness in my heart more than in the season that their grain and wine increased? He makes a declaration, then gives a comparison.

What happens in harvest time? You get good stuff, right? I'm not a farmer, not the son of a farmer by any stretch, but I've seen enough to realize that it's a happy day when you get to go out and bring in the fruits of your labor. Isn't it? You raise hogs. I bet that first bacon and eggs is wonderful. You raise beef. I bet that first ribeye is wonderful. You milk cows, that first cup is probably filled with cream and delicious.

What's he saying? I've got gladness of heart more than those who have filled their barns. I've got gladness of heart that goes to the heart. I've got forgiveness. I've got a righteousness. I've got entitlement to heaven itself. You many who say, who will show us any good? God is good. God gives gladness of heart, and God alone provides the peace and safety that all of us at, again, some level crave.

Verse 8, I will both lie down in peace and sleep. See why it's an evening psalm? Great psalm to rehearse right before you go to bed. Recite it to God, pray it before the Lord, think about His mercies and His goodness. You've enjoyed the light of His countenance, you've got the gladness of heart, and now you're able to say with a resolute heart, I will both lie down in peace and sleep. Why? For you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. The many who say, who will show us any good. The psalmist says, I'll show you. And it's in that man of Psalm 4, 3. It's in that king of Psalm 2, 12. It's in that man described in Psalm 1, 1 and 2. It's in that man described in Psalm 3, 5.

In other words, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. You want good? Good comes in the light of His countenance, in the gladness of heart, and in that peace and that safety that God affords to everyone who by His grace believes on Him. Such that you can read a Romans 8, 31 to 39. And ask with Paul, who shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord? And answer, nothing, no one, no thing out there, even this thing cannot separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So in conclusion, David had distress, the Savior had distress, the church has distress. What do we do when we have distress? We cry with David, we cry with the Savior, we cry in the manner of a Psalm 4-1 asking God to hear us, arguing that He's heard us in the past and therefore please hear us in the present. I would suggest, secondly, not only do we have distress, but we have the same message of Psalm 4, verses 3 to 5. This is what sinners in our day and age need to know concerning the one set apart by the Father. And this is what sinners need to know in terms of coming to this God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

It's faith and repentance. It's looking to Him and living. It's believing and knowing the joy of being found in Him. And I would suggest thirdly and finally, for all of us as God's people, let us rejoice in the good things that we have. A light of His countenance, gladness of heart because we've been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, and that peace and safety. We can lay our heads on our pillow and realize that we're safe and we have peace. Even if we should die a miserable death in our sleep, Where do we go? We go to be with the Lord. We go to be with our blessed Savior who lived for us, who died for us, and who was raised again for us. Well, let us pray.

Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the Psalter. We thank you for the privilege to study. We thank you for the privilege to read and to sing these things, knowing that you have given them by inspiration, and we bless you for them. We ask that you would be merciful to sinners here and sinners elsewhere. Open hearts to receive that gospel, that they might come to the one in whom there is forgiveness. And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.