Introduction: Perhaps what I love most about the Psalms is their visceral honesty. When David wrote, he laid it all out on the line. With gut-wrenching honesty that goes right to the heart of the matter, David and the other psalmists wrote about times of joy, times of lamentation, times on the mountain, times in the valley, and myriad poems and songs about times that felt like evil was winning, that light and truth were being eclipsed by the machinations of evil.

This morning, for example, I was reading Psalm 4 over and over. It is a short prayer, so I have included it here for you to follow along:

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. (Psalm 4, ESV)

Questions for Reflection: First, do we notice how David begins his prayer in verse 1 by remembering God’s faithfulness to him in the past? That’s crucial.

Second, do we notice how in verse 2 David tells God (it’s not as if God is anything less than omniscient) that sinful men “love vain words and seek after lies”? That is the pattern of unregenrate people; they love lies rather than the truth.

Third, will you notice how in verses 3-8, David again returns to his confidence in the Lord? His confidence is not in man. That is double-edged in its implications. Why? Because it is not good for man to be alone (Gen 2:18). People need others. Godly people need co-laborers and friends in the faith. But ultimately, the Christian must love his Redeemer above all, because crowds are notoriously fickle and faithless.

Fourth, the Lord is sovereign through it all. Verse 8 reminds us via David’s pen: God alone makes His people dwell in safety. Through it all God is there–constant, steadfast, and sure.