Peterson's Reformed World
Articles
BookstoreHomeLibraryLinksMessage BoardsSermons
God's Word on Peace!
An Exposition of Psalm 4
Psa 4:1 Answer me when I call, O God of my right! You gave me room when I was in distress.
Be gracious to me, and hear my prayer. NRSV
One portion of this publication I would like to dedicate to encouraging you in your walk with Christ. To do so in this space over the next few issues we will look deeply into a brief song that David wrote which describes vividly the beauty of faith in God, the power of prayer, the presence of all sufficient grace, and the promise of overwhelming peace.
You will notice that David begins his song with a request of God, if "request" is not too light a word to describe what he said. It seems more fitting, in the context of the passage, to call his request a plea, even a demand. "Answer me when I call . . .." David has found himself in a situation in which it seems imperative that God hear what he has to say. It even comes to mind that David is expressing some frustration in being confident that God is hearing him. After all why would he make a request if there were no reason to doubt God's willingness to answer? Yet it would seem that David, for the briefest of moments albeit, did question whether God was listening.
It is not an uncommon thing for Christians to experience what seems like silence on the side of God in their prayer lives. How often have we left a time of prayer and devotions feeling as empty afterward as we did before? Let me assure you that the silence is not uncommon. The mystics called it the "Dark Night of the Soul". We might simply call it a period of waiting. Something we're not always too good at doing.
Yet all praise to God that He does not remain silent, and like David, we can find hope to build our faith in God's past dealings with us.
For He is the God of our righteousness. Notice that David espoused the idea that anything right or moral in his life had to be attributed to God and His giving it to David. Paul communicates the same theme in Romans 3:21-22 when he writes: "But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe." And in this is the strength necessary for hope. A person could not possibly be discouraged for too long or doubt God's listening ear for too great a time when the reality of God's grace is made evident to them. If it is God who makes me right when I believe in Him then it will also be God who hears me when I exercise that belief in prayer.
David exercises a great deal of wisdom in this passage. When his heart is in doubt and his will is giving way to fear he reminds himself not only of God's sovereignty in his life but also His past graciousness and protection. In Phillippians we are told " Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." We are to tell God of our doubts and our fears in thanksgiving. In Thanksgiving for what? David said "You gave me room when I was in distress." You pushed back the walls of anxiety in the past, you lifted the fog from my path and you gave me lamp to light my way in previous times of doubt and for that I am grateful.
And because, Oh Love of My Soul, Oh Beautiful Savior, because you have proved yourself capable of delivering me from trouble in the past, because you have listened to my cries before, I trust you now to hear me and be gracious to me again.
It is one of the blessings of being a child of God to know that God never changes. We have each known His attentive ear in our lives and His responsive heart in our troubles. And so when fear and doubt creep into our souls again, let us overcome them through pray. Spurgeon writes that this "is another instance of David's common habit of pleading past mercies as a ground for present favor." And, what greater grounds for present favor can be found than in the words of Paul "For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life."
Continuing David's quest for Peace
Mark Peterson's Writings on the Psalms
Back to My Home Page