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God's Word on Peace
An Exposition of Psalm 4

Scripture: (Psa 4:3) "But know that the LORD has set apart the
faithful for himself; the LORD hears when I call to him."

It is confidence that I have, it is assurance that I posses in knowing that when I pray God hears my prayer. And knowing that God hears me when I call to him fills my heart with joy and hope. This is the sentiment of all who are saved and understand their salvation as the work of God. And yet there are some who would read this passage and find no comfort or overcoming hope. They are without any confidence when confronted with this passage, for they misunderstand, or do not realize their position in Christ. Those who would find nothing here but despair are the same as those who can not accept the doctrine of election, and at the same time understand the consequences of not having such a doctrine.

When faced with the statement "the Lord has set apart the faithful for himself; the Lord hears when I call to him" a person who believes the doctrine of election to be incorrect must place the ability of God to hear his prayers, upon the faithfulness, or in another translation "the goodness," of himself. Whereas, for the one who holds the doctrine of election to be scriptural, the ability of God to hear our prayers is dependent only on God's ability to save us and thereby make us faithful and good.

The logic must flow as follows: If God hears those who are faithful and good, then I must be faithful and good for God to hear me. Since there is not one faithful and good person in existence, in the purest since of the words, then God does not hear me, for I am one of those who is not good or faithful. Therefore; I have no hope.

And yet we do have hope. The topic of hope is spread throughout the entire bible, as well as the idea that a believer can have confidence that God is their Father and that they are saved. And yet if an honest person who rejects the doctrine of election brings to a logical conclusion the consequences of passages like Psalm 4:3, they will be forced to say that all those places where we are told that we have hope and confidence are incorrect. The reason such a conclusion will be drawn from their thinking is that they are attempting and even forcing themselves to search for hope and confidence in the merits of their goodness and faithfulness and not in those of God. They are looking for hope in themselves, when hope can only be found in Christ.

Paul tells us in Romans 5:1-2 that ". . . since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God." NRSV There is hope for the believer that he will share in the glory of God, there is hope for you and I that when we pray God will hear us. His ear is bent toward us and when our burdens send us to Him He is there to comfort us. Notice that this hope is the result of having access to the grace of God and that this access has been secured by Jesus Christ who brought about our justification before God. And so you see my confidence is derived not from my merits of goodness but through the merits of goodness and faithfulness that God has placed upon me as a result of Christ dying for me.

Now some would say that David had no relationship with Christ and therefore has no understanding of election. His words are the words of one who believes that goodness and faithfulness come from within and only upon ones own righteousness can one depend for securing the love of God. It would be appropriate to respond to such a statement with this question: "Were not the Israelites, of whom David was King, chosen by God out of all nations to be His people?" You see David understood that God had picked them, He had called them to be His people and in so doing He imputed upon them the goodness and faithfulness necessary for salvation. Understand this, the Israelites were not saved in the manner in which we are saved. Their's was not an individual relationship with God where one person and another was individually justified and freed from bondage to sin. That is only possible through Christ. However, the Israelites were saved as a nation, for they were and are under the protection of God's hand and they will be redeemed. This we know from scripture. And so it is possible for David to understand that his being faithful and good, is the result of his being God's possession.

And such is the case with you and I. We can have confidence that God will hear our prayers always, because He has set us apart for Himself, and in so doing He has imputed upon us that which is necessary for Him to love us and forgive us.

We are told in Romans 10:17 that faith, saving faith, ". . . comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ." NRSV Faith, therefore, comes from Christ it is in fact a gift from God. Paul writes in Galatians, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God-- not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life." (Gal 2:8-10 NRSV)

Take joy in knowing that the goodness and faith required of you to secure God's favor has been given to you as a gift, and that gift can never be taken away. And now go and approach the throne of God in humbleness and with confidence knowing that because you are set apart for God, by God, through Jesus Christ, that He will hear you when you call.
Mark Peteson's Writings on the Psalm
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