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In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, LORD,
make me dwell in safety. (vs8)
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By Peter Roxburgh
Psalm 4 (NIV)
Distress! (v1) Answer me when I call to you, my righteous God.
Give me relief from my distress; have mercy on me and hear my prayer.
Being made redundant probably won’t come anywhere close to the distress levels that David felt. Nobody was trying to kill me and I wasn't sleeping in cold dark caves or traipsing round a desert in scorching heat. But if you've ever been made redundant you know that it is a distressing time. I very much remember the day I was told I felt like I was literally free-falling. *and I'm freeeeeeeeeee....free-fallin'*
Certainty (v3) Know that the LORD has set apart his faithful servant for himself;
the LORD hears when I call to him.
Of course, one great thing about being made redundant is that it does wonders for your prayer life! But it will only do that if we can say with the same certainty that David did 'the Lord hears when I call to him' (v3). Not 'I hope the Lord hears' or 'what if God isn't listening to my prayers?' The enemy will try and tell us that God doesnt care or is too busy. But we must remind ourselves that he DOES indeed hear when we call to him. Even if we feel our prayers are bouncing back off the ceiling, the truth is that God hears our prayers. What a relief!
Treasure (v6) Many, LORD, are asking, “Who will bring us prosperity?”
Let the light of your face shine on us.
My take on vs 6 during my redundancy was 'who will bring us even a basic salary, let alone prosperity'. And I have to say my answer was more in the vein of 'aaaaarrrrrggggghhhhhhh' rather than the 'Let the light of your face shine on us!' that David sang! But here David reminds us that actually the treasure we find in God is far greater than the prosperity that we crave for here on earth. It seems a strange thing to answer a question about prosperity with 'let God shine his face on us'. But consider a pirate who finds a treasure chest of gold, silver, rubies and other precious stones. He then looks up to see the Creator more beautiful than a thousand sunsets, brighter than the mid-day sun, with eyes blazing like fire, the one more radiant than all the angelic hosts. Suddenly his treasure looks like lose- change in a beggars cup. Oh that we would let God's face shine on us. But for that we need to be looking upward, not down at our full or empty 'treasure chest'.
Joy(v7)Fill my heart with joy
Give me relief from my distress; have mercy on me and hear my prayer.
Being made redundant probably won’t come anywhere close to the distress levels that David felt. Nobody was trying to kill me and I wasn't sleeping in cold dark caves or traipsing round a desert in scorching heat. But if you've ever been made redundant you know that it is a distressing time. I very much remember the day I was told I felt like I was literally free-falling. *and I'm freeeeeeeeeee....free-fallin'*
Certainty (v3) Know that the LORD has set apart his faithful servant for himself;
the LORD hears when I call to him.
Of course, one great thing about being made redundant is that it does wonders for your prayer life! But it will only do that if we can say with the same certainty that David did 'the Lord hears when I call to him' (v3). Not 'I hope the Lord hears' or 'what if God isn't listening to my prayers?' The enemy will try and tell us that God doesnt care or is too busy. But we must remind ourselves that he DOES indeed hear when we call to him. Even if we feel our prayers are bouncing back off the ceiling, the truth is that God hears our prayers. What a relief!
Treasure (v6) Many, LORD, are asking, “Who will bring us prosperity?”
Let the light of your face shine on us.
My take on vs 6 during my redundancy was 'who will bring us even a basic salary, let alone prosperity'. And I have to say my answer was more in the vein of 'aaaaarrrrrggggghhhhhhh' rather than the 'Let the light of your face shine on us!' that David sang! But here David reminds us that actually the treasure we find in God is far greater than the prosperity that we crave for here on earth. It seems a strange thing to answer a question about prosperity with 'let God shine his face on us'. But consider a pirate who finds a treasure chest of gold, silver, rubies and other precious stones. He then looks up to see the Creator more beautiful than a thousand sunsets, brighter than the mid-day sun, with eyes blazing like fire, the one more radiant than all the angelic hosts. Suddenly his treasure looks like lose- change in a beggars cup. Oh that we would let God's face shine on us. But for that we need to be looking upward, not down at our full or empty 'treasure chest'.
Joy(v7)Fill my heart with joy
when their grain and new wine abound
And what happens when we look upon God and not upon our fast-dwindling bank accounts? As David says in vs 7, He will put more joy in our hearts than when others have their 'grain and wine abound'. This is always easier to read than to experience but the challenge and the truth remains. We can find joy even in the midst of our difficult circumstance. We can find more joy in our lack than we or others ever find in prosperity. How? By realising and remembering that our source of Joy is God and He remains constant and abounding. I can honestly testify to finding that joy in the midst of the uncertainty and distress of a redundancy. I won't pretend that it was easy but God proved faithful to His word.
In His presence there is fullness of Joy.
Peace! (v8)In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, LORD,
In His presence there is fullness of Joy.
Peace! (v8)In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, LORD,
make me dwell in safety.
The first night after I was made redundant, I did not, i repeat, NOT lie down and sleep in peace. Nor did I feel much safety. I still felt like I was free-falling.
However, the next morning, with my freshly-invigorated prayer-life, I got on my knees. As I was praying, God gave me a picture of two trees being buffeted in the wind. I saw that the roots not only went deep into the soil, but rather they were in blocks of cement. He very kindly assured me that this storm that Priscilla and I were facing would by no means be the fiercest storm we would face (gee, thanks for the encouragement!) but by being rooted in the Word and holding on to one another, we would stand firm.
From that moment on, I did come under that peace that surpasses understanding. Nope, I did not float about on a cloud singing along with Bob Marley that "Every-tins gonna be alriyte" but I knew and experienced the truth of the words that David sang in this Psalm
'In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for you alone, O, Lord, make me dwell in safety.'
It truly is a comfort to know and remind ourselves that no matter what distress we find ourselves in, no matter who might be against us, what has been thrown our way or what has been taken away from us, Father's arms are strong enough and safe enough for us to lie down and sleep. In peace.
The first night after I was made redundant, I did not, i repeat, NOT lie down and sleep in peace. Nor did I feel much safety. I still felt like I was free-falling.
However, the next morning, with my freshly-invigorated prayer-life, I got on my knees. As I was praying, God gave me a picture of two trees being buffeted in the wind. I saw that the roots not only went deep into the soil, but rather they were in blocks of cement. He very kindly assured me that this storm that Priscilla and I were facing would by no means be the fiercest storm we would face (gee, thanks for the encouragement!) but by being rooted in the Word and holding on to one another, we would stand firm.
From that moment on, I did come under that peace that surpasses understanding. Nope, I did not float about on a cloud singing along with Bob Marley that "Every-tins gonna be alriyte" but I knew and experienced the truth of the words that David sang in this Psalm
'In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for you alone, O, Lord, make me dwell in safety.'
It truly is a comfort to know and remind ourselves that no matter what distress we find ourselves in, no matter who might be against us, what has been thrown our way or what has been taken away from us, Father's arms are strong enough and safe enough for us to lie down and sleep. In peace.
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