12/19/2011 7:42:29 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: Psalm 4 PT-2
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 4
Message of the verses: We will begin today’s SD with the second point from Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary: “Confront the Enemy (vv.2-3).” “2 O sons of men, how long will my honor become a reproach? How long will you love what is worthless and aim at deception? Selah. 3 But know that the LORD has set apart the godly man for Himself; The LORD hears when I call to Him.”
David is speaking of the men who have chosen to follow Absalom when he uses the words “sons of men.” He contrasts that statement with the “godly man” in verse three. These sons of men were in fact following a false god when they followed Absalom. Absalom used flattery to get the people to follow him, for the people knew who it was that God had put on the throne of Israel and when they stopped following David they were in effect not following the plans of God for Israel. Dr. Wiersbe writes “When you follow vain things and believe falsehood, you can only go astray. The people weren’t just deposing a king; they were fighting against the Lord Jehovah who placed David on the throne.”
“Encourage Your Friends (vv.4-5)”: “4 Tremble, and do not sin; Meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah. 5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, And trust in the LORD.”
In this brief section we see David writing about his friends, and his friends were probably not thinking the way that they should be because of their anger towards what Absalom had done to David and so David gave them six instructions. These instructions are just a useful for us today when we find ourselves getting angry.
1. Tremble before the Lord (4a): When we fear the Lord we need not fear anything else and so David’s men need not fear Absalom.
2. Don’t sin (4b): The Apostle Paul quotes this in Ephesians 4:26 using the Septuagint (Greek version of the Bible) and writes in that verse “Be angry, and do not sin.” From that we can learn that there is a holy anger that we should be angry about, that is be angry what God is angry about, and then there is an anger in which you will be sinning. Paul goes on to say “do not let the sun set on your anger,” and so when we experience this unholy anger we must be willing to confess it before the end of the day otherwise we will be in danger of allowing our anger to turn into bitterness, and if that is not taken care of depression is next after bitterness.
3. Search your own hearts (4c): David is asking his men to search their own hearts to make sure that there is no sin found in them. Psalm 130:23-24 give us this instruction. David did not want his men to be so angry at Absalom and over look any sin in their lives, which is what David did in 2Samuel 12:1-7. Jesus speaks of this also in Matthew 7:1-5. When doing this on your bed you will avoid the problems of not sleeping.
4. Be still (4d): When we look at the Amplified Bible it is translated “Be sorry for the things you say in your heart.” Another translation reads “say to your heart,” that is tell your heart “Sin not.”
5. Offer right sacrifices (5a): While these men were in the wilderness thy could not offer sacrifices, but they could be like Jonah and promise the Lord that they would do this when they returned to Jerusalem.
6. Trust the Lord (5b): In the case of Absalom he was not trusting in the Lord, but his men and his leadership ability, and the popularity that he had, which would not do him any good so his plans were doomed to fail.
David on the other hand, even though he was a great military man, he would put his trust in the Lord and so he would not fail.
Praise the Lord (vv. 6-8): “6 ¶ Many are saying, "Who will show us any good?" Lift up the light of Your countenance upon us, O LORD! 7 You have put gladness in my heart, More than when their grain and new wine abound. 8 In peace I will both lie down and sleep, For You alone, O LORD, make me to dwell in safety.”
It was because of reports that David received from the ranks that he knew what many of his people were saying, therefore he knew of their discouragement. We read “who will show us any good,” and the Amp. Version reads “O that we might see some good!” or “Who can get us out of this plight?” Dr. Wiersbe writes “the tense of the verb indicates that this discouraging statement was repeated again and again by the complainers, and the more they complained the more others took up the strain. The Jewish Publication Society version reads, ‘O for good days!’ It’s well been said that ‘the good old days’ are a combination of a bad memory and a good imagination. What kind of ‘good’ were the people looking for—material wealth, peace and security and at any price, a godly king, a successful new king?”
David wanted the right king of goodness for the people as he says at the end of verse six, for he wanted the light of the Lord to come upon his people so that they could see what were the good things that they can have from the Lord.
In verse seven David expands this thought by speaking of the goodness that comes from the Lord that is the gladness that he has in his heart, and this is what comes from the Lord and it is better than having grain and new wine, in other words riches.
David ends this psalm with a verse that I have actually claimed when I had trouble going to sleep and so I would quote this verse to the Lord so He could cause me to go to sleep. David is saying that even though trouble is surrounding him he would trust the Lord and the Lord would allow him to sleep well in spite of his troubles. His trust was in the Lord.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I have been going through a difficult time over things from the past that have come back to me again and I have had to deal with them and again it has been hard on me and so this psalm has been an encouragement to my heart and I am thankful to the Lord for the contents of this psalm.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
1. Trust the Lord to give me the right attitude as I think about this old problem again.
2. Seek the Holy Spirit to search my heart and therefore convict me of any unconfessed sin in my life.
3. Trust that the Holy Spirit will help me in the area of having a better prayer life.
4. Continue to learn to be content.
12/19/2011 8:45:08 AM
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