Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness. You have relieved me in my distress. Have mercy on me and hear my prayer. How long, O you sons of men, will you turn my glory to shame? How long will you love worthlessness and seek falsehood? Selah. But know that the Lord has set apart for himself him who is godly. The Lord will hear when I call to him. Be angry and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed and be still. Selah. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness and put your trust in the Lord. There are many who say, who will show us any good? Lord, lift up the light of your countenance upon us. You have put gladness in my heart, more than in the season that their grain and wine increased. I will both lie down in peace and sleep. For you, O Lord, make me dwell in safety." The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord is forever. Well, as we come to Psalm 4, we are coming to a Davidic psalm, a psalm written by David and a psalm written by David in his office as king. Connected probably to psalm 3 which likewise is a psalm of David and a psalm of David writing in his office of king and the king and God's ruler has been since psalm 2 to this point an object of the psalms that are being sung as well as the subject and And chapter in Psalm 4, it's no different. We are reading a Psalm of David and a Psalm of David from his kingly office. as David is calling out to the Lord to relieve him in his distress as God's anointed king. But just because this is a psalm of the Davidic king doesn't mean it has no application for us today. There are truths for us to learn from David's cry, from David's raising his voice to his Lord here in the midst of his distress. And we learn as we walk through the psalm that the chief thing that the Davidic king would have us know is that the Lord is good, that the Lord is gracious, that he is the Lord of peace and of safety, and that the people of God ought then to put their confidence in the good Lord of peace and of safety. And that's what the psalm calls us to do this morning. to put our confidence in the good Lord of peace and safety. And we'll investigate that along these two lines. First, we'll see the folly of opposition, namely the folly of opposition to God's King and to the Lord himself. And secondly, we will see that good Lord of peace and safety. the folly of opposition, and the good Lord of peace and of safety. Turning then to that first element this morning, I've already said that this is the psalm of David in his kingly office. And in verse one, we are greeted immediately with the distress and the cry of the Davidic king. He is calling out to the Lord to deliver him from his distress, namely, as we'll see in verse two, from those who oppose him, from those who are plotting his overthrow, from those who are seeking to undermine him in his office of king and to place someone or something else over and above him. That's the context for what will follow. He is crying out because there are those who are arrayed against him, standing against him, opposed to the Lord's anointed King. And the response of the Davidic King is to cry out to his God when faced with this distress. As he says in the first section of verse one, hear me when I call. Now Saints, those of you who have been here for some time, understand that when the psalmist says, hear me, he's not crying out with a sense that it might be that God will hear him. He's not like the prophets of Baal who aren't sure. that their God will hear them and so make as much noise as possible and cut themselves and raise as much ruckus so that perhaps if they're loud enough, perhaps if they're fervent enough, their God will hear them. No, this is David's expectation. Hear me when I cry, oh Lord. And so his expectation is that his prayer will indeed be heard. And the reason that he has this expectation is because he believes in the nature and character of his God. As he says, Oh God of my righteousness. What's he doing there? He's saying, hear me when I cry, my God, the God of my righteousness. In other words, the God who vindicates me, the God who is the ground for my righteousness itself and who is the ground of vindication when I am opposed by those without just cause. Cause, hear me when I cry, O God of my righteousness. The confidence to cry out to God is rooted in the nature of God himself. And that's lesson number one, saints. That we can cry out to God, we should cry out to God, because of who He is, because of the promises He has made, because of His nature and His character. So we can say, hear me. O God of my righteousness, just as the Davidic King does, let there be no barrier to your prayer. Call out to your God, expecting your good God of peace and safety to hear. He also calls out to his God because he has confidence in the past actions of God. He knows the nature of his God. He knows who his God is, a righteous God who vindicates the righteous when they are opposed without just cause, and he has done so and demonstrated this character More than once we find you have relieved me in my distress. Hear me, O God, because this is who you are, and this is who you have already demonstrated yourself to be. And so now as I find myself in this distress, as I find myself opposed By those who oppose you, Lord, I call out to you because you are the God of my righteousness and because you have already in the past relieved me from my distress. You have delivered me before. Deliver me again. Finally, he continues to call out to his God because of the gracious mercy of his God, once again returning to the nature and the character of God, that which roots and grounds all of our relationship with God. Have mercy or be gracious unto me and hear my prayer. He can be confident in the Lord hearing his prayer because he is confident in the mercy and grace of his Lord. And so, the Davidic King, in his distress, calls out to his righteous, merciful, gracious Lord to deliver him as he has delivered him in the past. And now, having called out to his God and reached and appropriated the aid of his God, as it were, he moves them to a warning and an admonition to those who are opposed to him, who are standing against him as God's anointed king. In verse 2, How long, O you sons of men? And the idea there behind the Sons of Man is this isn't just your average Israelite who is in the field. It's the idea of noble and wealthy and powerful people who are actually in the position to provide some sort of meaningful opposition to the king in that sort of a cultural milieu. He's saying how long will you powerful ones? How long will you mighty and noble ones? How long will you wealthy ones turn my glory to shame? And what does he mean by that? How long? It's an exasperation. How long is this going to be a thing? Why is this a thing? When are you going to stop this? Because it's a foolish thing. It's filled with folly. How long are you going to turn my glory to shame? What does he mean? How long is it that you are going to look upon my status as God's anointed king and rather than see it for the glory that it is, see it as a shameful thing that ought to be opposed? To shame me for my position. To shame me for the glory that has been given me as God's anointed king. To take my glory as the one set apart to rule God's people and to turn it into a shameful thing. A thing to be hated. A thing to be feared. A thing to be opposed. How long will you turn my glory to shame? brings to mind verse 1 of Psalm 2. Why do the nation's rage and the people plot a vain thing against God's anointed? How long will you turn my glory to shame? How long, and here's where the folly is, how long will you love worthlessness, vanity, emptiness, and seek falsehood. How long will you desire your own power? How long will you desire that you have rule over the people of God? How long will you seek after that which is opposed to God himself? Both in opposition to his king, but in terms of the spiritual adultery that was so rife within the nation. How long instead of pursuing the good God of peace and rendering your submission to his king? How long will you pursue that which is empty, worthless, vain, foolish and false? As represented in God's King, opposition to him. The opposition to the good Lord of peace and safety is foolishness. It is to pursue that which is empty, worthless, vain, and false. And the foolishness of this comes to full relief in verse three. When we learn what it is that they're opposed to, why or who it is that they are turning glory to shame for who it is that they are forsaking and opposing in this seeking of the worthless and the false. But know that the Lord has set apart for himself who is godly. The Lord will hear when I call to him. It's a warning. It's an admonition. How long are you going to pursue this? You need to know this fundamental truth, and that is that I, as the Davidic king, am in covenant with the Lord himself to reign and to rule his people. I am representative of the very rule of God over his people. But know that the Lord has set apart. And that's the fundamental idea behind covenant or one of the fundamental ideas behind covenant that setting apart. Setting apart from the world to write relationship with God set apart from the kingdom of the world to the kingdom of God. Here in terms of David, it is set apart to be God's King covenantally so. We know that God established a covenant with David, that he and his sons would sit on the throne. And we know that ultimately that covenant is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, Jesus who is the greater David, Jesus who is the Davidic king. the one to whom all submission is due, the Lord's anointed, the one set apart by God to rule over his people. And so then he is Got the Lord on his side is really the way that we understand it. How foolish, how vain your opposition to me when it is the Lord himself who has set me aside and set me apart for this very purpose, who has covenanted with me for this very reason. The king is also covenantally qualified. Translationally here, we don't we don't quite get the picture of what David is saying, but know that the Lord, and it's very important, especially in terms of Christ, but know that the Lord has set apart for himself him who is godly. If we were to make it a cumbersome English translation, it would be the one who acts with lovingkindness. The Lord has set apart for himself the one who acts with lovingkindness, the one who reflects the nature and character of God himself, the Lord himself, the covenantal Lord, who in his lovingkindness, his hesed, has created a people for himself and set his king to reign over them, a king of loving kindness, a king who rules after the nature and character of God himself. In other words, it's not just that he has been set apart for this purpose, but that he is suited for this purpose. How foolish to oppose one who rules with loving kindness, with mercy, with grace, with covenantal love. How foolish to oppose. the Lord and his anointed. It is to reject covenantal love. It is to reject the Lord's loving kindness itself. This is the ultimate folly of opposition to the Lord's King. because it is to follow something else for satisfaction, something else for meaning, something else for purpose, something else for joy and gladness, a sense of goodness, something else for peace. But there is no one who can provide and offer that because there is only one who rules with the loving kindness that produces joy, blessedness, peace, purpose. That's the nature of the folly. is that they would in their foolish seek after that which cannot provide what they are seeking for, which though it holds itself up falsely to be able to do so, falls far short of the Lord, the source of peace and safety because of his goodness. calling them out for their foolishness, calling them out for their seeking after that which is false and worthless, he now gives them a solution to the problem. Verse 4, be angry and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed and be still. And the idea underlying the word be angry there is tremble. Tremble and do not sin. Tremble at your anger. Tremble in fear at the fact that you are in rage against the Lord and his anointed. See Psalm 2. Kiss the Son, lest His wrath be kindled, and you perish in the way. And so we're not talking about a holy anger in verse 4. We're talking about a sinful anger, an anger and rage that is expressed against the Lord and His anointed King. Tremble in your anger and do not sin. Do not persist in it. Do not continue in it. Be fearful of the fact that you are angry against God himself through your rage expressed against his anointed King. Be afraid. Rather than being angry and sinning in that anger, meditate within your heart on your bed. Think about it. Think about what you're doing. Think deeply about your disposition here. Think deeply about what it means to be allied against the Lord and His anointed, to be opposed against God's King. When you're lying in your bed, don't devise wicked schemes. We find that in Micah 2 verse 1. Those who plot evil and in their beds are devising wicked schemes so that when they wake up in the morning, they can go and they can pursue those evil schemes. Don't sit there in your bed in your anger. Sit there in your bed meditating in your heart. upon the folly of your position in order that you might turn from it and be still. Be quiet. Knock it off. is the way that we can understand that. Cease your vain anger. Cease your turmoil. Calm your hearts. Come into line, into submission to the Lord through His King. And instead of trembling in fear at unholy anger, offer the sacrifices of righteousness. In other words, repent Repent, turn from your opposition, which puts you at odds with God himself, and turn to the Lord. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness of submission to his king of seeking after his mercy and grace in the forgiveness of sins of submitting to his law expressed through the rule of his king and finally put your trust in the Lord. Stop seeking after what is vain, foolish and worthless and put your trust in the Lord. And in doing so, find that indeed the Lord is the good Lord of peace and safety. In verse six, there are many who say, who will show us any good? Isn't that precisely what we are seeing happen around us? Isn't that precisely what we have seen through the centuries and the millennia of fallen human history? Fallen human man seeking after anything that would be good. Wondering if there is any good. Pursuing all manner of things to give them good, to produce good for them. And if you look at the fallen world in which we live, if you have just lived life, you know that this life is filled with things that are not good. And that perhaps in your own experience, you have said that to yourself. Where is the good? Is there any good? Who will show us any good? Of course, the answer is the Lord. Who will show us any good? The Lord will show us good. That's the heart cry of the psalmist in v. 6. Lord, lift up the light of Your countenance upon us. It's echoing v. 6. What's he saying? There is no goodness to be found anywhere other than in the countenance, the smiling face of the Lord shining down upon his people, the presence of the Lord in and among his people. There is no good anywhere else but in the loving kindness and the smiling face of God himself. to trust in the Lord is to trust that the Lord has your good in mind, is to trust that the Lord will be good and will do good as he shines his face upon us. He finds in v. 7 that this good Lord, whose face shines down in that radiant smile upon His people, has put gladness in His heart. That here is the Lord's King, opposed as He is. As much as those opposed want to turn His glory to shame, but because the Lord's smiling countenance is upon Him, because the Lord's presence is with Him, The Lord has put gladness in his heart. More than in season that their grain and wine increase. In other words, more than the good times. In other words, that gladness isn't dependent upon the temporal good times. And that the good times of life can't even compare to the gladness that comes from right relationship with the Lord himself, dwelling under the radiant beams of his smile and his presence. That the only thing that can produce for us real lasting, fulfilling joy and gladness is God himself. And that he will always provide that both in the times of abundance that make our hearts so glad the time of grain and wine increased. But in the times of distress, because in both times God is still God. The Lord is still the Lord. He is still a Lord of loving kindness. He is still a Lord of goodness. He is still a Lord of peace. He is still a Lord of safety. And so, even though with those forces arrayed against him, the psalmist says in verse 8, I will both lie down in peace and sleep. For you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. Yes, the powerful in this kingdom are lined up against me They seek my overthrow. They oppose me. They turn my glory to shame. They strive after what is worthless and false. But despite all of that, because I have you, O Lord, because the light of your countenance rests upon me, O Lord, because your presence is with me, O Lord, I can lie my head down on my pillow in that same stillness that I have called those who are opposed to me to do in that same stillness. close my eyes, confident in the peace and safety that the good Lord of peace and safety gives. Whatever the scheming of those opposed to the Lord and His King, there is gladness, peace, and safety to be found. Well, I said all the way back at the beginning that there is in this psalm, even though it is a kingly psalm, a Davidic psalm, that there is something for each one of us in it, though we are not the Davidic king. And so let's turn to a few of those things that we find. First, we find the call of the gospel itself. Jesus Christ, having been crucified, having been buried, having risen again, now is at the right hand of God. He is ruling and he is reigning. He is God's anointed King. And the whole earth is called to submit to that rule, a rule of loving kindness, a rule of goodness, a rule of mercy and grace and real justice and righteousness. And to pursue anything and anyone else as the source of goodness is folly, is vanity, You will find no real and lasting goodness outside of submission to God's anointed King, Jesus Christ. Outside of putting your faith and your trust and resting in the promise of the good news that Jesus Christ gave his life. And that those who believe on his name will have that same life. will not be under the curse and penalty of sin, but rather will have the countenance of God, the radiance of His face shine upon them, will be led by Him, guided by Him upon that good path of real joy, peace, goodness, prosperity, abundance. So the call of the psalm to those who are still yet opposed to the Lord and His King, having not put your faith and trust in Him, is to do just that. To repent, to turn from your pursuit of falliness and vanity to the Lord and His King. for those who indeed have done that by the Spirit's power and God's grace. There are other ways in which this applies to us. Because as much as this is a call to those who do not believe, it's a call to us here in the covenant community, those who have professed faith. It's important to remember that the vast majority of opposition that King David experienced was from the hands of the covenant people of God. the powerful, the jealous within the covenant community, his son, Absalom, right? Set up and opposed seeking to overthrow him. It came from within much more than it came from without. And who is it that put King Jesus to death? Yeah, sure. Pilot, but ultimately the covenant people of God who said, crucify him. May his blood be upon us and our children. In other words, we don't get to sit comfortably looking at Psalm 4 and thinking, well, I profess faith in Christ, so I don't have to worry so much about the call to cease from pursuing that which is worthless and foolish and false, from turning the glory of God's anointed King, Jesus Christ, into shame by my own rebellion and opposition. But here's the thing, saints, all of us still have a little rebel in us. All of us still refuse to submit to King Jesus the way that we ought to submit to King Jesus. All of us still refuse to find the fullness and the wholeness of our goodness in the loving kindness of God's anointed King. It's why we still sin. It's why we pursue things other than the deepening of our relationship and our union with our God in Jesus Christ as the source of gladness. It's why we don't love the Lord our God 100% with all of our heart, soul, strength, and might in mind. And so the call to stop turning the glory of the king to shame by our rebellion, to stop seeking that which is worthless and false, is to us as well in those moments of rebellion. It's a call to us. These things are foolish. These things are worthless. These things don't have the loving kindness of your king and your God wrapped up in them. Stop. Be still. Meditate in your heart upon the goodness of God and the falliness of pursuing that which he has forbidden. and the follyness of pursuing that which He has not shown to be for our good through His command. And submit to your King. And as that submission grows, we will learn precisely what the psalmist talks about in verses 6-8. That the Lord is good. That the Lord is a source of joy and gladness, even more than the vastness of abundance that we could ever have and ever have had in our lives. That in Him there is real peace. That in Him there is safety. And so grow in your trust and your confidence in God and in His King. It's not enough simply to recognize the rebellion, diagnose the problem. It's because you don't think God is good. And so learn to experience His goodness and see who He is that you might rest in it. Follow His good path, and you will find that you will grow like the psalmist grows in your trust and your confidence in the good Lord of peace and safety and in His King. And finally this morning, there is cause for great rejoicing Because of who we are in this King. Verse 3 Paul or David says, but know that the Lord has set apart for himself him who is godly. Him who acts with loving kindness. And that is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ acts with loving kindness. But we have been brought into covenant relationship with God through Christ. and are both recipients of loving kindness, but those set apart to act in loving kindness. Ours is a privileged position. to be able by the grace of God to experience His mercy, love, and goodness, and even beyond that, to have the honor of imaging that same grace, love, and goodness in this covenant community and beyond, so that the world might see That their opposition to King Jesus is a foolish, vain opposition. That they should bow the knee. That bowing the knee is the best thing they'll ever do in the entirety of their lives and indeed for all eternity. What a privileged position, Saint. That God takes you from a rebel sinner wholly opposed to his anointed and turns you into an ambassador of the king So then as by the Spirit's power you grow in your Confidence in the good rule of the good king and of the good Lord who has anointed him as you grow in that live in that And so show to the world that indeed God is the good Lord of peace and safety. Let's pray together this morning.