SPIRITUAL
DIARY FOR 12/18/2011 8:55:37 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-1 Psalm 4
Bible Reading & Meditation
Reference:
Psalm 4:1
Message
of the verse: “1 For the choir
director; on stringed instruments. A Psalm of David. Answer me when I call, O
God of my righteousness! You have relieved me in my distress; Be gracious to me
and hear my prayer. 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. 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. “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.”
In the background of this and I
would suppose Dr. Wiersbe gives some information that will help understand
things about this psalm and even other psalms.
We see “To the chief Musician on
Neginoth, A Psalm of David.” In the KJV and he explains this by saying that
there are fifty-three Psalms that speak of this man who is the chief
Musician. He is the person who is the
“minister of worship” and custodian of the sacred psalms at the tabernacle and
then at the temple of the Lord. “The
Hebrew word Neginoth means
‘accompanied by stringed instruments and refers to the harp and lyre
(1Chronicles 23:5; 25:1, 3, 6).
Dr. Wiersbe believes that this Psalm
was written about the same situation that Psalm 3 was written about, and that
is when Absalom was trying to take over the kingdom. He writes “It’s a wonderful thing that David
could turn this distressing experience into song, to the glory of God. His example shows us what our responses ought to be in times of
crisis.”
We mentioned in yesterday’s SD of
the importance of coming to the Lord in the morning in order to begin your day
with the Lord, and that Psalm 3 was a “morning Psalm.” Psalm 4, according to Dr. Wiersbe is an
evening Psalm and we can see here the importance of ending your day with the
Lord too. But this Psalm along with
Psalm 3 were distress Psalms and this shows us the importance of coming to the Lord in times of trouble
whether morning or evening, night or day.
We will now look at the first
section of this Psalm: “Look to the Lord (v-1). We
see in verse one that David calls upon the Lord to answer him when he calls,
and then he calls God the “God of my
Righteousness.” David knew that his
own righteousness was not good enough for as he writes in Psalm 51 he was conceived
in sin. That does not mean that it was a
sinful relationship, but the like all people he was born a sinner and so he
realizes that if he was to be righteous that God would have to give him His
righteousness. God did do that for David
and for everyone who will call upon the Lord in order to receive that
righteousness that they do not deserve or can ever earn.
David goes on to remind the Lord
that He had relieved him in earlier times of distress and so he desires that
the Lord will do the same now. David
then ends this first verse by asking God to be gracious to him. You don’t find that word gracious or grace in
the OT too many times. God’s grace is
giving a person what they do not deserve, and God’s mercy is not giving a
person what they do deserve. As
believers in Christ we have received both grace and mercy, for God has given us
His great salvation, but at the cost of the death of His only son who took what
we did deserve while suffering on the cross, and that is mercy.
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: It was
the sin with Bathsheba that has gotten David in the trouble that he is in, and
even though he has been forgiven by God there were still consequences for that
sin, and yet we see David confidently calling on the Lord for help in his time
of need. This is inspiring to me for I
realize that God forgives me of all of my sins, but sometimes there are
consequences that go along with them and it is then that I do not feel in my
heart that God will answer my prayers and deliver me, and yet I know that He
will for He has done it for David.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
1. Cry out to the Lord when I am in
need of His help, knowing that I don’t deserve His help, but that it is through
His mercy that I can confidently call out to Him.
2. Trust the Lord to do the best for
me in all situations for His glory and for my good.
3. Continue to learn to be content.
12/18/2011
9:33:48 AM
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