Psalm Category: Individual psalm of trust

Key Word: Peace (shalom). The concept of peace in the Old Testament is much broader than what we usually consider peace to mean. Peace is not just the absence of war. It is a sense of wholeness and completeness that exemplifies living in the fullness of covenant life with God. The hope of the Old Testament saint is the same as our present hope, a restorative “covenant of peace” leading to everlasting rest (Ezek. 37:26).

Central Thought: Psalm 4 takes us on a trek from distress to peace. It reminds us that in the midst of our distress we should pray and trust in God, who gave us the Prince of Peace.

Psalm 4

The Christian life is filled with struggle, distress, and doubt as we interact with a world that often seems to lack any good. Psalm 4 offers the promise of moving from distress to sleep-filled calm through Christ who is our peace.

Cry to God (v. 1): Here we encounter the psalmist in the posture of prayer due to his distress. The Hebrew word for distress implies that the psalmist is in a narrow and tight situation. To express it in a colloquialism, the psalmist is between a rock and a hard place.

In the Book of Psalms, distress is usually the result of external trouble, internal turmoil, or the perceived distance of God. Here, the psalmist suffers from two of these. He is experiencing the external taunting of his enemies and perceives that God is delaying his deliverance.

The three forms of distress in the Psalter are the very same distresses we face today. Maybe you are under distress because of financial, physical, or marital difficulties. Perhaps your distress is caused by unresolved sin. Maybe you feel like the heavens are made of brass or that God has dealt unjustly with you. How should a Christian respond to distress?

The psalmist’s response is threefold. He prays, affirms that God is righteous in all His deeds, and recognizes that God is His personal God. This can be a pattern for each of us.

Interrogation (v. 2-3): The psalmist interrogates his adversaries in an effort to demonstrate the futility of attacking a child of God. The psalmist provides his enemies with two reasons why they will fail. First, he informs them that he is a saint, one set apart to God. God loves His adopted children and has placed them under his special care. Second, the psalmist assures his enemies that the Lord will hear him. One of God’s children has raised a prayer to the loving Father, it will be heard, and the Lord will come to deliver him. Adopted child of God, know that your present distress will not overcome you. Turn to God in prayer and know that you are His and that you will be heard and delivered!

Exhortation to Repentance (v. 4-5): The psalmist does not just assure his enemies of their defeat. He also reaches out to them in an effort to turn them from rebellion to worship. These verses contain a call for conflict resolution, for making peace with our distress.

Peace in the Midst of Distress (v. 6-8): The question contained in the first part of verse 6 may be more than a report of what others are saying; it may also reflect the psalmist’s subtle expression of his own doubt. Look around at the culture. Look around at suffering. Are there not times when you want to say, “Who can show us any good?”

However, the psalmist is quickly delivered from the darkness of doubt by his remembrance of the warm light of the Aaronic blessing (Num. 6:24–26). What is the psalmist remembering here? It is the covenant. He remembers that God has promised to make His face shine upon His people, to be gracious to them and to give them peace. This brings joy to the psalmist, which he compares to the blessings of harvest. The psalmist concludes with the declaration that he has found sleep and peace (shalom).

This psalm opens with distress and closes with peace. Remember, the psalmist finds this peace while he is in the midst of distress. The Christian life does not promise the absence of distress, but it does promise realized shalom for those who embrace Jesus. As the prophet Isaiah declared, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given,…and he will be called…Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9:6).

––Anthony T. Selvaggio