PSALMS 4


     We have been giving one example of each of the Psalms in metre at
the beginning of each lesson, to show how easily it would have been to
sing the Psalms.

                   THE PSALMS OF DAVID IN METRE

                           Chapter 4

verse 1 "God of my righteousness, reply in mercy to my earnest cry;
         In past distress thou didst relieve, Be gracious now, my
         prayer receive."
verse 2 "How long, ye sons of men, defame, and turn my glory into
         shame? In vanities which ye devise, How long delight, and
         follow lies?"
verse 3 "Yet know that ever for his own The Lord doth choose the godly
         one; And when to him my prayers ascend, The Lord will
         graciously attend."
verse 4 "Then stand in awe, from sin depart; And hold communion with
         your heart When on your bed reclined at rest, And still the
         risings of your breast."
verse 5 "In sacrifice of righteousness Your homage to the Lord express;
         And ever let your heart rely With confidence on God Most
         High."
verse 6 "O who will show us any good? Exclaims the restless multitude;
         But lift on us, O God of grace, Thy cheering brightness of thy
         face."
verse 7 "More joy from thee has filled my heart Than all their corn and
         wine impart. I lay me down to peaceful sleep, For thou wilt me
         in safety keep."

     In all of these Psalms of David in metre, we are not to study them
for our lesson, but just to see how easily it would be to sing them.
Now, we will begin with the King James version of the Scriptures which
we are studying. Psalms 4:1" {To the chief Musician on Neginoth, A
Psalm of David.} Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou
hast enlarged me [when I was] in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear
my prayer."

     The chief musician was the director of music in the sanctuary. We
will find that David had set one person over the music in the sanctuary
in the following verses. I Chronicles 6:31 "And these [are they] whom
David set over the service of song in the house of the LORD, after that
the ark had rest." I Chronicles 6:32 "And they ministered before the
dwelling place of the tabernacle of the congregation with singing,
until Solomon had built the house of the LORD in Jerusalem: and [then]
they waited on their office according to their order."  It appears to
me that Neginoth was such a leader.  The word Neginoth means
instrumental music, or stringed instrument. It can be extended to mean
a poem set to music.  Now we know why he had such an unusual name. We
know that the desire of the believer in Christ is to be a sweet sound
in His ear. Singing and soft music, soothes the troubled soul. We know,
also, that Saul had called for David to sing and play for him. This is
the very way David had gotten into the house of Saul. The word that was
translated chief musician, is thought by some to mean [unto the end},
which would indicate this was actually addressed to Christ. It really
does not matter to whom it is addressed. The prayer is to God. David is
definitely calling to God, when he says, Hear me when I call. David is
saying, You helped me before, help me now. We have all prayed along
these lines at one time or another. Wonder why we think that God will
not hear our prayers? David is not alone in crying for mercy either.
Mercy is unmerited favor. Just like David, we may not deserve God's
help, but He will help us anyhow, when we pray to Him. Notice, in this
also, that David says his righteousness is from God. Remember, we were
not righteous until Jesus took our sin on His body and clothed us
instead with His righteousness. Our righteousness was as filthy rags,
but now our righteousness is in Jesus. We need to see, also, that David
thanked Him for answering earlier prayers, while he is asking for this
prayer to be answered. God wants to hear us say that He was the One who
brought the last victory to us. Praise God every chance you get. He
likes to hear it. Do we truly believe that God answers prayer? Then
pray and believe, and you shall have what you ask.

     Psalms 4:2 "O ye sons of men, how long [will ye turn] my glory
into shame? [how long] will ye love vanity, [and] seek after leasing?
Selah."

     The problem above is they are sons of men. These are men who have
not been grafted into the family of God, and become sons of God. This
would be worldly men who have their thoughts stayed upon things of this
world. This really is the condition of our world today. 2 Timothy
chapter 3 describes these people exactly. They have no time for God.
Let us see who are the sons of God? Let's look at two Scriptures that
show us that all believers in Christ are sons of God. Romans 8:15 "For
ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have
received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father."
Galatians 4:6 "And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit
of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father."  Until a person,
male or female, receives Jesus Christ as their Saviour and becomes a
son of God, they will do all sorts of things that shame God. Leasing
means falsehood in this Scripture. This could mean a lot of things.
They are a liar, or perhaps, they are seeking false gods. It could even
be both. Loving vanity, just means loving this world and all things in
it. Selah, is certainly used as a sigh of sorrow here.

     Psalms 4:3 "But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is
godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto him."

     The following two Scriptures say exactly what I want to say about
this Scripture above. I Peter 2:9 "But ye [are] a chosen generation, a
royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should
shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into
his marvellous light:"  Revelation 17:14 "These shall make war with the
Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and
King of kings: and they that are with him [are] called, and chosen, and
faithful."  How wonderful to be the called of God, and to have answered
that call. We believers in Christ have been given the authority to pray
to the Father in Jesus' name. God hears and answers our prayers, when
we ask in Jesus' name. John 14:13 "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my
name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son."

     Psalms 4:4 "Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart
upon your bed, and be still. Selah."

     To stand in awe, is to reverence God. The fear, or reverence, of
God is the beginning of wisdom. If we truly fear God, we will not sin,
because we do not want to displease Him. Commune with your own heart
means to think in your heart on God. Sometimes, in our bed, is the only
quiet time that we can think in our heart about God. Let me give a
Scripture that covers {be still}. Psalms 46:10 "Be still, and know that
I [am] God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in
the earth."

     Psalms 4:5 "Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your
trust in the LORD."

     Sacrifices of righteousness, to me, means making a special effort
not to sin, because righteousness pleases God. Our true righteousness,
as we discussed earlier, is not being good enough, but receiving our
righteousness from Jesus Christ. He took our sin and we received His
righteousness. Trust is beyond faith. It is resting in Jesus, knowing
that He saved you. Trust is knowing in your heart that all is well. We
cannot trust in man. Our trust must be in the LORD Jesus Christ. Trust
the LORD with all your heart, and He will reward you.

     Psalms 4:6 "[There be] many that say, Who will shew us [any] good?
LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us."

     There are two separate thoughts in the verse above. The first part
is speaking of those who have not received the LORD as their Saviour.
They are living in darkness. They believe in only the things that they
can see with their physical eyes. The second half of the statement
above, is saying, Open my eyes that I might see Thee more clearly. Let
your Light shine upon us. Jesus is  the Light of the world. Those who
have received Jesus as Saviour, walk in His Light. John 8:12  "Then
spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he
that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light
of life." Notice the contrast in the next Scripture. John 11:10 "But if
a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in
him." If we belong to Jesus, we must walk in His Light. John 12:35
"Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you.
Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that
walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth."  I John 1:7 "But if
we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one
with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from
all sin."  All of these Scriptures mean the same thing. They are all
showing the difference in a man who is not saved, that must see
everything with his physical eyes, before he will believe; and the
saved man who believes, because he sees through the eyes of the spirit.

     Psalms 4:7 "Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the
time [that] their corn and their wine increased."

     We see the very same separation in this verse as in the previous
verse. The gladness of the unsaved is over physical benefits here on
the earth. The gladness of the saved is from within. There may be
calamities all around the saved person, and yet they have the joy of
the LORD within. There is no greater blessing than having Jesus in our
heart. The Bible says we are not like those who have no hope {unsaved}.
We have hope of the resurrection to eternal life in heaven with Jesus.
Life would be miserable, if the only time we could rejoice was when a
material blessing came along. Most of the time, we would be down and
out. Praise God! I have my joy within, and it does not depend on
earthly things.

     Psalms 4:8 "I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou,
LORD, only makest me dwell in safety."

     One of the most popular memorized prayers of children begins, Now
I lay me down to sleep. Many adults, in our society lay down to sleep,
but the cares of this world will not let them sleep. If a person has
perfect peace, sleep should come easily. Fear seems to be a way of life
today. So many bad crimes occur in the night. We can not protect
ourselves 24 hours a day. We can not trust society, but we can trust
God to watch over us and keep us safe. Psalms 91:5 "Thou shalt not be
afraid for the terror by night; [nor] for the arrow [that] flieth by
day;"  When you lie down to sleep, pray that God will watch over you as
a Shepherd watches over His sheep. You know, we are His sheep. There is
a peace that passes understanding. Pray that God will give you that
peace, that you might sleep. Philippians 4:7 "And the peace of God,
which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus."  Nothing we do keeps us dwelling in safety, only
God makes us dwell safely.

     Romans 15:33 "Now the God of peace [be] with you all. Amen."



















                             Questions 4

1.  Why are we giving the Psalm in metre before each lesson?
2.  Who was chapter 4 of Psalms addressed to?
3.  Who penned Psalm chapter 4?
4.  What was the role of the chief musician?
5.  Who set the chief musician in the sanctuary?
6.  Who was to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem?
7.  What does Neginoth mean?
8.  What 2 things soothes the troubled soul?
9.  Why was David called to live in the house of Saul?
10. Who do some people believe this Psalm was addressed to, besides
    Neginoth?
11. The prayer is to ___.
12. What is mercy?
13. Where did David's righteousness come from?
14. The Christian's righteousness is in whom?
15. Do you truly believe that God answers prayer?
16. What is the real problem in verse 2?
17. What chapter and verse of the Bible describes our generation?
18. What 2 Scriptures show Christians as sons of God?
19. What special name can God's children call Him?
20. What does leasing mean?
21. What does loving vanity really mean?
22. How is Selah used in verse 2?
23. Who are the chosen of God?
24. What 3 other things are the chosen called?
25. In Revelation chapter 17 verse 14, who are with the Lord?
26. What special authority have the believers in Christ been given?
27. What is meant by stand in awe?
28. What is the beginning of wisdom?
29. Why will we not sin, if we truly love God?
30. In our busy lives, when is sometimes the only time we can commune
    with God in our heart?
31. Quote Psalms chapter 46 verse 10.
32. What goes beyond faith?
33. What is trust?
34. What are the 2 separate thoughts in verse 6 of Psalms chapter 4?
35. Who is the Light of the world?
36. Who walk in the Light of Jesus?
37. What cleanses the Christian from all sin?
38. Describe the eyes of the believer.
39. What is the only thing that makes the unbeliever glad?
40. Why does the Christian's joy not depend on earthly things?
41. Why are so many people afraid at night?
42. Quote Philippians chapter 4 verse 7.
43. Quote Romans chapter 15 verse 33.