Answer Me!

Well, this seems really out of place. I feel trapped up here behind this podium.

I'm so used to being there, but the communion has got my normal spot.

So I'm going to preach up here and I'm going to wander around every now and then.

So y'all bear with me if you will.

This morning we look at Psalm 4.

We have begun a series through the summer in the book of Psalms

and we're just going one psalm at a time.

And this morning we've reached Psalm 4.

And before I read this psalm together with you,

I want to ask two questions.

And these questions come directly out of this psalm.

But I want to focus your mind on these two questions

before we read, before we consider the text.

And here's the two questions.

The first question is this.

And this is a very personal question.

And I wonder if we think much about it.

Let me ask this question.

When do you call out to God?

When do you, in your life, call out to God?

Is it based on hard circumstances?

Is times of a trauma?

When is it that you actually call to Him?

And the second question is similar.

Why?

So I ask these two questions.

When do you call out to God?

And then why do you do that?

Why do you choose to call out to God?

Or in some cases, why not?

Why are you not calling out to God?

The psalm we read this morning is a psalm written by David.

And we'll see very early in this psalm that David cries out to God or calls out to God.

He's in conversation with God.

And we'll read about the scenario and we'll talk about that a little more.

But the question is for us to consider, how about us?

David will see there's a situation in his life that is the reason he's calling out to God.

We'll consider that situation.

But you know, our lives are full of situations.

And how frequently do we find ourselves calling out to God?

How often are we in conversation with Him?

What does prayer look like for us?

Is prayer an event for you?

Or is prayer a conversation for you?

Why in the world would you spend time in conversation with God?

We'll look at that as we look at this passage this morning.

Read with me, if you will, Psalm 4.

Written by David.

Verse 1.

Answer me when I call, O God, of my righteousness.

You have given me relief when I was in distress.

Be gracious to me and hear my prayer.

O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame?

How long will you love vain words and seek after lies?

But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for Himself.

The Lord hears when I call to Him.

Be angry and do not sin.

Ponder in your own hearts on your beds and be silent.

Offer right sacrifices.

And put your trust in the Lord.

There are many who say,

Who will show us some good?

Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord.

You have put more joy in my heart

than they have when their grain and wine abound.

In peace, I will both lie down and sleep.

For you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

Let's pray.

Father, this morning, as we look at Your Word,

I pray that You would open, spiritually speaking,

open our eyes and open our ears,

that we might hear and see Your truth this morning.

And I pray that You would move our heart to desire You all the more.

God, I pray that You would lead our time this morning.

And I pray in Your name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

So again, these two questions.

We see here David calling out to God.

And then it begs the question,

David, why do you do this?

Why is this a practice in your life?

Why do you choose to call out to God?

What is it that you know or what is it that you've experienced

that has led you to this pattern in your life?

Now, we would...

Let me say it this way.

It would be important for us to understand

who David is and what situation he's in

and what has transpired in his life leading up to this time.

So it's important for us to understand the history of the nation.

And I don't have time to recite all of that,

but we would know the highlights of it,

that David is the son of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

And we would know some things about Abraham's life,

that Abraham was a pagan in a foreign land,

and God called to him and he responded.

And God promised Abraham many things.

And he promised through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

And then certainly as we walk forward in the lineage of Abraham,

we find David, his son, the son of Abraham.

Abraham's a man of faith.

He believed God.

He trusted God.

He experienced God.

God made promises to Abraham and to the nation.

God, you remember through Samuel,

went to anoint a son of Jesse.

You remember God said,

go to the house of Jesse and anoint the next king.

You remember that he went to the house of Jesse

and all the sons of Jesse lined up except one.

All the warring sons,

all the sons that the father was impressed with lined up,

but David was in the field.

The one who, in a sense,

his father didn't even acknowledge was in the field.

And Samuel got there and said,

where's your other son?

He's like, these are my sons.

No, God has not chosen these.

You must have another son.

And they sent to call David.

And David came.

And Samuel anointed him as king over Israel.

He did not immediately step into the kingship.

Actually, the king Saul chased after him,

threw spears at him,

sought him to kill him and destroy him

so there wouldn't be competition for the throne.

Saul chased after his own ways,

but David was a man after God's own heart.

The same David that wrote this psalm,

you would remember when he was a shepherd in the fields by himself,

watching the flocks,

caring for the flocks,

that as we read,

we learn that he saw the powerful hand of God at work

as he protected the flock.

You remember the bear.

You remember the lion who attacked.

And by the great power of God,

David defeated both.

He had seen the mighty hand of God.

You know, David became proficient at playing the harp.

Can you imagine being out in the grasslands

all day, every day by yourself with the flocks?

I've had the privilege to travel to Mongolia

and see what it's like to be in a nomadic land.

A land that has very few buildings

that men travel with their flocks with tents

and they'll erect a tent for a period of time

while they feed their animals.

And then when the grass is eaten,

they'll move to another spot

by putting their tent into,

collecting their tent,

putting it on a trailer

and going to another place

and erecting their tent

and staying there for a while.

It's a nomadic lifestyle.

David knew what it was like

to be in the wilderness by himself.

He knew what it was like

to see the hand of God protect the flock.

He knew what it was like to worship.

So much so that we know the story of David

when his father called him

and he wanted David to deliver food

and gifts to his brothers

who were on the front line.

The nation of Israel

was in a battle with the Philistines

and they had put forth their champion,

this guy named Goliath.

And Goliath was taunting

the children of Israel.

And David went out there

and was like,

why are you not fighting them?

What is up?

Why are y'all standing here?

Why have you stood here for 40 days

afraid to fight this uncircumcised Philistine?

And then when this Philistine,

Goliath,

began to ridicule God,

something went off in the heart of David.

How dare you ridicule my God?

How dare you do that

to the God of all creation?

To the God that's worthy of worship?

We see David,

a man after God's own heart.

David who's quick to worship.

David who has come to know

the powerful person of God in his life,

to see his hand at work.

And David is used by God,

this boy,

to destroy this giant.

That's the David that writes this psalm.

We don't know exactly

where it is in the life of David.

Some believe that it's after Absalom

has usurped the throne

and he's fled from Absalom.

He's with a band of men

and they are fleeing.

He doesn't want to confront his son

in battle and kill his son.

So he's fleeing.

That's what many believe here.

And then we see this psalm

and the truths that are woven in this psalm.

And what I want us to see

is that David has this habit

of calling out on God.

And we can't divorce this

from the life of David.

We can't divorce this

from the time he's a shepherd.

We can't divorce this

from all that's happened in his life

to this point.

And I pause just for a second

to make this pertinent to you and I.

And again, I ask this question,

how often do you call on God?

What is it like,

your relationship with the Lord?

Do you find yourself

genuinely depending on God?

Or do you find yourself

more likely to depend on your own ability?

Do you find yourself

full of peace

and full of quietness

when circumstances rage?

Or do you find yourself disquieted?

Do you find turmoil

stewing inside of you?

Churning inside of you?

And you wonder,

how am I going to handle this?

What am I going to do?

What do I need to fix?

How can I control this?

Is that common for you?

Or do you find yourself

calling on God?

Calling out on God.

I want us to notice

something that we saw last week

where David laid down and slept.

You know, sometimes when

we have turmoil in our life,

it's hard to sleep, isn't it?

We can't turn the switch off.

We lay down

and we can't find sleep.

Or if we do,

it's just spotty

and we wake back up

and it's still on our mind,

the forefront of our mind

and we can't get away from it.

But you know that's not true here for David.

Look at verse 9.

In peace,

I will both lie down and sleep.

How is it possible

that when circumstances

are out of control,

whatever those circumstances might be,

that we actually can rest and sleep?

It's only through trust, isn't it?

I want to share this,

that the psalm

reveals to us

something about

David's relationship to God.

I see three things

and I want to look at

all three of these things.

First is this,

that David knows

the character of God.

David knows

the character of God.

Where do I see that?

I want us to look here.

I see 11 statements

by David

that reveal

that he knows

the character of God.

I want you to look

with me here.

Notice in verse 1,

he says,

when I call to you,

O God,

my righteousness.

You know what he's saying here?

He recognizes

that his righteousness,

that is the righteousness

that David would say

is true for him,

is sourced in God.

O God,

you who've given me righteousness,

you who've granted righteousness,

you who've clothed me

in righteousness.

The source of David's righteousness

is God.

God is the giver

of righteousness.

We also see

that he gives relief

in distress

in that same verse.

David says,

you've given me relief

when I was in distress.

You know,

he has that in a past tense.

I have lived it, God.

I know by experience

that you've given me relief.

You've done it

in the past in my life.

I know you're the one

who's able to give relief.

And Lord,

I call out to you.

In the same verse,

he says,

be gracious to me.

What is he saying here?

God,

you are the gracious God.

You are the one

full of grace.

And I'm asking that you

would give me your grace.

Pour your grace upon me, God.

You are the gracious one.

He goes on to say

in verse 3,

I know that the Lord

has set apart

the godly for himself.

God is the one

that sets apart

those for himself.

God is the one

that chooses men

for his purposes.

And then in that verse,

it says,

the Lord hears

when I call to him.

The end of verse 3.

You know that

when we call on God

truly out of the heart

that he hears,

you know God is a God

who hears

the cries of his children.

Have y'all come to know

that by experience

or you just know it

by thought?

David knew it

by experience.

How many times

has David called out

on God for help?

How many times

has he lived it?

We don't know.

But we do see

many situations

as we read the scriptures

about David.

He knew him

to be a gracious God.

A God that hears prayers.

And then also

in verse 5

we see this,

is that he's a God

worthy to be worshipped.

He's a God

of holiness.

holiness.

It's right

that we would offer

proper sacrifices

to God.

And what is

a proper sacrifice?

Psalm 51 reveals,

it says,

the sacrifices

of God

are a broken spirit,

a broken

and contrite heart.

That is a right

sacrifice.

That is genuine

worship.

When we see

ourselves

how we really

are,

that apart from him

we're nothing.

And he is a

holy God

deserving praise

and worship

and honor

and glory.

David knows that.

And I want you

to see in that

same verse

it says,

put your trust

in him.

God is a

trustworthy God.

We can absolutely

take it to the bank.

We can entrust

ourselves

into the hands

of the God

who is good.

The God

who is able.

Amen.

In verse 6

we see

this question

that he poses,

this question

that he keeps

hearing for others,

who will show

us some good

and what is

the response

of David?

I'll tell you

who will show

us some good.

It's God

and God alone

that shows us good.

So he prays,

God shine

your face

upon us.

What is it

for God

to shine

his face

on us

but the

goodness

of God

to be

focused our way

for God

who is

the good

one,

the one

and only

one who

is good

to shine

forth his

face on us.

He knows

God

is one

who is

good.

Do we

know God

in that

way?

Do we

understand it

deep in our

spirit or do

we just

understand it

as a

concept?

Have we

come to

know that

everything

he does

in our

life is

good?

You know

sometimes

from the

human

perspective

we look

at events

in our

life and

say God

why are

you letting

this happen?

If you're

sovereign and

you're in

control and

you love

me why are

you letting

this happen?

And we

see it from

the human

perspective but

God sees it

from a

divine perspective

in the

events that

he's allowing

in our

life have

an ultimate

end for

our good.

We see it

in Romans.

He causes

all things

to work

together for

the good

of those

he calls

his own.

even things

that from

an earthly

perspective

we view

as not

good

as painful

as traumatic

God turns

them all

for the

good of

his children.

Mystery

a huge

mystery

hard for

us to

understand

it

but

everything

that God

does is

good

he is

the good

one

and we

look at

verse 7

you have

put more

joy in

my heart

than the

nation

when they

celebrate

the harvest

there's

more joy

that is

in my

heart

because

you've

placed

it

there

you are

the

giver

of joy

and we

look in

verse 9

in peace

I will

lie down

and sleep

do you know

where peace

comes from

you know

where true

genuine

peace

comes from

only from

him

only from

him

if we

were to

read

Ephesians

we would

see the

message of

where peace

comes from

it says

be anxious

for nothing

but in

everything

by prayer

and fasting

with

thanksgiving

make your

requests

known to

God

and the

peace

of God

which

passes

understanding

shall guard

your hearts

and mind

through Christ

Jesus

the peace

of God

that passes

all understanding

is a gift

to his

children

it's related

to prayer

did you hear

it

be anxious

for nothing

but by

prayer

with prayer

fasting

and thanksgiving

let your

requests be

made known

to God

why

because the

trustworthy

God

loves you

the God

who is

sovereign

and able

loves you

the God

who works

all things

for our

good

provides for

you

and he

gives you

peace

the source

of peace

the true

source

is God

himself

David

knows this

he's sharing

this

and at the

end of it

the end of

verse 8

it says

for you

alone

oh Lord

make me

to dwell

in safety

you alone

make me

to dwell

in safety

put it in

context

in David's

life

if truly

he's fleeing

from Absalom

and truly

he has

a whole

army

that's chasing

after him

how can he

make this

statement

that you

alone

make me

dwell

in safety

that if

I'm going

to be

safe

this day

it's because

you put

your hand

around me

and you

protect me

do we

know God

in this

way

have you

come to

know him

as a

source of

peace

and the

source of

joy

and the

source of

your

protection

and the

source of

all goodness

have you

come to

know him

as worthy

of trust

as worthy

of worship

have you

come to

see God

as the

gracious

one

have you

known him

in a way

that when

you pray

he hears

do we

find ourselves

trying to

manipulate

God

God

I'm

praying

you better

answer me

because you're

the one

who answers

are we

manipulating

him

I want

you to

do

this

I want

you to

do it

this way

I want

you to

do it

in this

timing

I want

you to

fill in

the blank

what is

our

relationship

to God

do we

know him

like David

knew him

and so I

ask the

question again

that we

started with

the question

is this

when

do you

call to

him

and now

we've

answered the

question

why

why is it

that we

would call

to him

because

look who

he is

when we

come to

know him

more deeply

you know

what begins

to be

more frequent

in our

life

we begin

to talk

to him

more

have y'all

noticed that

in your

own life

the longer

you walk

in the

faith

the longer

you pursue

him

the more

you chase

to know

him

the more

you talk

to him

do you

find yourself

in prayer

sometimes

laughing

with him

do you

find yourself

enjoying

him

the

relationship

do you

find yourself

entrusting

more

and more

and more

into his

hands

have you

gotten to

the place

in your

Christian

walk

where you

could say

God

I sense

this anxiety

this rising

in me

but I don't

want to

own it

I don't

want to

handle it

I want to

give it to

you and I

entrust it

in your

hands

I choose

to tell you

what's going

on in my

heart

and God

I lay it

before you

and I say

God you

take this

burden

as the one

who's able

I'm not

going to

worry about

it

I'm going

to watch

and see

what you

do

and I'm

going to

worship

and praise

you through

the midst

of it

all

have we

grown

in our

walk

to the

place

where we

trust him

in that

way

you know

that's

what he's

offering

to all

of us

Hebrews

says

come boldly

to the

throne

of grace

that you

may

find

help

in time

of need

how often

do we

have need

how often

do you

need him

you know

this is a

very revealing

question

how often

do you

need him

you know

we need

him a

whole lot

more than

we think

and Linda

I know

you shared

in Sunday

school

that just

because of

health

and breathing

and getting

up and mobility

that you would

quickly say

I need him

all the time

and you

probably

have grown

in your

walk

through the

midst of

this tough

journey

you're on

you know

when life

is going

good

you know

what the

children of

Israel did

they forgot

about him

I would

venture to

say they

really didn't

know him

when we

know him

as the

one who's

good

the lover

of our

soul

you know

what we

want to

do

we want

to be

in

conversation

with him

why would

we want

to

because

who he

is

the more

we come

to know

him

the more

we entrust

ourselves

to him

the more

we come

to know

him

the more

we pray

to him

the more

we talk

to him

the deeper

the relationship

becomes

and so let's

look real quick

at the scenario

here

I want you

to see that

there's some

men in verse

two

I really

believe that

the setting

here is

David

is

fleeing

from an

army

or those

who would

seek to

destroy

him

and we

see in

verse 9

that he's

laying down

and sleeping

so in my

mind what I

see this

psalm saying

is David

is calling

out to

God

God

you are

my

righteousness

you're

the one

who's

given me

relief

I have

a history

here

this has

happened

before

I've

seen

your hand

operate

my life

and God

again

I call

out to

you

David

who knows

the character

of God

who's

experienced

the power

of God

calls out

on God

you know

that's a true

pattern for us

too

the more

we know

him

the more

experienced

and the more

we call

out to him

and he's

calling out

in this

situation

he's saying

God

hear my

prayer

and then

I can

picture him

on his

bed

he's just

thinking about

all that's

going on

and he's

thinking about

these men

and what

men is he

talking about

he's talking

about the

leaders of

the nation

he's talking

about the

men that are

wealthy

the men that

are influential

the men that

would be

considered

leaders in

the nation

why do I

say it's

those men

well look

at verse

six

he says

lift up

the light

of your

face

upon us

oh lord

who is the

us

it's me

and these

men

so he's

in his

in my mind

he's

he's laying

on his bed

and he's

thinking about

what's going

on and he's

in conversation

with God

and he's

saying to

God

God

please hear

my prayer

I'm calling

out to you

because of

all that's

going on

and these

men

he's just

in a sense

he's picturing

these men

and it's as if

right in on

his bed

he's saying

to these

men

let me just

get you

to hear

these things

men

will you

just

listen

how long

will my

honor be

turned into

shame

and it begs

the question

David

what are you

talking about

your honor

being turned

into shame

are they

treating him

as the king

that he truly

is

are they

treating him

as God's

anointed

we have to

know that

David was

anointed by

God

through Samuel

David said

to Samuel

go and you

take the oil

and when you

get there

you anoint

David as the

next king

he is the

one I

choose

to be king

and what are

the men of

the nation

doing

they're running

him out of

town

they're not

treating him

as king

they're not

honoring him

as king

and listen

they're

dishonoring

God

because

they're

turning their

back on

the leader

that God

has placed

at the head

of the nation

his honor

as king

as leader

as the

called one

the anointed

one by God

they are

turning into

shame

not only are

they hurling

accusations at

him

not only that

but they're

chasing him

to kill him

they don't

trust

the plan

of God

and he

reveals

about these

men that

what they

really love

is vain

words

and they

seek after

lies

they're not

listening

to the

Lord

they're not

trusting

in the

Lord

they're trusting

after their

own ways

and their

own ways

lead to

destruction

they're not

honoring David

as a king

the anointed

of God

and he

reminds them

this is again

he's thinking

about what he

would say

to these men

but know

this that the

Lord has set

apart

the godly

for himself

it's the

Lord that

anointed me

as king

and so when

you chase me

to kill me

you know what

you're doing

you're looking

at the face

of God

and say

I will not

accept what

you've done

I want to

accept your

plan

I will not

accept your

way

we're going

to do

our own

thing

and as

David's

thinking

through this

he says

this

be angry

and do

not sin

it's

six

excuse me

seven things

he says

to these

men

I don't

think he's

in their

company

when he

says it

but he's

rehearsing

this in his

mind

as he's

on his

bed

and he's

in prayer

he's

singing

be angry

and sin

not

I think

a better

English

translation

would be

this

tremble

with fear

and stop

sinning

tremble

with fear

at what

God

has done

don't

turn away

from what

God

has put

in place

and stop

sinning

by trying

to

overthrow

the king

you are

sinning

against

God

because

God

has put

this

in place

ponder

in your

own

hearts

and be

silent

in other

words

get in

front

of God

and listen

to him

and recognize

how little

you are

and how

great

he is

you think

about these

truths

and you

be silent

because

what can

you say

to a

holy

sovereign

righteous

God

and then

he goes

in verse

five

and he

says

offer

right

sacrifices

the right

sacrifice

is a

contrite

heart

these

men

were

full

of pride

full

of the

flesh

full

of their

own

ways

doing

whatever

they wanted

to do

whatever

they wanted

to make

happen

in a

sense

this might

be true

as well

you know

God had

promised

that

through

David

there would

always be

a king

on the

throne

he had

also

promised

earlier

that there

would be

this time

when there

would be

a kingdom

of peace

we see

Isaiah

talking about

it years

later

he said

there's a

time coming

when they

will take

their swords

and they

will beat

them into

plowshares

there will

be a time

of peace

that will

last forever

you know

that that

was talking

about

eternity

that was

talking about

after the

second coming

of Christ

he's pointing

forward

yes there's

a kingdom

of peace

coming

but these

men wanted

it to be

an earthly

kingdom

of peace

they wanted

to conquer

everybody

so they

could rest

and do

what they

wanted to

do

I think

that is

a part

of this

equation

that David

is not

the king

they'd hoped

he would be

David

has not

given them

peace

from all

their enemies

David

has not

lived up

to the

building

what we

thought he

should have

lived up

to

but look

what David

does

let me ask

this question

if you

ever had

an enemy

if you

ever had

people

that seek

to do

you harm

emotionally

physically

situationally

how do you

respond

what do you

do

look what

David did

in verse

6

in the

midst

of this

situation

he says

lift up

the light

of your

face

upon us

God

he even

identified

with them

and he

blessed

them

he prayed

for them

these men

that are

chasing him

these men

that are

dishonoring

God

these men

that are

trying to

kill him

what does

he do

he prays

for them

let me

just share

with us

the importance

of this

and I

would encourage

you

if there's

anyone in

your life

and I've

said it

before

that you

would say

I hate

them

I hope

evil

I wish

evil upon

them

I resent

them

if there's

any level

of animosity

you have

toward any

person

I would

encourage

you to

do what

David did

and pray

for them

I realize

there's some

situations

that are

beyond

what we

could possibly

do

if you've

been hurt

deeply

wounded

deeply

there's no

way in the

flesh you're

going to be

able to

forgive

but listen

the power

of God

is great

and God

could give

you a love

for people

that have

tried to

hurt you

and maybe

have hurt

you

God

is calling

us

to entrust

even that

to him

and God

will put

a strength

and a power

in our lives

to be able

to pray

for our

enemies

when we

entrust

these things

to him

guess what

the result

is

incredible

joy

so the

question

for us

how well

do you

sleep

I know

that's not

a fair

question

I don't

sleep all

night

every night

but is

it because

that there's

bitterness

and anger

and resentment

in our

heart for

others

and God

would call

us to lay

that at the

foot of his

cross and

with the

power

of God

to love

others

to lift

all these

things up

to him

in prayer

when do we

pray to him

it's my

hope that we

all begin

to be in

constant

conversation

with God

it was said

of A.W.

Tozer

a guy who's

written some

pretty powerful

books who

had a deep

relationship

with God

it was said

about him

not him

saying it

about himself

it was said

about him

there was never

ten minutes a day

when he wasn't

in conversation

with God

if you've

ever heard

about a guy

named Brother

Lawrence

there's a book

and as a guy

that just lived

his life

talking to God

sometimes out loud

and just in

constantly listening

to God

constantly in

communion and

fellowship with

God

you know it's

the privilege of

all believers

to enjoy

fellowship now

to entrust

ourselves to

him now

to love

others

now

to live

this life

of

trusting God

praying

to him

on a

constant

basis

why

because he's

the God

who's able

he's the

sovereign

God

can handle

all situations

it's my

hope that

we all

grow

in

quietness

in our

heart

is that

true for

us

church

right now

when you

when you

get alone

and you

just sit

do you

find your

heart

full of

turmoil

or do you

find it

full of

quietness