Ep437. Psalm 4. Evening Prayer. 

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

When you’re desperate, do you pray? The psalmist does. Listen to psalm 4.
  Answer me when I call to you,
    O my righteous God.
  Give me relief from my distress,
    Have mercy on me and hear my prayer (v 1).

This psalm is a bedtime prayer, a “now I lay me down to sleep” meditation. At the end of a long and difficult day, we are tired and confused. Discouraged. We’ve read of murders and chaos. We’ve endured countless advertisements promising happiness if we drive faster, travel farther, buy more, eat sweeter, and live fuller. The psalmist responds,
    How long will you love delusions and seek false gods? (v 2) 

If you measure your life by career success, possessions, health, and happiness, watch out! The psalmist measures life by our relationship to God: 
  The Lord has set apart his servant for himself,
      the Lord hears when I call to him (v 2-3). 

This psalm is a reset button at day’s end, pulling us away from endless viewing and scrolling to see what God offers. Before drifting off to sleep, the psalm says,
  . . . when you are on your bed,
    search your heart and be silent.
  Offer right sacrifices
    and trust in the Lord (v 4-5). 

The day is ending. The newspaper is in the recycle bin. Computers are off. Cell phones charging. 

Receive the quiet. Offer the day to God. Don’t obsess on what went right and wrong, don’t brood on your coulda, shoulda, woulda done. Give the day to God, a sacrifice to him. As you sleep, God prepares a new day for you, a day where you will wake up and start over.    

Let’s pray. 

O father, we live in a constant commotion of distracted work, agitated hearts and confused thinking. Social media perturbs us, world news shakes us, anxiously we try to make sense of our lives. 

With the author of psalm 4, we ask,
  Who will teach us how to live? (v 6). 

And with him we respond,
  Let the light of your face shine on us.
      Fill our hearts with joy (v 6-7). 

Replace our agitation with purpose, our restlessness with peace, our questions with quietness. May we sleep a hopeful sleep, trusting you to watch us, trusting you to wake us, trusting you to work your will in us.

    In peace I lie down and sleep,
      for you alone, O Lord,
      make me dwell in safety (v 8). 

Amen. 

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Hi, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray with Me.”

Psalm 1 and 2 were an introduction to the Psalms. Psalm 3 was the first prayer — David’s prayer of loss and desperation when Absalom betrayed him. Our prayers often start in that same place of loss and desperation. But now Psalms 4 and 5 will introduce another type of prayer — prayers that are not emergency 911 calls to God, but prayers said in the regular rhythm of our lives in good times and bad.

The first rhythm the psalmist introduces is evening and morning. Psalm 4 is an evening prayer and Psalm 5 is a morning prayer. The heart of the evening prayer is to leave the finished and unfinished business of our day with God, to tell him our successes and failures, to entrust our friends and enemies to him. Then we release ourselves to the forgetfulness of sleep, knowing that God will not forget us. This is Psalm 4, our prayer today.

Let’s pray it.

“Answer me when I call to you
my righteous God.
Give me relief from my distress,
have mercy on me and hear my prayer.”
Our Father, we bring to you the things that distressed us today — news of natural and political disasters, family breakups, problems with health and employment and relationships. We ask for a night of relief from our distress. Grant us peace.

“How long will you people turn my glory into shame?
How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?
Know that the Lord has set apart his servants for himself
the Lord hears when I call to him.”
Our enemies turn our glory into shame. They despise our faith, they belittle our prayers, they disparage our good works, they find fault with our view of God. But we are your people, Lord. Thank you that you honor us as servants and listen to our prayers.

“In your anger do not sin;
when you are on your beds,
search your hearts and be silent.
Offer the sacrifices of the righteous
and trust in the Lord.”
Our anger flared up again today, but now at day’s end we search our hearts and we are silent before you. You know us, for we are your people. We know you, for you are our God. We trust you with our heart and mind and soul.

“Many are asking, “Who will show us any good?”
Let the light of your face shine on us.
You have filled my heart with greater joy
than when their grain and new wine abound.”
We circle back to that age-old problem, “Who will show us any good?” What is good, and how can we know it? What is the good life, and how can we live it? Our answer is, “We know goodness when you smile at us, God. We feel goodness in the light of your presence. We experience goodness when you fill our hearts with joy.”

“In peace I will lie down and sleep,
for you alone, Lord,
make me dwell in safety.”
Our day, our life is in your hands. In your care, we give ourselves gladly and joyfully to sleep.
Amen

I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with Me”.