Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Should Christians Always Be at Peace? | The Writings | Psalm 4

Episode Date: January 4, 2024

Since you believe in a sovereign, all-knowing God, does that mean you get an anxiety-free life? Do true Christians spend nights wrestling with spiraling thoughts? Did Jesus ever have sleepless nights? Patrick shares encouragement from Psalm 4. Read the Bible with us in 2024! This year, we’re tackling a group of Old Testament books traditionally known as “The Writings”— Psalms, Chronicles, Proverbs, Daniel, Ruth and more! Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter@TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Psalm 4

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Patrick Miller. Do you end your days in peace or anxiety? When your head hits the pillow, do you fall asleep? Or do you find a spindly ball of yarn slowly unwinding as you replay what happened and worry about what's to come? Chances are that you've experienced both. I know I have.

But coming into the new year, I've felt more like that ball of yarn. The last few months have been full of unexpected transitions and challenges for me personally. Add to that, I'm working on my next book and that manuscript is due, I don't know, tomorrow. And so when my head hits the pillow, I'm not a peaceful baby. Not that pre-sleep babies are ever very peaceful in my experience, but you get the idea. Instead, that ball of yarn is unwinding. Moments are replaying, worries are creeping in. And perhaps when you hear this, you think that Christians shouldn't be like that.

We should always be at rest because we worship a sovereign God in charge of everything. And that's true. We do worship a sovereign God, but we also live in a broken world. In Luke's gospel, he describes Jesus often going out in the night to pray. We don't know if he couldn't sleep, or if he was replaying moments from the day before, or if he was worried about what was to come. Though on at least one of those occasions in the Garden of Githemone, we do know his mental state. He was in anguish.

He prayed three times for God to take away the cup before him. It was the cup of God's wrath. It was the cup that was going to be poured out on him on the cross. Three times he prayed for it to be removed, and three times he got the answer back. No, it won't be. He was so anxious that he literally began to sweat blood. Of course, none of us will ever face a horror like the cross,

not just the torture that preceded it, not just the nails through his wrists and feet, not just the slow as fixation as Jesus tried to draw breath on the cross but failed again and again. But even worse than that, receiving God's wrath against our sin, being separated from his eternal father, undergoing hell in our place. I can't imagine, but I do take solace in knowing that if the son of God struggled to sleep, then perhaps he's far more gracious with my sleepless nights than I can never imagine. imagine. Perhaps he's with me as that ball of yarn unwinds. Perhaps he says, I know what you feel. Do not fear. I am with you. And if he could give us any prayer to pray, I don't doubt that he would give us Psalm 4.

It's the first evening prayer in the book of Psalms. And it's clearly written to give voice to those who can't fall asleep because of what they've suffered during the day and what they fear they will suffer in the morning. And rather than calming his soul with trite catchphrases, the psalmist pours out his anguish and anxiety to God with total transparency. And in this way, he offers us a path when we can't sleep. Don't unwind that ball alone. Unwind it with God. Cry out to God. Pray your day to him. It's a short psalm, so let's read it together. For the director of music with stringed instruments, a Psalm of David. Answer me when I call to you, my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress. Have mercy on me and hear my prayer. How long will you people turn my glory into shame?

How long will you love delusions and seek false gods? Let's pause. David is crying out his distressed. He's disheartened because he's seen idolaters, people who hate Yahweh. He's seeing them thrive. They're heaping shame on him. They're speaking false delusions. And of course, you've experienced similar things yourself. The nights when it's hardest to sleep are often when someone's done wrong to you, or when someone's misrepresented you, or misunderstood you, or when someone does something wrong and they're celebrated, or when you do something right and you're critiqued. Here's what the psalmist tells you to do right now and right before bed. Speak your anguish to God. Unwind that ball of anxiety with him. Lament the wrong. Ask God the question that you're

burning to ask. How long, O Lord, until you're. this is made right. But your journey must not stop there. You see, David continues in the Psalm, reminding himself of deeper truths in deep distress. Verse three, know that the Lord has set apart his faithful servant for himself. The Lord hears when I call to him, tremble, 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. David reminds himself that God has set him apart for his purposes, and he admits that part of him wants to sin against those who are sinning against him. He wants to turn to verbal violence, to fight fire with fire. But here on his bed, he reminds himself that he must not hate his enemies.

And instead, he must remember that he has been set apart by God to do God's will. He's been set apart for love, set apart to walk in holiness, to offer his life as a sacriac. to his living God, his living king. Do you know that you are set apart? Do you know that God hears you when you call to him? If you know that, then don't try to take control of your situation. Don't take it into your own hands. Vengeance is the Lord's. Trust that God will work things out and that you need only trust him by walking in his ways. Trusting God in this way, David continues. Many Lord are asking, who will bring us prosperity? What the light of your face shine on us. Fill my heart with joy when their grain and new wine abound. David is praying for

God's blessing. You too can pray for that blessing on your bed, that God would resolve and heal what worries you and go beyond that to fill your life with joy, even when your enemies are prospering, even when they've got all the new grain and all the new wine and everything is going right for them. David is saying, don't worry. God can still fill your heart with joy. And when he does that, you will know at peace even as you fall asleep. David ends the Psalm this way. In peace, I will lie down and sleep. For you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.

Amen. Whether it's morning or evening, whether your head is falling upon your pillow or rising up for the next day, the Lord will make you dwell in safety. No matter what's happening to your enemies, no matter what's happening to those who try to harm you or those who tried to deny Jesus, he can give you. you peace, trust him enough to be honest about your worries, trust him enough to choose enemy love over enemy hatred, trust him enough to pray for joy, and then you will know peace.