We are excited to be starting a new series of reflections on the Psalms. Each day we will upload a new reflection to the website. We hope and pray that you will find them helpful and that they bring hope during this season. Click on these buttons to read the text of the psalm or listen to a recording of it. You can also listen to the reflection using the audio player below.
Read Psalm 4 Listen to Psalm 4
Podcast (cnc-daily-psalms): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:31 — 1.0MB)
I’m excited for this experience of going through the Psalms together. Tim Keller says that the psalms offer an “Undeviating understanding of the greatness of God, alongside our current situation.” The psalms are a useful framework for prayer in our current time! This is very true of Psalm 4.
Psalm 4 is an articulation of what it means to have joy apart from circumstances. It is a confident plea- “Confident” in that the psalmist is trusting in the God who rescues but “plea’ in that the psalmist still needs help! The line that sticks out to me is in verse 1 “You gave me room when I was in distress.” Prayer is a place where we are given space by God to articulate our troubles. God doesn’t expect us to immediately “get over things” or leap to the end of the Psalm and “Lie down and sleep.” It is the process of confidently pleading that enables the peace of God to descend.
I know so often I want to shortcut this process of prayer and get to the peace but it is in the process of crying out to God that we learn more of who we are crying out to.
God would you help us to ‘take up room’ and cry out to you?