Sermon(Ps 4): Joy and peace in tribulation
The original Korean text: https://stevision.blog.me/50025222082
Scripture reading: > 1 Answer me when I cal, O God of my right! Thou hast given me room when I was in distress. Be gracious to me, and hear my prayer. 2 O men, how long shall my honor suffer shame? How long will you love vain words, and seek after lies? Selah 3 But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself; the Lord hears when I call to him. 4 Be angry, but sin not; commune with your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah 5 Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the Lord. 6 There are many who say, “O that we might see some good! Lift up the light of thy countenance upon us, O Lord!” 7 Thou hast put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. 8 In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for thou alone, O Lord, makest me dwell in safety. - (Ps 4) - <
This is David's poem. This poem shows that David is complaining to God because his adversaries persistently bother him. His enemies posed a physical threat to him. David prayed to God in anguish. His agony was so great that he couldn't even breathe. V. 2, "O men, how long shall my honor suffer shame? How long will you love vain words, and seek after lies?" This reproach is what God says to humans or what David says to his enemies. The enemies of truth are hostile both to God and to David. The way they behave is the same. They frame others with lies. The opponents tried to undermine David's glory. The concrete method is to spread lies and vain words. People talk, "Really? Is the real David such a man?" His face burned with shame so much so that he couldn't go out. But this happened because David was exceptional.
David honestly served God. He exhorts people not to sin. David can do this because he didn't sin though he was a man (of high position) whose sins people could not but overlook. Of course, there were some sins David committed, but he repented immediately and was forgiven by God. The murder of Uriah was his sin. Except this, David hardly committed sins. An innocent man is apt to live in arrogance, but David didn't live so. What is the evidence? David always praised God until his mouth was exhausted. David always gave thanks to God among many people. He who gives praise and thanks to God is truly humble. He is a humble man (before God) even if he has learned much and has much money. on the contrary, he who is stingy with thanks and praise to God is a haughty man even if he is terribly ignorant and poor. David lived an innocent life, and, nevertheless, was humble before God. Of course, some people looked at him with envy and contempt. Sometimes perhaps some conceited men who liked to think good people to be evil said unilaterally that David(, who was in fact very humble) was a haughty man. God will remember all the dirty and worthless words of those who went around and spoke ill of others, saying, "He is an evil man. She is a proud woman," and will punish the sins one by one at the last judgment.
David loved godliness. Augustine said, "The true piety is to think God to be good." Whenever David opened his mouth, he told of 'the good God', 'the sincere God', 'the merciful God'. Tears ran down from his eyes, but his lips always spoke of the God of goodness, and he never blasphemed against God. This is the true godliness. David respected the servants of God. This also belongs to the true piety. Saul, the first king of Israel, committed an atrocious crime of killing the priests of God by swords. But David had a good chance to kill Saul when he chased David, but didn't kill him for Saul had been anointed king by God. David said God forbade it. Perhaps David was ordered by God not to kill Saul. Of course, he might not have received such an order. Anyway, David did not harm the king God had appointed. This piety of David can be seen when the Lord's prophet reproved his sins. You know it, too. David's piety is well illustrated in his last words. This is the sum of it: to live as the words of God teach. David last spoke to Solomon, the son who inherited the throne. "Keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his ordinances, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn. (1 Kings 2:3)" If David said that to his son on his deathbed, we can believe that David lived by God's words. Even after he became king, David lived devoutly as before, regarding the piety as his own life. What a great man!
David was anxious to be a righteous man. To be righteous is more than just not to sin. Righteousness calls for doing goodness positively. And it calls for doing away with unrighteousness. David's good deeds were first to teach the Israelites that God is good, and to establish the sound Yahweh religion in Israel. A righteous man is he who has done his best to do good to the God. Of course, such a good deed is an response of a man to God the Absolute Good. Humble as it may be, this goodness is essential. David never forgot kindness of others. David didn't forget others' favor, and tried to return the favor. What he did to Jonathan's son proves it. David did not reject but accepted some people, who had lost all their property and become vagabonds in the sinful world and come to him, and became responsible for their livelihood. David was gracious to so many people that he could be the king of all Israel easily later. A really righteous man is he who does the good and is gracious to the poor people. This can't be done only with the faith. David punished those who committed unrighteous murders in times of peace though they did it for David's sake. (Think of his last words to Solomon concerning Joab.) This is the very righteousness of David! This is truly a righteous deed. Some people like to cover up the sins of those who have done it for (the people) themselves, but David laid severe penalty even on those who wielded the unrighteous sword for him. If David's deeds were righteous that much, we can admit that all his life was righteous.
What would David who is godly and righteous truly like to say to his opponents? It may be as follows: "Hey, you! Don't worry about me, just live rightly yourselves! When it comes to sin, I've committed less sins than you. When it comes to righteousness, I'm not less righteous than you. And when it comes to righteous life, you yourselves know that my life is righteous. If I've lived unrighteously, give me specific examples. So do not make a bad rumor about me to stain my honor with dung. You want me to fall and be ruined forever? Wake up, you wicked liars!"
David says to them who have trusted and followed him. "My friends, let's not sin although it is a hard time for us. If we live devoutly even in this hard time, God will never desert us, and use us dearly because we are his tools. Let us worship God with righteous sacrifices. Let us believe in the good God. Believe in the God who will judge the right and the wrong accurately. Instead of complaining, give thanks to him. Instead of crying aloud, pray to God, looking at him quietly. In a little while, God will turn his face he has hidden from us to us and save us."
God gave David peace and joy and heart to pray in the time of tribulation. God eased David's pain (v. 1), and helped him pray when he suffered so much that he almost couldn't breathe. This is the very gleam of the settlement of the problem. You must know that the God who gives us the mind to pray has already determined to solve our problems. It is God's grace for us to have time and mind to pray to God. The eagerer heart to pray, the greater grace given to us. We must not miss this opportunity. Usually, if we pray for something wrong against God's will, the Holy Spirit immediately says to us, "You are praying wrong now!" However, if you pray in the will of God, your fluent prayer (led by the Holy Spirit) is done in passion and emotion. Pray daily for others so that things go well with them. Pray for the church so that the church prospers. Pray God to drive out the dirty culture from the society. And the time you pray will be filled with deep emotion of peace and joy for such prayers are 100% in accordance with the will of God. Pray first for the kingdom of God. Such prayers as you give to God for the family problems are secondary prayer items.
God gives David more delight than the abundance of new wine. What is alcohol? Don't you drink when something good happened to you or when you want to forget the pain for a while? Many people rely on alcohol to indulge in pleasure or forget their sorrows for a while, but we Christians have better joy and happiness than such low-level comfort and solace can give. A high school student can have a low-level delight when he drinks and smokes. But he can have greater joy, better health, and better future if he has made a good impression on the schoolteacher and hears a special request from him, "Jack, can you do a little errand for me?" The greatest joy of the saints is that they were recognized as godly ones and chosen by God. Greater joy than the wine can give have those who hear the answer of God, "Well, what do you want? I'll give it to you," when they pray to God whenever something is needed. The greatest joy in the world has he who was called by God and does what he entrusted. 'God has given me especially this mission because he knows me. How happy!' David lived in this joy. He was, as an unknown shepherd, chosen by God and became the king of Israel. So David always lived with strong feeling of thanks and delight. The fountain-like joy of David was possible because his conscience and deeds were justified by God. The prayer of such a man is always powerful and confident, and is strangely accompanied by delight like a fountain every day. If the desire to pray is dawn, the joy of pray is bright daylight which has made the darkness completely recede. When a woman is healthy, her beauty is a real beauty. A cancer-stricken beautiful woman may look beautiful on the outside, but she is not a beautiful one to herself. The beauty is real to a woman if she is healthy. Plants also need to be very healthy to produce beautiful flowers and strong scents. Some say that there should be only God's grace in Christianity. Of course, it is true. But those who, having righteousness, have experienced God's grace taste more powerful delight. Let's say that there is a man who commits adultery and robbery every day. Let's suppose that this man prays to God and is forgiven every evening. This man will always live in doubt if he really has been forgiven by God. What joy would there be for such a man? Will he shamelessly seek forgiveness of God also this evening?
God gave David peace in his mind. The world tried to give David anxiety, but he rejected it. Brethren, why should we accept the worthless worries the world is trying to inflict on our bodies and minds? It's stupid. Noticeable anxiety is worse than cigarettes, so let's never inhale it. Sometimes we see a man of a high-level virtue who keeps his composure even before a great danger. People of the world can keep their composure before danger by cultivating virtue. We Christians need not fear at all because we have the Father who is omnipotent and loves us dearly. If our heart is only half filled with faith, fear will occupy the rest of our heart. That's absolutely true. However, if we are full of faith, the world is not the object of our fears, but we are the object of the world's fear. It is reversed. We are fearful ones to Devil if we smile with the full trust in God when Devil threatens us with a sword. The wicked tremble for fear, seeing our peaceful smile when they come to us to make us fall down. Our peace is the anxiety and defeat to our enemies. If peace overflows in your heart while praying, it is God's sign of your victory. My brethren, are you peaceful in praying? Congratulations! Everything that will happen from now on will be in God's grace. Success, getting something, losing something, healing, even going to heaven early - all is God's grace and blessing to you.
Brethren, live always righteously and practice righteousness. The petition of the righteous believer has great power to work. Even if two men have the same faith, God gives greater blessing to him who practices righteousness. Pray for the church and other believers more than for yourself. And God will hear your prayer and surely bless you with the same blessing as you wanted others to receive from God. Set nine tenths of the prayer time for others, and one tenth for yourself. May gracious, merciful and sincere God make your life righteous, answer all your prayer in time! Amen!
Chong Tack Kim
- Dongtoma Sunshine Church -