[0:00] Turn again to Psalm 4, Psalm 4, it's also going to be on the overhead behind me, Psalm 4. I will read this from the ESV, and the title is, To the Choir Master with Stringed Instruments, a Psalm of David.
[0:20] This is the Word of God. 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.
[0:33] O man, how long shall my honor be turned into shame? How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah. But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself.
[0:46] 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. Selah. Offer right sacrifices and put your trust in the Lord.
[1:01] 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.
[1:14] In peace I will both lie down and sleep. For you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. Amen. Do you sleep well at night?
[1:26] I can't say that I always do. Sometimes it's not because I'm struggling to fall asleep or stay asleep. It's because somebody else in our household is.
[1:37] Maybe one of our kids wakes up crying in the night from a bad dream. Or Cal has woken up hungry. Or Mac. Mac has hit this stage where I might wake up to a sound and see him quietly pass by our bedroom door towards the stairs.
[1:54] And a few moments later, he passes right back. Just kind of wandered over to the stairs. Took a look down at the deep, dark abyss. And on second thought, let's go back to bed. My kids sometimes make it hard for me to sleep.
[2:09] But other times, it's just me. Just me and my thoughts keeping me awake. Life sometimes weighs us down. At night especially.
[2:21] Maybe we even initially fall asleep. And then we wake up and for whatever reason, we think of the things that stress us out the most. We can just feel that wave of anxiety course through our bodies.
[2:33] And in seconds, we've gone from drowsy to just wide awake. And it's at night especially when those fears and anxieties and uncertainties become so very pronounced.
[2:48] And so we start running through scenarios in our head. Maybe dry running conversations that we have to have tomorrow that we aren't looking forward to. Or we're putting together the to-do list of things that need to be done and we don't have time to do.
[3:03] Or we're stressing out about our families. Or our situations at work. Our own physical health. Maybe the health of another loved one. You name it.
[3:15] There are lots of things that make it hard for us to sleep at night. Psalm 4 is like melatonin for the soul. Psalm 4 is going to help us to sleep peacefully.
[3:30] It's a model for us of what it looks like to entrust our troubles to the Lord. Now David wrote this psalm. Just like he wrote Psalm 3.
[3:41] We looked at Psalm 3 in the evening last week. And these two psalms are very similar. So similar that it seems perhaps David wrote them in quick succession.
[3:57] That one was perhaps written in the morning and then the other was written that evening. David just bookending his day with a couple of songs.
[4:09] Songs that serve as his cries to the Lord. Songs that serve as his prayers to the Lord. David is threatened by his enemies.
[4:20] Remember how Psalm 3 was titled? A Psalm of David when he fled from Absalom his son. Absalom had stirred up that revolt.
[4:31] He had convinced the men of Israel to join him. 2 Samuel 15 we saw last week. He stole the hearts of the men. He stole their hearts.
[4:41] The very men who at one time David had won their hearts. Now Absalom stole them away. They pledged their allegiance to him. And now they were seeking to kill David.
[4:54] 2 Samuel 17 verse 12 lays out the plan. This is what they say. So we shall come upon David in some place where he is to be found.
[5:05] And we shall light upon him as the dew falls on the ground. And of him and all the men with him not one will be left. If he withdraws into a city then all Israel will bring ropes to that city.
[5:18] And we shall drag it into the valley until not even a pebble is to be found there. These foes had schemed and plotted against David to overthrow him.
[5:32] To kill him. This is Psalm 2 being worked out in the life of David. The people raging. The people's plotting against the Lord and against his anointed.
[5:46] His king in Zion in Jerusalem. So David's enemies were determined. And they would stop at nothing to kill David. We're going to find him. We're going to flush him out from wherever he's hiding.
[5:59] If he runs into a city with high walls and thinks that he's protected. Well he's not. We'll break down those walls. We'll destroy that city. Not a pebble will be found where it was.
[6:12] That's how serious and committed David's enemies are to their plan. Their plot to find and to kill him. So in the midst of all of this.
[6:22] You would think David is not sleeping well at night. David must be tossing and turning as he's expecting his enemies to come breaking into the camp at any moment.
[6:37] And yet he's not. He is sleeping well. He is at peace. Look back at Psalm 3. Beginning in verse 5. I lay down and slept.
[6:50] I woke again. For the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. So David is sleeping well.
[7:03] He had just had a good night of sleep as he's penning Psalm 3. He's reflecting back on that previous night. You see the past tense there. This is a morning song.
[7:16] David's woken up to a new day. To new refreshment. Even as his enemies continue to pursue him just like the day prior. No change in circumstances.
[7:26] Yet David slept great. And he's woken up that morning. Well now Psalm 4 seems to be the evening song of the day. David has endured in that new day the same troubles.
[7:40] He's been on the run from Absalom, his son. His foes have risen up. But they have not overcome him. And so after this long day, what is David getting ready to do?
[7:51] He's getting ready for bed. He's getting ready to go to sleep. Kids, what do you do when you're getting ready for bed at night? Put on your PJs.
[8:03] Brush your teeth. Maybe mom or dad reads a book with you. Well David's getting ready for bed here. And what is David going to do? He writes a song. That's what David does here in Psalm 4.
[8:15] David says at the very end there, I will lie down and sleep in peace. See the future tense now that David is speaking with. Again, he's sure. I'm going to have a good night of sleep tonight.
[8:27] I am going to rest well. And it's not because he had counted his sheep. It's not because he got a new sleep number bed and he found the perfect number for himself.
[8:40] But it's because he remembers four truths about God. Four truths that he prayed back to God as he got ready for bed. Four truths that helped David sleep well at night.
[8:54] And they are a help to us as well. So we need to remember these four truths. And every single one of them is all about God. They are centered on him and on what he does.
[9:08] Because it is only in him that we find peace like David had. So four truths that we need to remind ourselves of this morning that will serve us very well even as we go to bed tonight.
[9:21] Let's look at the first truth. And it's there in verse 1. God is righteous. Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness.
[9:34] You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer. So David begins his psalm with a plea for God to hear and to answer his call.
[9:47] This is his prayer. And he's not calling out and just saying, answer me, O God. No, he says, answer me, O God of my righteousness.
[9:59] Or maybe your translation says, O my righteous God. That's a little bit different. Is David talking about righteousness as it relates to God?
[10:11] You, God, are righteous. You do what is right. You do what is just, what is good. Or is David talking about righteousness as it relates to himself?
[10:25] God, my righteousness comes from you. Meaning my right standing. My vindication before my enemies. My being proven to be in the right.
[10:36] That comes from you. It's hard to know exactly which David has on his mind. It's a bit ambiguous, really. But the reality is that both are true.
[10:48] God is righteous. And any righteousness found in David, any vindication for David, any proving him to be in the right, comes from God.
[11:00] He can only be found righteous because God is righteous. Now we need to remember the context of David's life here.
[11:11] In Absalom's revolt, David has been wronged. David has been greatly sinned against by his very own son. His name has been dragged through the mud.
[11:22] This whole revolt, it was built on a lie. We looked at 2 Samuel 15 last Sunday evening. We saw that Absalom used to get up early and basically stand at the entrance of the city, the city gate.
[11:37] And as men were coming in with disputes that they were going to bring before King David, Absalom would call them aside. He would intercept them as they were on their way to the king.
[11:48] And then he would deceive them. He would say, See, See, your claims are good and right, but there is no man designated by the king to hear you.
[12:01] Now at best, this was an exaggerated claim. Maybe it would have taken a little while for their dispute to have been heard, but we have no reason to believe that their disputes wouldn't get heard at all, that it was a vain effort to come to hear their disputes.
[12:16] No, what we see Absalom doing is sowing the seeds of revolt by saying what? Your claims are good and right.
[12:28] Your claims are righteous. You deserve to be vindicated. But King David, he's too busy for you. No one will hear your claims. You won't be proven to be in the right.
[12:41] Your righteousness won't be made known. So what does that mean about David? Well, that means that he's unjust. That means that David is failing to resolve these disputes.
[12:54] He's not vindicating the righteous. Absalom is saying, David is unrighteous. He is failing to uphold and to carry out justice.
[13:06] And the people believed him. It was a lie. It was a smear campaign. But it worked. It is a terrible feeling to be thought of wrongly.
[13:19] Even just like a simple misunderstanding. In my physical therapy lately, I feel like I'm constantly trying to say, I can do more than that. And yet they're saying, no, we need to go slow.
[13:31] I don't think that you can stand on your tiptoes for three minutes straight. So do them in one minute increments and we'll take a break. What do I want to do? Three minutes straight. We can do it.
[13:42] Let's go. I want to be proven right. I want them to know what's true about me. It's nothing though. That is the most silly, simple misunderstanding if you even want to characterize it as that.
[13:57] How much harder is it when it's not a simple misunderstanding about how strong your Achilles is or isn't? How much worse is it when it is a malicious lie?
[14:10] When a person purposefully maligns your name, they purposefully speak evil of you, and they even convince other people to believe the lie as well. Now they've got others coming up against you.
[14:24] That will make you lose sleep at night. Tossing and turning. Trying to figure out how do I communicate the truth? How do I clear the air?
[14:35] I want them to know that they've got me all wrong. I want them to know that that's not an accurate picture of me. Who you think I am. What you think that I've done.
[14:47] That's not true. I need to clear my name. But David does not exactly share our struggle here in Psalm 4. David is not lying in bed rehearsing how he will exonerate himself.
[15:03] He's not trying to figure out how can I prove my righteousness in this situation. Now he is troubled by the lies. He is not immune to the discouragement of having his reputation tarnished.
[15:18] But he knows what to do with his discouragement. He knows where to go with his discouragement. He's calling out to the God of his righteousness.
[15:29] The God who is righteous. You Lord be my defense. You clear my name. Show them I'm innocent of these lies. Show them that I am righteous in this matter.
[15:41] And who better to show that than you Lord. You are perfectly righteous in every way. And David's saying any righteousness in me comes from you.
[15:53] So answer me when I call. Vindicate me. That's exactly what David says in Psalm 35 verse 24. Vindicate me, O Lord my God, according to your righteousness.
[16:09] And let them not rejoice over me. So too should that be our cry. My righteousness, God. My righteous God. You be my defense.
[16:21] You prove my righteousness. You Lord vindicate me. You set the record straight. So I'm entrusting myself to you. That's the first truth that helps us sleep well at night.
[16:35] God is righteous. Here's the second truth. And it's really right on the heels of the first. We see it again here in verse 1. It is that God gives us relief from our distress.
[16:48] God gives us relief from our distress. Now we see in verse 1 here that David is sure of that. David is confident. Not just that God will hear his cries and that he will answer.
[17:00] But that the answer will be deliverance. God will save David from his enemies. God will give relief to David. Now that verb there that gets translated into English as to give relief.
[17:17] More woodenly, it could simply be said to enlarge. The idea there being that you've widened what was a narrow, tight space.
[17:29] David is saying in a tight place, you Lord made it broad for me. You made it broad. It's stressful. It's stressful. Getting stuck in something.
[17:41] I haven't been stuck in anything in recent memory, but it happens every once in a while with my kids. Maybe playing in the basement, wrestling around, jumping on cushions, happy as can be, until they get stuck in something.
[17:55] Maybe they fall between a piece of furniture and the wall. And then how quickly those happy cries become these panic-stricken calls for help. Just these blood-curdling cries.
[18:09] Until they get released. And then almost immediately, all is well again. They weren't hurt when they were stuck in that narrow place. They were just fearful of never getting out.
[18:20] What if my family forgets about me and they sell the house and I'm stuck in this basement forever? So what relief there is when mom comes down those stairs and pulls me out from behind that couch?
[18:34] That's the kind of mental picture that David is painting for us here in Psalm 4. He's in distress. He's like someone who's stuck in a tight place. But he is confident that God can enlarge that tight place.
[18:49] He can make it broad and give David relief. Now God has done that for David before. We see that in verse 1. David says, You have given me relief when I was in distress.
[19:03] And again, that verb translated, you have given relief. It's communicating a past completed action. And there's causation involved in it.
[19:14] It's not just that David is saying, I have experienced relief. He's saying, somebody brought me the relief. Somebody gave me the relief. You, Lord, caused me to experience that relief.
[19:27] You've given it to me once before. So David is saying, I've been stuck between a rock and a hard place. And yet, Lord, many times, you've delivered me.
[19:39] My enemies all around me, rising up against me, saying there's no salvation in God for him. And yet, Lord, you've saved me. You made the tight place to be broad again. You gave me relief.
[19:50] So he's confident once more. You can enlarge this tight space again. And we should have that same confidence. The God who is righteous. The God who vindicates his people.
[20:03] He gives us relief in our distress. Sometimes he takes away the cause of the distress entirely, as he did for David. Absalom, his son, the leader of that great revolt, he was killed in battle.
[20:19] And David was returned once more to the throne. The threat was removed. The cause of distress, it was taken away. And of course, sometimes God does that for us, but not always.
[20:34] The Apostle Paul is an example of that for us. He had that distress in his life that he called the thorn in his side. We can't be sure exactly of what that was.
[20:45] It was some kind of affliction. And God didn't take it away. God didn't remove whatever this was. But he sustained Paul. He said to Paul, My grace is sufficient for you.
[21:01] And there was what? There was relief for Paul in that sustaining grace. Even as he faced many other afflictions that we know of, that Paul talked about. This is what he said.
[21:12] For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
[21:26] Weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, calamities. They remained a constant reality in Paul's life. He didn't get relief from them, as he might have naturally liked.
[21:38] But what did he say? He was content. He was content in spirit. He had that kind of relief. And so, we can too.
[21:51] As we call out to God like David, Give me relief from my distress. Be merciful to me. And hear my prayer. We know that God does hear us.
[22:02] We know that God is merciful to us. And we know that God does hear our prayers. How can we be sure of that? If we don't have answers that are in the yes to those questions, we won't sleep well at night.
[22:18] So how can we be sure the answers to those questions are yes? Well, it's because of truth number three. God sets us apart for Himself. Look at verse 2.
[22:30] O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame? How long will you love vain words and seek after lies?
[22:42] Selah. But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for Himself. The Lord hears when I call to Him. David is making distinctions here.
[22:55] He's separating out two groups. The ungodly and the godly. When he says, O men, he's talking to the ungodly. Those who are seeking His life.
[23:08] Those who are turning His honor into shame. That's what happened to David. Honor turned to shame. As he fled Jerusalem during Absalom's revolt, Shimei, that relative of Saul, what did he do?
[23:23] He came out of his house and he cursed David. And he threw stones at David. He flung dust at him. It was just this public, pronounced, overt shaming of David.
[23:38] It's ungodly men like Shimei that David is talking to here. O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame? He's talking to those who are against Him.
[23:49] And even more importantly, those who are against God. We see that in the very next line of Psalm 4. How long will you love vain words and seek after lies?
[24:02] These men love and seek things that God tells us to hate and run from. So they love the very things that God hates.
[24:13] They seek the very things that God is repulsed by. So they oppose not just David, but God. They love vain words. They seek lies. Maybe your translation says, they love delusions and seek false gods.
[24:30] The common thread in all of that is that David's enemies are living according to what is false. Their lives are not grounded in reality.
[24:41] And that reality is to be in submission to God and His ways. They're not acknowledging, I live in God's world and I must bow to Him. I must kiss the sun as we saw in Psalm 2.
[24:54] Instead, they speak lies. They worship dead idols. They suppress the truth about God and about themselves. They are living in a fantasy world of their own making.
[25:07] Disregarding God and living in disobedience to Him. David speaks in even more detail of these kinds of ungodly people in Psalm 36.
[25:19] There he says this, Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart. There is no fear of God before his eyes. For he flatters himself in his own eyes.
[25:30] That his iniquity cannot be found out and hated. The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit. He has ceased to act wisely and do good. God's enemies love vain words.
[25:43] They seek after lies. They live a delusion. They think they can love their sin and experience no consequences for it. And they seek after false gods.
[25:55] Dead idols who can't hear them. Dead idols who may have ears that are carved onto their statues, but those ears can't hear a thing.
[26:07] As Isaiah 46.7 says, If one cries to it, it does not answer or save him out of his trouble. David here in Psalm 4 is making a clear distinction between the ungodly who love delusions, who cry out in prayer to what can't hear them and what can't help them, and the godly who love what is true and who cry out to the one who does hear them and can help them.
[26:38] He hears and he helps those that he has set apart to himself. That's what David says here in verse 3. He's saying, The Lord will hear when I call because the Lord has set the godly apart for himself.
[26:54] Now David is telling us something that we see true throughout God's word. God sets apart those who are special to him, those that he cherishes, those that he loves.
[27:07] And it's not because they've earned his love. It's not because they've done something to make themselves lovely to God. It's because he simply set his love on them.
[27:19] Out of his good pleasure, he loves those that he loves. Really, you could think of it like this. Who God sets apart is who God has set his love on.
[27:34] God often says that in talking about Israel as a nation, that he set his love on them. And when he talks about setting his love on them, it's never because they've earned it.
[27:47] In fact, it's often quite the opposite. They've sinned against him. They've rebelled against him. And in spite of that, he's saying, I set my love on you. Like in Deuteronomy 10, God says to Israel, beginning in verse 14, Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it.
[28:12] Kids, that is just a long way of saying everything belongs to God. Everything in all of creation up to the highest of heavens belongs to God.
[28:24] Verse 15, Yet, the Lord set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day.
[28:39] Wow! God chose Israel. Out of all the nations of the earth, out of every nation that God has made to rise and to fall, he's saying, I chose you, Israel.
[28:51] I set you apart for myself, Israel. I set my heart in love on you. Now the people of Israel might have begun to swell with pride, thinking, Wow!
[29:05] We're really something. God's setting his love on us. Nobody else. Us. But then listen to verse 16. The very next words that we hear. Circumcise, therefore, the foreskin of your heart and be no longer stubborn.
[29:23] He's saying, Cut away your sin. Stop being stubborn and rebellious. So yes, God set his love on Israel and God set Israel apart for himself and yet it wasn't because Israel was deserving of that love.
[29:41] And the same is true for us who are in Christ. We too, undeserving as we were, enemies of God, that we were and yet what does Romans 5, 8 remind us?
[29:55] But God shows his love for us in that while, that's such an important word, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
[30:08] How many times have we heard that verse and yet it should never grow old? While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
[30:20] And this was a demonstration of God's love for us. It's how God showed his love for us, sinners that we were, Christ died for us.
[30:31] That's what makes God's love so remarkable, so supernatural. He loved us though we were rebel sinners. God didn't love us because we had loved him.
[30:43] God didn't love us because we earned it. God loved us so that then we would love him. If you are in Christ this morning, it is because God first loved you.
[30:57] God has indeed set you apart for himself. You are his treasured possession. You are his beloved son or daughter. There are such sweet promises given to you in his word.
[31:11] Promises that say you belong to me. You are dear to me. You are beloved by me. And so what's the result? You have my ear when you call.
[31:24] Now promises, those are assurances that something is true. That something will happen. That someone will do something. There are so many promises in God's word.
[31:39] Sometimes though we can still miss them because sometimes they're not spelled out like with a flashing neon sign that says God's promise right here. Maybe Psalm 4 we might skip over because we are given an assurance that something is true.
[31:57] What does David say in verse 3? No. Know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself. That is as good as a promise because God's word says it.
[32:10] God can't lie. So when God says know this, know it, we can. We can know it. It is categorically true. God has set apart the godly for himself.
[32:25] It's not a possibility. We don't need to talk in percentages about the likelihood of God doing this. David doesn't say perhaps God will set apart the godly.
[32:37] He doesn't say maybe this will happen. He just says know this. It's a fact. And so just you can be just as sure that God will hear when you call.
[32:52] Not that he might hear. Not that he will hopefully hear. He will. It's as good as done. So you and I can sleep well at night when we remember that we belong to God.
[33:06] We are dear to God. And not because we came to him worthy of his love but because he set his love on us. Not because we set ourselves apart and made ourselves to stand out to him.
[33:20] Kids, you've been to the Pottawatomie Zoo before with that peacock who likes to wander around the zoo and every once in a while it fans out its feathers and it's like wow that's amazing and people are drawn to that peacock.
[33:32] I want to go see that peacock in all of its beauty. That wasn't us. We didn't fan out our feathers and God said whoa got to go to that peacock of a person. Got to see the beauty in that person.
[33:45] No, wretched filthy sinners covered in mud with our sin. God said I'm setting my love on that person and then in God's grace he is at work cleaning us up making us to look more and more like his son making us beautiful.
[34:04] We belong to God. He has indeed set his love on us. We just sang even that song. Our sins though they are many yet what?
[34:18] His mercy is more. God is merciful to us just like we see here in David's mouth from Psalm 4. He continues to forgive us. He continues to hear us because he has set apart the godly for himself and nothing can separate us from him.
[34:37] God says you're mine. That's the third truth that helps us sleep well at night. God has set apart the godly for himself. Let's look now at the fourth and the final truth.
[34:48] God puts joy in our hearts. God puts joy in our hearts. Verse 4 Be angry and do not sin. Ponder in your own hearts on your beds and be silent.
[35:03] Selah. 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.
[35:15] 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.
[35:30] So these verses here the rest of the psalm centers in on this question. The many raise the question who will show us some good?
[35:43] I think these are most likely people in David's camp. Those who have remained loyal to David. They fled with him from Absalom.
[35:54] They're discouraged. They're despairing. They're tired and hungry and they're worn out. They're living in tents and their king is not on his throne.
[36:06] So they're saying who will show us some good? Now some translations like the ESV include the next line in verse 6 as part of their cry.
[36:18] It's included in the quote of the many. They ask the question and then the way it's translated in the ESV it's as though they're turning to God and saying lift up the light of your face upon us O Lord.
[36:31] But I think it's most likely as the NIV translates this that the second line of verse 6 we're actually hearing David's reply. This is David's response to the question.
[36:44] So the discouraged are saying how good we had it when David was ruling on the throne but now all hope is lost. Who will show us some good?
[36:55] Who will shower us with blessing again? Who will make us to be successful and prosperous again? Can't you just see the people in the camp? They're sad.
[37:06] They're troubled. They're muttering to each other. Perhaps questioning God. They're fearful. They're uncertain of the future. There's just this dark cloud of depression that's settled on the camp.
[37:21] And yet here's David and he gives this rallying cry. It's a prayer. I think he's praying this for them to hear. Lift up the light of your face upon us O Lord.
[37:33] In other words show them Lord. Show them what is truly good. Show them who is truly good. David's saying I have the answer to your question.
[37:46] Lord show them what is good by showing them yourself. They're looking for goodness in all sorts of other places. They're looking for it in their wine and their new grain.
[37:58] They can't find it there. Not in a deep and lasting way. Lord it's found in you so show them yourself. Lift up the light of your face.
[38:09] David is drawing these words from a very familiar blessing. One that those discouraged faithful Israelites in his camp would have known and loved.
[38:20] They would have memorized it likely. Heard it. Recite it often. It's from Numbers chapter 6. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
[38:33] The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. David is saying I know that peace. I have that peace.
[38:44] I may not have the grain and the new wine right now but I still have something even better. I have God's favor shining on me. That tops anything else.
[38:55] More joy to be found in him than anywhere else. These people were discouraged. They were despairing. They were angry even.
[39:06] We see that in verse 4. David says don't sin in your anger. Don't turn from God in your anger or doubt him and his goodness. No, continue to live in obedience to him.
[39:19] Offer right sacrifices. Trust in the Lord. David's saying these circumstances may be bleak but God's face shines upon you.
[39:30] He's filled our hearts with joy. So don't turn from him. Trust in him. So come what may David is going to rest his head on his pillow that night camped by the Jordan and he's going to smile in that darkness because he remembers God's face is shining upon you.
[39:56] Christian, God's face shines on you. God's face smiles upon you. His face is toward you because his face was turned away from his son.
[40:13] The face that should have been hidden from us, the face that should have been against us, it was hidden from his son. It was set against his own son.
[40:26] Jesus Christ endured the suffering, the darkness of his father's face turned away from him. He took that awful punishment that we deserved, the punishment for our sins, so that we could know the joy of God's face shining upon us.
[40:46] And it's shining upon us for this life and into all of eternity. There is never-ending favor from God and that produces never-ending joy welling up from us.
[41:03] We have this joy now because our souls are secure. We know that we have no fear of destruction because we belong to Jesus. We know we have no fear even of death because we belong to Jesus.
[41:19] And so we can say with David that we dwell in safety. You see David says that there. He says, you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.
[41:33] David is acknowledging the fact that he could put up the best defenses. David could be as prepared as possible for his enemies and yet it is God alone.
[41:47] It is only God who keeps him safe. And to this point God has. God has kept him safe. But there are times in this life when God does not keep his people safe.
[42:00] Followers of Jesus have suffered and died for their faith. It is God alone who is able to keep us safe, but it's not always God's will to keep his people safe.
[42:13] There is no guarantee of safety in this life, but there is guarantee of safety in the next. There is safety in all of eternity. So maybe we don't have David's enemies pursuing us as David did.
[42:29] Maybe we don't have physical men out for our lives, but the enemy of death we all must face. Unless the Lord returns, you and I will not be kept safe from death.
[42:45] And yet, for us who are in Christ, we will be kept safe even through death. God will deliver us through death to himself.
[42:56] What does Paul say in 1 Corinthians? Death has lost its sting. Death has lost its punch. It's been swallowed up in victory. So in Christ, we have no fear of the grave.
[43:10] It is simply the entrance into an eternity of living in the light of God's face. So we can be like David tonight. We can rest our head on our pillow.
[43:22] we can smile in the darkness because we know God's face shines upon us. God is for us. So do you know that peace and that contentment and that joy this morning of God's face turned towards you and shining on you?
[43:43] Only those who have turned from their sins and trusted in Jesus Christ can know that joy. So if you haven't trusted in Christ, if you are still outside of Christ this morning, going your own way, living your life however you please, God's face is still turned away from you.
[44:03] His wrath still hangs over you. You will find no good apart from Him. You won't find it in anything that this world has to offer. Apart from Jesus, your end is only destruction.
[44:18] destruction. You shouldn't sleep well tonight because you do not dwell in safety. You aren't guaranteed another day.
[44:29] You aren't guaranteed another morning in this life. Death comes to us all. But those who look to Jesus and trust in Him, they enjoy life forever.
[44:44] So look to Jesus this morning and live. you will find more joy in your heart than anyone could have in anything else in this life. And that joy will spill over into all of eternity.
[44:58] So look to Jesus and live forever. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, You have sent Your Son into this world to bear the burden that we deserve to go to the cross, to die upon the cross for the sins of Your people.
[45:22] Father, thank You that He endured all of the cross, all of Your wrath for sins so that we might have life, so that we might know the joy of living in Your presence forever with Your face shining upon us, with Your name stamped upon our foreheads, as Revelation 22 says, that we might reign with You forever and ever.
[45:47] We do have more joy than any who have new grain, wine, any other good things in life to enjoy, those pale in comparison to You.
[45:59] Father, we pray this morning You would fill our hearts with that joy, You would remind us of what is true of You and Your love for us. And we pray, Father, for those who are far from You, going their own way, that You would turn their hearts towards You, having shown Yourself to have set Your love upon them, that they might trust in Christ, find life in Him.
[46:23] Father, You are good, You do what is good, and we entrust ourselves to You. And it's in Christ's name that we pray. Amen.