Gladness In My Heart – Psalm 4:7

“You have put gladness in my heart, more than in the season that their grain and wine increased.”

While we are not given the specific circumstances under which David penned this Psalm, we know that it was a time of distress.  It was a time when those around him were opposed to God and opposed to David’s government (and therefore God’s government).  They loved worthlessness and sought falsehood over truth.  Basically, it is a state of civilization which we can relate to today.  We are living in times which we can cry out to God and ask Him, as David did, to “have mercy on me, and hear my prayer.” (Psalm 4:1)  “All the notice God is pleased to take of our prayers, and all the returns he is pleased to make to them, must be ascribed, not to our merit, but purely to his mercy.  “Hear me for thy mercy-sake’’ is our best plea.”  (Matthew Henry)

At the beginning of David’s prayer, he recalls that God has relieved him in his distress before.  It is a good habit to recall how God has comforted us in the past.  It reminds us of how He will comfort us in our current situation.  Throughout the Psalms, we see King David cry out to God in his distress, remind himself and God of His former mercies, provision and protection, and rest in the peace of knowing he is set apart for God.  The apostle Paul is consistent with King David’s methods when he instructs us to bring everything to God.  “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”  (Philippians 4:6-7)

Both King David and the apostle Paul describe one of the mysterious gifts from God to His children.  It is the mystery of the joy and gladness in the heart of a person at peace with God that can exist regardless of circumstances.  The gladness we can have in our heart is so powerful and so complete, that even in a time of distress, it is more fulfilling than the all the happiness that a bountiful harvest can provide to an enemy of God.  In others words, the gladness in our heart on our worst day is more than the gladness in the heart of an unsaved person on their best day.  I often thought this concept is something only a child of God who has traversed difficult times is able to comprehend.  Yet, if we consider the rate of drug use and self-medication among those who appear to “have it all,” the facts prove out this scriptural truth. 

But it is on us, the children of God, that this mysterious joy rests.  “Thou hast hereby often put gladness into my heart; not only supported and refreshed me, but filled me with joy unspeakable; and therefore this is what I will still pursue, what I will seek after all the days of my life. When God puts grace in the heart he puts gladness in the heart; nor is any joy comparable to that which gracious souls have in the communications of the divine favour, no, not the joy of harvest, of a plentiful harvest, when the corn and wine increase. This is gladness in the heart, inward, solid, substantial joy.  The saints have no reason to envy carnal worldlings their mirth and joy, but should pity them rather, for they may know better and will not.  The mirth of worldly people is but a flash, a shadow.”  (Matthew Henry)  “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.  Even in laughter the heart may sorrow, and the end of mirth may be grief.”  (Proverbs 14:12-13)

True peace, true joy, is a gift from God to His children.  Do you long for this joy the world cannot give?  Surrender to Jesus and trust Him for eternal life and peace in your life on this earth.  Jesus said “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”  (John 14:27)

May you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and may the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

I Lay Down and Slept – Psalm 3:5

“I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the LORD sustained me.”

Sleep to me is a marvelous mystery.  A body demands sleep.  We are so refreshed when we get it.  Conversely, our body and mind do not function well when we lack sleep.  The older we get, the more we appreciate a good nap!  But sleep does not always come to those who desperately need it.  People find that if there is trouble in their life, when the mind is twisted up in worry, sleep can be illusive.

King David wrote this Psalm at a time when there was great trouble in his life.  His son, Absalom, had run King David off the throne, out of his own city of Jerusalem, and turned many of the people against him, some of whom used to be trusted friends of King David.  The people said God was no longer helping David.  Absalom and his followers sought to kill King David.  This is some pretty serious trouble, physical and emotional.  Yet King David says ‘I lay down and slept.’  Could you?

After restoring his body and mind with sleep, King David tells us ‘I awoke.’  “Every time you lay down and fall asleep, you are enjoying a good gift of God. Every time you wake up, you are enjoying another good gift of God.  He sustains us, both waking and sleeping.”  (Charles Stanley)  Why could King David sleep?  Because he trusted God for whatever happened. 

“It seems here to be meant of the wonderful quietness and calmness of David’s spirit, in the midst of his dangers. Having by prayer committed himself and his cause to God, and being sure of his protection, his heart was fixed, and he was easy. The undutifulness of his son, the disloyalty of his subjects, the treachery of many of his friends, the hazard of his person, the fatigues of his march, and the uncertainty of the event, never deprived him of an hour’s sleep, nor gave any disturbance to his repose; for the Lord, by his grace and the consolations of his Spirit, powerfully sustained him and made him easy. It is a great mercy when we are in trouble to have our minds stayed upon God, so as never either to eat or sleep with trembling and astonishment.”  (Matthew Henry)

Are you not sleeping because of troubles in your life?  Cry out to God.  David was driven out of the place of his prayer closet, driven out of where he worshipped God, but he could still draw near to God as he fled from his enemies.  It is not a matter of if you have troubles in your life.  As a child of God, it is a matter of when.  The world is in such an uproar.  There is great hatred and anger among peoples and nations.  People are killed because they will not deny Christ.  The only way we shall overcome our fears is to petition God and then trust Him with whatever may come.  

God was David’s constant companion.  “I cried to the LORD with my voice, and He heard me from His holy hill.  Selah”  (Psalm 3:4)  Then David slept and awoke because the LORD sustained him.  When he awoke, David no longer had fear.  “I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.”  (Psalm 3:6)  It is only through the power of the Holy Spirit that we can trust God no matter what the circumstances.  If our circumstances are not due to our own sin – our own doing – then God has His reasons for our circumstances, and we may never understand why.  But we must still trust him like Job: “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” (Job 13:15a)  When others are out to get us, we must trust God like Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego: “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”  (Daniel 3:17-18)  When we trust God, He is glorified.  As a child of God, this should be our goal.

In the next Psalm, David reminds us again of the reason for his comforting rest, “I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; for You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.”  (Psalm 4:8)  So cry out to our God, trust Him, and sleep well, brothers and sisters.  For there is no one greater than our God!

May you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.