Psalm 04

Updated
2001-05-26; 14:33:36utc

There is no caption above this psalm, as with the previous one, that would indicate to us what David's circumstances were when he wrote this. It is clear, however, that David was between a rock and a hard place when he wrote this poem. The words "distress" and "shame" point in the direction of physical and emotional stress.

Most commentators suppose that the psalms 3 and 4 were written at the same occasion, that is David's flight from Absalom. There were many other occasions in David's life, though, in which he experienced distress; any of these occasions could serve as the background for this psalm. It is difficult to reconstruct such circumstances after thirty centuries, without a caption. We can only say that we do not know.

The subject of vs. 1 is an answer to prayer. David calls God: "my righteous God," or, as the KJV renders it: "God of my righteousness." The Good News Bible translates it with: "God, my defender." That is a beautiful title. David recognizes God as the source of his righteousness. That is sound New Testament theology! He knows that the source of his righteousness is outside himself and that he cannot boast about anything within himself. This is his defense. TLB gives the interesting paraphrase: "O God, you have declared me perfect in your eyes …" It is the imputed righteousness, resulting from the death of Jesus Christ on the cross of Golgotha that is the basis of our prayers and of God's answer. David did not know the facts of salvation as we know them, but the Holy Spirit gave him the intuitive understanding as to how the relationship with God worked. In his appeal to his righteousness, he actually appealed to what God has done for him. This brought him to the understanding that, if God performed this overwhelming miracle of his justification, His meeting David's lesser needs would be child's play. This is an Old Testament paraphrase of what Paul would later say: "If God is for us, who can be against us? … Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns?"^¹

The word "distress" is the translation of the Hebrew tsar. It means a narrow, tight place, or a condition of being crowded upon. It evokes the image of a person who has trouble breathing because something or somebody presses upon him. We are surrounded by enough oxygen for the whole creation to breathe, but sometimes there are outward or inward conditions that prevent normal breathing. David was subject to both kinds of limitations: his own iniquity made it hard to breathe and so did the people who tried to rob him of his honor and dignity. If we were always inwardly perfect and balanced, the criticism of others would not affect us. Jesus describes the suffering of hell as a place "where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched."² The fire is outside, but the worm is inside. Suffering comes from both sides.

David was on the right track by, first of all, trying to solve the problem of his own iniquity by appealing to God's righteousness, and then by praying for deliverance from the outside pressure. God's righteousness will deny the devil access to His children's lives.

Answer to prayer is related to the measure of our faith. It is easier for us to exercise faith if we can fall back upon previous answers to prayer. At the end of the psalm, David indicated that God had previously delivered him from oppression. A man who has experienced God's intervention in his life, knows that life with Him is a wonderful life.

In vs. 1 David addressed God directly; in verses 2-5 he moralized, in the positive sense of the word, those people who criticized him. He defends himself against them by accusing them of three things: 1. they turn his glory into shame, 2. they love delusion and, 3. they seek false gods. The last phrase is translated by the NAS as: "aim at deception." The Hebrew word is kazab, which Strong defines as: "falsehood; literally (untruth) or figuratively (idol)." Every person is honorable inasmuch as he is a bearer of the image of his Creator. Hatred and contempt for our fellowmen are always indications of a worsening relationship with God. One recognizes the image of the Creator only in those who know the Creator.

Speaking about turning his glory into shame, David may have aimed at more than his humanity; he may also have his royal unction in mind. The Holy Spirit elevates our dignity. Jesus accused the Jews of His day that they dishonored Him. When they call Him "a Samaritan and demon-possessed," He answers them: "I am not possessed by a demon, but I honor my Father and you dishonor me. I am not seeking glory for myself; but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge."³ God seeks our honor, as Jesus also said at a later point: "My Father will honor the one who serves Me."⁴ Evidently, David was aware of these truths. Sin produces shame, but fellowship with God results in honor for us. That is why those who know God will also honor their fellowmen. The question: "How long will you love delusions?" is rendered by the KJV as: "How long will ye love vanity? The writer of Ecclesiastes gives us a extended commentary on this inquiry. The viewpoint of Ecclesiastes is a philosophy that does not take God into account. The conclusion the writer draws is that this leads to a life that is bereft of sense and meaning. The people whom David addresses have not drawn this conclusion yet. They love vanity and are drawn to nihilism. A nihilist who despairs of life is, actually, a better man than he who loves delusions. The intuitive feeling that things ought to have meaning is part of the divine truth. People who enjoy vanity have fallen deeply.

To seek false gods, or to aim at deception, is another result of the broken fellowship with God. A lie is that which is not true, not real. Reality belongs to God. As Paul says: "the reality, however, is found in Christ."⁵ A person who aims at deception has lost touch with reality. The chase is in vain because one cannot catch what is not real.

Somewhere, behind this warning to people who make life difficult for David, was his compassion for his neighbor. David did not speak here against the evil powers that manipulate man, but he addressed the person. The love of Christ compelled him, and there is the hope of conversion of these people. He pled with them not to sin, to search their hearts and quiet themselves before the Lord, to put their trust in the Lord and in the substitutionary sacrifice.

Undoubtedly, David spoke about himself when he said: "Know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself; the LORD will hear when I call to him." But the Holy Spirit also gives testimony here about our Lord Jesus Christ, the Man in whom God was well pleased and of whom David was an image. We may only consider ourselves set apart for God inasmuch as we have partaken in the reconciliation for which Christ provides. God hears us when we call to Him, not for our sake, but for the sake of Christ.

"In your anger do not sin," is translated in the KJV: "Stand in awe, and sin not." The Hebrew word ragaz literally means "to quiver (with any violent emotion, especially anger or fear)," according to Strong's definition. An overwhelming feeling of awe is the natural reaction of a person who finds himself in the presence of God. The people David addresses in this psalm had lost their sense of reality. It was because of David's understanding of who God is and his awareness of God's presence that David stood head and shoulders above his contemporaries. What could be said about Saul in a physical sense was true about David in the real sense of the word.

David gave a six-fold advice to his opponents:

1. They should stand in awe before God.

2. They should not sin.