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Evening Prayer for Help
Psalm 4
Good News Translation (GNT)
"Hebrew Title:
A psalm by David
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1 Answer me when I pray, O God, my defender!
When I was in trouble, you helped me.
Be kind to me now and hear my prayer.
2 How long will you people insult me?
How long will you love what is worthless
and go after what is false?
3 Remember that the Lord has chosen the
righteous for his own, and he hears me when
I call to him.
4 Tremble with fear and stop sinning; think
deeply about this, when you lie in
silence on your beds.
5 Offer the right sacrifices to the Lord,
6 There are many who pray: Give us more
blessings, O Lord. Look on us with kindness!"
7 But the joy that you have given me is more
than they will ever have with all their grain
and wine.
8 When I lie down, I go to sleep in peace;
you alone, O Lord, keep me perfectly safe.
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Taken from 'word-on-the-web' supplied by the
Scripture Union
Evening Prayer for Help
Psalm 4
This is a psalm about finding
inward peace when it could
easily be snatched away.
The background is probably
the same as in Psalm 3,
that of Absalom's betrayal.
As night draws in,
the psalmist has much to brood about -
his humiliation at the hand of his son,
being unable to rely on those around him
because of their deceit
and deluded thinking.
Being immersed in circumstances
that make him angry,
and a general gloom that
over-shadowed everything.
Disappointment and betrayal dog
his footsteps, and lying before him
is the threat of a very uncertain future.
The feelings here are common to us all.
One of the enduring attractions of the
psalms is their expression of our
common humanity in a way that is
relevant whatever age
the readers live in.
They are about the stuff of life,
and because of that their words
can bring both challenge and
extraordinary hope.
Opposite extremes of emotion,
of distress and anger and
great joy, are described.
The psalmist tells it like it is,
with no attempt to hide how he feels or
indeed to deny how others are behaving.
He lives in the real world.
The emotions are raw,
and the struggle to possess
trusting faith demanding.
There is engagement here
with his inner self,
the issues around him,
and with God in the light of all this.
His exhortation not to sin in the midst
of being angry is echoed by Paul
in the New Testament (Ephesians 4:26)
and along with the rest of this psalm
stands in direct contrast
to our often tidy and moderately
toned expressions of faith.
How honest are we with ourselves,
others, and
God about our struggles?
Are we responsible for fostering a
church culture that is more about
respectability than authenticity?
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