Well, take your Bibles this evening and turn with me to Psalm 4, the book of Psalm number 4. And as you're turning there, let me just do a quick review. I'm hoping that as we go through the Psalms, something of its theme, something of the particular topics that we are talking about will stick at the forefront of your mind. So let's just do a brief review. It's not in my notes. Psalm 1. Think about it. When you hear Psalm 1, what comes to your mind? What's the theme? What are the truths or the principles found therein? Well, Psalm 1, if you'll remember, is a comparing and a contrasting between the way of the righteous and the way of the ungodly. Remember, blessed. is the man who meditates in the law of the Lord day and night. That's the blessed man. The blessed man is the man who knows the Lord. The blessed man is the man who is fearing the Lord. The blessed man is a man who is rooted in the truths of Scripture. But, here's the contrast, the ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. So Psalm 1, what is its theme? What is its focus? comparing and contrasting the two kinds of people that are in this world. What are the two kinds of people? Not rich and poor, not male and female, not educated or uneducated, not southerners and northerners. What are they? Those who know Christ and those who do not. Those who are in the beloved and those who are outside of Christ. That's the only thing that matters in eternity. Doesn't matter anything else, except are you in Christ or outside of Christ? So we have a comparing and contrasting two types of people. in this world, those who are walking on the straight and narrow, and those who are on the broad path, okay? Psalm 1, you've got that stuck in your head now, think of a tree. There's the illustration too, Psalm 1, tree planted by the rivers of water, the blessed man, that's your illustration, that's your analogy, stick with that. Psalm 2, what's it all about? Can you remember without looking down at your Bible? You're cheating now. Some of you are looking down. Psalm 2, all right? I'm trying to help us. I'm doing this for myself too. Psalm 2, and I'm trying to give it to you in helpful titles. Psalm 1, we have two kinds of people. Psalm 2, remember this, the two kingdoms. All right? Comparing and contrasting the two kingdoms. What are the kingdoms? There's the kingdom of God, and the kingdom of men. Remember, Psalm 2, why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing? That's the kingdom of men in this world, the ungodly are raging against God. They think that they are in control and they are living in such a way that exemplifies that They have ultimate power, right? We see that in this world. The heathen are raging, not just rulers, but men, those who are outside of Christ. They think that they are their own authority. They're going astray as rebellious wolves kicking against the commandments of the Lord. Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing? So the question is articulated. And in that Psalm 2 we see that he who sits in the heavens shall laugh, laugh. God who is sovereign over all, God who is the creator and sustainer of all things, God who holds the hearts of kings in His hands, turns it, whithersoever He will. He is God, He is the potter, we are the clay. God laughs when He sees men trying to act as if they are in control. So there's the kingdom of men and the kingdom of God. Which one's greater? The kingdom of God is greater. God is infinite, men are finite. And then at the end of that Psalm, remember, we can come into the kingdom of God from the kingdom of men through King Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords. At the end of Psalm 2, there's an invitation, kiss the sun, right? Kiss the Son, come to Him, serve the Lord with fear, rejoice with trembling. Blessed are they that put their trust in Him. There's the prophetic promise. There's the invitation to look to the king of kings and lord of lords. That's what we just sang about in this Christmas song. He's the king, the babe in the manger. So how are we translated from the kingdom of earth, the kingdom of men, to the kingdom of God? Through the kingdom of God's dear son. He's the prince of peace. All right, Psalm 1, what is it? Two kinds of people. Psalm 2, two kingdoms. Psalm 3, Alright, Psalm 3, remember the title. David is running away from his son Absalom. What does Absalom want to do? Why is he running? He wants to take David's throne. What a condition to be in. Your own flesh and blood against you. Your own flesh and blood rallying thousands and tens and thousands to kill you. All right, so the title I gave last week's lesson was Trusting in God During Times of Trouble. David is in trouble. David is running for his life. He sees the reality as it is. Men by the multitudes are against him, but then he cries out unto the Lord for help. Here's the reality, many are against me, O Lord, but you, Lord, are my strength, you, Lord, are my shield, you, Lord, are my protector, and I will not fear what man can do unto me. As I look to you, I'm resting in the fact that you will take care of my situation. He's exercising faith. All right, he's not allowing his circumstances to undermine his faith in God, trusting in God during times of trouble. Again, that's a prophetic psalm. Many were against Christ. Many spoke against his faith in the Lord. Many said that there's no help of him in God. And yet Christ died for our sins, and he was victorious over those circumstances, okay? So that's just a quick review. I promise when we go to Psalm 150, we won't review all the Psalms, okay? So, but I do want you to try to get a sense so that when somebody says turn to Psalm 1, turn to Psalm 3, turn to, you'll have some sort of working, understanding of it, okay? This is what I want of our church. If there's one thing that I desire as a pastor and preacher, it's for you to know your Bibles better. If you know your Bibles better, then you will come to know God more, all right? So I feel like that's my main responsibility as a preacher, to feed the flock so that you will feast on the treasures of God's word, so that you will leave here saying, I've never seen that before, that was great, I want more, and you go home into your private study, your personal time with the Lord, and you just continue to feast on these wonderful truths. So seek to retain information. We're not just pleased with reading it and studying it. We want to retain it. We want to know it for our own satisfaction, our own salvation, and our own sanctification. All right, so you should be in Psalm 4. Looking to the whole of Psalm 4 in the time that we have together tonight, I want to speak to you about finding peace and joy in the Lord. Finding peace and joy in the Lord. Working our way slowly through this psalm, let me begin by highlighting the three natural divisions we find in this psalm. Beginning in verse one, we read of David's petitioning of God. David's petitioning of God. And he says here, hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness. Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress. Have mercy upon me. and hear my prayer. And it seems by what we read in this first verse that David is in a stressful situation that requires immediate help from the Lord. Now some commentators are of the opinion that the circumstances of Psalm 3, namely David's fleeing from his son Absalom, are the circumstances of Psalm 4, but I am always curious how they come up with that conclusion because there's nothing in the title or text of the psalm that supports that this is so. Certainly it could be. But it's difficult to know for sure. But one thing that we do know is that whatever the circumstances in David's life were, at the time that he pens this psalm, the tone of his words here show that he is in desperate need of God's help. Notice it, the words of verse one demonstrate to us that David is not comfortably sitting in a lazy boy recliner next to his warm fireplace at home, praying little nice prayers to God on his prayer list while he sips his hot coffee. No, the text tells us that he is calling out to God. He is zealously begging God to give him favor and answer his heartfelt cries for help. Do you see that? David is in trouble, as he often is. David senses the reality of his weakness. He recognizes his personal insufficiency to endure the problem that he is in. So what does he do? The Bible says he calls or cries out unto the Lord from the depth of his soul. He quickly runs to the throne of grace, pouring out of his heart, pleading for God to help. And let me note here that this is what true prayer is. True prayer is not so much about the articulation of words as it is the affections of the heart. True prayer involves crying out to the Lord from our inmost being. David says, hear me, don't ignore me, Lord, help me. Lord, I'm crying out to you. Oh Lord, have mercy on me. I don't deserve your help, but Lord, I come to you not in my own worthiness, but in your mercy. Lord, please hear my prayer lest I fall by the way. So there is division number one in verse one. In verse one, we find David's petitioning to God. Looking to verses two through five, we have the second division of the psalm which contains David's questioning of men, David's questioning of men. Looking to verse two and verse six, it seems that the distress David is facing involves ungodly men who are mocking his faith in God. Notice verse two. O ye sons of men, Remember the kingdom of God and the kingdom of men, two kingdoms? Now he's pointing his finger at the kingdom of men, those who are raging against the Lord. O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? How long will ye love vanity and seek after leasing? That word leasing means falsehoods and lies. Selah. And then verse six, there be many Remember the many from Psalm 3? There were many against him. Well, they're still against him. There'll be many that say, who will show us any good? So having petitioned God for help in verse one, beginning in verse two, David begins to protest those around him who take delight in vain pursuits and acts of wickedness. And he does this by probing them with the two-word question, how long? How long are you going to live for nothing? How long are you going to chase after a bubble that is empty? How long are you going to set yourself against God and God's people? How long are you going to fabricate lies to suit your own sinful desires? Following his questioning in verse two, David begins declaring truth about what God does for his people and how God's people ought to respond toward God in the light of what God does for them. Notice it, verse three. But know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself. The Lord will hear when I call unto him. And it's almost as if David, after petitioning God for help, looks at his circumstances, speaks to his circumstances, questions the ungodly, and is preaching truth to them now, while also now turning to his own heart. No, you need to know, but I need to know, that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself. The Lord will hear. when I call unto him. And David here acknowledges God's unique care for his sheep. Remember, David was a shepherd. David knew what it is to care for the flock and the individual sheep. So now David is turning his attention to the good shepherd. the shepherd of all, the shepherd of the universe, the shepherd of God's children. And in theological terms, what David says here in verse three is the doctrine of election. In God's election, we find that God's people have a special access to God's ear. Notice, the Lord will hear when I call unto him. So the confidence of prayer rests in the relationship David has with God in Christ. The Bible tells us that the believer's prayer are answered according to God's will because of God's parental love for his children. That's the confidence that we have in prayer. We belong to the Lord, not because of anything that we are, not because of anything that we have done, but according to His grace, because of His blessed adoption in Christ, we belong to Him, therefore He will hear us when we call. The Lord hath set us apart for Himself. Why? Only because of grace. Why? Only because somehow it pleases him and it magnifies his goodness. But nevertheless, he does. Therefore, David is saying I'm turning to him in confidence and trusting in him even though my circumstances are sour. David goes on in verse four and says, stand in awe and sin not. Commune with your own heart upon your bed and be still, Selah. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness and put your trust in the Lord. And what practical and helpful reminders these words are for us when we find ourselves in trouble. Stand in awe of who God is. Do not become angry at your sour circumstances. Listen, that's the natural response. David has a human justification to be mad at those who are against him. You see, but he's now preaching to himself and saying, you need to stand in awe of who God is, and you need to tell your heart not to sin. Don't react toward their trouble against you. Vengeance is mine, I will repay, sayeth the Lord, so rest in Him. Don't sin, David. That's what the devil wants you to do. The devil would have you to chase back after them as they're chasing after you, but don't do it. Instead, commune with your own heart upon your bed. Search your heart in private and speak to it concerning the best and right way to live before the Lord. And what David is speaking of here is the practice of meditation that we considered in Psalm 1. The filling of the mind, the filling of the heart, the filling of the soul with truths about God. Commune, talk to, converse, dialogue with your own heart. You can't change the hearts of others. You're responsible for your heart. You commune with your own heart upon your bed when you're in private, when nobody else is around. It's just you and God. That's who you are. Commune with your own heart upon your bed. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness and put your trust in the Lord. We don't offer sacrifices as those did under the old covenant. But we do look to Christ our sacrifice and we do offer sacrifices of praise, sacrifices of thanksgiving from a pure heart. And we live continually by faith in the Lord. We put our trust in the Lord. So there's the second half of the psalm given in verses two through five. David begins by questioning the sinful ways of his enemies and then follows his questioning by assessing his own heart before the Lord. Finally, in verses six through eight, we find David's satisfaction in the Lord. David's satisfaction in the Lord. David says, there be many that say, who will show us any good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us. Verse seven, thou has put gladness in my heart. more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased. I will both lay me down in peace and sleep, for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety. Did you catch what David says in verses seven and eight? He says that in the midst of all of his troubles, his heart is glad and his soul is at peace. Now this is a remarkable statement. This proclamation is worthy of our attentive examination. David says that he is more happy in his distress than the ungodly are when they are most successful and prosperous in worldly things. David is saying that he has more joy than he should have in such circumstances that he is dealing with. David is saying that he has found a happiness which earthly things cannot produce or provide. David says, verse eight, similar to what he says in the middle of Psalm three, that he is going to lay his head down in peace and sleep, and he is going to sleep soundly, though his circumstances beat against him like a raging storm. And this is the point of our reading and the study of scripture, that we should be leaning into the text, saying to ourselves, how? How? How is this possible? How can this be? How is David able to respond in such a way? This should be the point where we become envious of David's response, saying, I want to be like David, It's at this point in reading the psalm that we should be seeking to find out David's secret for having such an abundant peace and joy when everything outside of him seems to be against him, all right? God has given us his word for instruction. God has given us David's example so that we might be helped by it. So is this David living on a cloud nine that we can never obtain? No. God has given us this psalm for our learning, for our example, for our admonition. Now let me ask, how many of you enjoy sleepless nights when trouble comes your way? You enjoy staying up all night, tossing like a hinge upon your bed? How many of you take pleasure in becoming anxious and full of fear and full of doubt, full of worry, full of despair? You enjoy that? That's your spiritual gift. You just have a strange satisfaction in becoming so bothered by the circumstances of life. Now let me ask, on the contrary, how many of you want to know true peace and joy in the midst of the hurricanes of life? I do. All right. So we need to seek out the answer. by noting the specific spiritual qualities of David mentioned in Psalm 4. If you want this joy, if you want this peace, you can have it. Well, how do we obtain it? Well, I'm glad you asked. I'm about to tell you. If you want a peace that passes all understanding at all times, if you want a joy that no man, no circumstance can take away, here's what you need. You need a genuine relationship with God. You need a genuine relationship with God through Christ. Notice, we find in this psalm that David was not some nominal Christian who treated God as a crutch to lean on during difficult circumstances. He was not in church on Sundays when everything was against him and then gone when everything seemed to be going for him. No, David was a true Christian who had an authentic and animated relationship with God. Notice verse one again. David says that God is not some God who is just out there. some God of history, some God of Abraham, some God of Moses. No, David says rather that God is the God, notice it, of his righteousness. His God is the God who answers his prayers, verse three. His God is the God who has put gladness in his heart. Not just the hearts of Christians, but his heart. Listen, this is the foundational source of true peace and joy. Peace and joy comes from knowing God in salvation. True happiness is not rooted in self. True happiness is not rooted in other men. True happiness is not rooted in circumstances or the things of this life. True happiness is found in Jesus and Jesus alone. Do you want to know true peace and joy in your life? If so, you must submit the keeping of your soul and your life to the Lord. You must be born again. When you're truly born again of the Spirit, the Bible confirms that you will know the fruit of the Spirit, which is what? Love, joy, peace. What are we talking about here? Psalm 4. We're talking about how to have joy and peace in the Lord during all times. You can have joy and peace in the Lord if you've been born again, if you have the Spirit of God indwelling within you. You see, David had a genuine relationship with the Lord. He wasn't a hypocrite. He didn't put on a mask. He wasn't pretending. It wasn't his mommy or daddy's religion. It was his own faith. He walked with the Lord as Enoch walked with the Lord. So there's component number one as to why he could have such a peace and joy in the Lord, because he knew the God of all peace. He knew the God that gives joy. All right, now component number two. How could David know such joy and peace in the Lord during the hurricanes of life. Number one, he was a genuine believer, but genuine believers are not perfect. Genuine believers have their struggles. They do fight with fears and doubts and struggles. They war against the flesh. They war against this world. They war against the devil. You do too? Okay, so again, search out the secret. And yet David says God's put joy in his heart more than the heathen. David's faith is firmly trusting in the Lord. I want that, can we have it? What's the component? Here it is. David did everything he could to preserve a pure, fervent, and intimate relationship with the Lord. David did everything he could to preserve a pure, fervent, and intimate relationship with the Lord. Translation, salvation is not a one and done act. And by that I mean, Philippians chapter one, he who began a good work in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ. There's a perseverance. There's a preservation that comes from the Lord. So just after we become a Christian, we don't just lounge around, sit back and hope for the best. No, there's a seeking after the Lord. Look at the psalm again and see David's passionate pursuit to live before the Lord with faith and a pure conscience before the Lord and think about what David is actively doing in the midst of his trouble. Verse one, what is he doing? He's praying. He's falling on his face before the Lord. He's running to the throne of grace. He's calling out to his Father. Notice also, verse one, he's recalling how the Lord has been merciful to him in the past. Oh Lord, I call unto you, have mercy upon me, help me, Lord. You've been there for me in times past, surely you'll be with me now. Also, he's reminding himself of God's fatherly care, verse three. God is not going to leave me nor forsake me. God has set apart those who are his for his own. He will hear my prayer when I cry. Notice David is pointedly preaching to himself beginning in verse four. He is striving to suppress the subtle responses of his flesh. We call that the mortification of sin as we read in Romans. He's endeavoring to pursue righteousness, to forsake sin. He's telling himself of his need to meditate on God. Philippians chapter four, to think on those things that are pure and just and holy. He's seeking to stir up his faith in God. He's acting upon that faith by resting in the Lord. Do you see that? David's faith is not passive. It's active. David is fighting the good fight of faith and actively laying hold on eternal life. David is exercising the God-given means through which he can be a conqueror over the devil's attacks. You see, David is not sitting around and doing nothing. He's not hoping that God will wave some magic wand over his head to make him joyful in the Lord. I'm just gonna spin in my office chair and wait on the Lord to give me joy and peace. 12 hours later, I'm more dizzy than I was when I started. That's not David. David is doing everything he knows to do to preserve a pure, fervent, and intimate relationship with the Lord. David is doing everything he can to keep the fire of his spiritual communion with God hot. How do you keep a fire going, men? You keep adding wood to the fire. And if you don't, it's going to go out. Same thing is with our spiritual life. How do we maintain a zealous relationship with the Lord? Keep adding wood to the fire. Sometimes you pour gas on it. Yeah? Listen, church, listen. If you will have true peace and true joy in the Lord as a Christian man, as a Christian woman, you must forsake sin and follow after righteousness. You must live in the spirit of prayer. Live in it. Pray without ceasing. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit. You must continually think upon God. Set your affections not on things on the earth, but things which are above. You want joy and peace in the Lord. Thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee. You become troubled, you listen to Fox News and CNN and MSNBC and whatever other platforms are out there, you become all shaken up. Don't dwell on that. Dwell on God. Dwell on his kingdom. Dwell on his promises, his blessings. You must ferociously confess and forsake your sin, commune with your own heart, and you must put your trust in the Lord, that's it. That's David's secret. Don't take my word for it, take God's word for it. Trace these qualities out, not just in the life of David, trace these qualities out in the life of Joseph. Trace them out in the life of Daniel, in the life of Paul, and those men and women throughout church history who had peace and joy in the Lord during the most trying times, and you will find that what I am telling you tonight is true. Do you want peace? Do you want joy in the Lord? You need to seek after it by seeking after Christ. That's it. That's the secret. And the secret is no secret at all. The essence of Christianity is walking with Christ, communing with Christ, abiding with Christ, and when we walk with Christ, when we abide in the Lord, when we commune with Him, we will find a refuge and strength in our times of trouble. Do you know why so many Christians fail to have a burning peace and joy in the Lord? Quite simply because they do not work at growing in the grace and knowledge of Christ. They don't work at it, they're lazy. They don't want to add wood to the fire, why? Because that requires getting the ax and chopping it. That requires then taking the wood from outside and bringing it inside. That requires getting up off the lazy boy chair, putting down the coffee and placing it into the fire. Most people do not advance in their Christian life as they should because they do not exercise themselves unto godliness. You cannot become an Olympian athlete if you don't exercise, if you don't watch your diet. Same is true in the Christian life. We have been called to exercise ourselves unto godliness. Bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness unto all things. Most people think that spiritual growth is given at salvation and will mystically appear at some time in their Christian life. Not so. Listen, this is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches us that you and I have need of exercising ourselves in the things of God, working out our own salvation, not once a week, but every day throughout the day. Let me conclude with Paul's words, Philippians chapter two, verses 12 and 13. Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both the will and to do of his good pleasure. He didn't say work for your salvation. He's speaking to believers and he says, work it out. If you've received the Lord Jesus Christ, so walk ye in him. And you will have peace and joy in the Lord.