Be Gracious to Me

“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!” (Psalms 4:1 ESV)

If we are following Jesus Christ with our lives, in earnest submission to him as Lord, and in sincere surrender of our wills to the will of God, and if our desire truly is to do the will of the Lord, as is evidenced by our walks of faith and obedience to God, and by daily dying to sin and to self, we are going to be opposed by Satan and by other humans who are not following the Lord in full surrender to his will, but who are still walking in sin and living for themselves and for the sinful pleasures of the flesh. Some will reject us.

And in those times of difficulty we need to call upon the Lord to give us relief in our distress, as he has done so many times before. We need to go to him for our strength and for our support and for godly counsel in knowing the right things to do and to say, and in how to respond to others who are treating us with disdain. For we need the wisdom of God, especially in times like these so that we don’t go beyond where we should go, and so that we don’t do and say things he does not want us to say and to do.

“O men, 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;

    the Lord hears when I call to him.” (Psalms 4:2-3 ESV)

So, if other humans turn our honor into shame, what would that look like? It might be that they mock us and they disparage us for our walks of faith and obedience to the Lord. They might accuse us falsely of what they call “works-based salvation” because we believe that true faith will result in genuine repentance and genuine walks of faith in obedience to our Lord and to his commands. And they might treat us with scorn and reproach because we take God and his word to heart, and because we follow the Lord.

Or they might twist our honor in order to try to make it look as though it is dishonor because of some twisted concept that they have of how certain things should look. This often stems from them taking Scriptures out of context and misconstruing them toward their benefit, although they do not meet the necessary requirements for those Scriptures to apply to their lives. For they desire to have cause to accuse us of wrongdoing while they justify their own wrongs which they commit willfully and with full approval.

But we can find comfort in knowing that the Lord has set us, who are godly in his sight, apart for himself and for his service to do his will and what he desires. He has called us, and he has trained us, and he has equipped us for his service that we might walk with him in obedience to his commands and follow him in the ways in which he leads us. And so when we are in distress, and when we are being mistreated for righteousness’ sake, we can call upon the Lord and he will hear us and he will guide us in the way we should go.

“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.” (Psalms 4:4-5 ESV)

Now it is somewhat difficult here for me to grasp the context of this in relation to what was just said previously, and to whom these words are spoken. Are they spoken to his enemies? Even though they were angry at David for some reason, to where they dishonored him, and to where they were believing the lies and not the truth, they were not to let that anger turn to sin? But weren’t they already sinning against David by their treatment of him? I find it difficult to understand the context here.

Nonetheless, can we learn something from this? Yes! And Paul repeated this instruction in Ephesians 4:26. And I have almost always understood this to mean that, although we may feel anger, at times, because anger is a natural human emotion which serves as an indicator to us that something is wrong, we are not to let that anger stew within us to the point to where it turns to sinful behaviors. For it is out of the heart that come evil behaviors, and if anger is stored up in our hearts, it will rise its ugly head through sin.

So, even if we are angry for just causes, like anger over abortion or adulteries or the senseless murdering of innocents or prejudice or whatever other just cause there may be, we are not to let that anger turn to bitterness and hatred and resentment and the mistreatment of others. We are not to let the sun go down while we are still angry, but we are to take our anger to the Lord in prayer and let him fill us with his love and peace. And we are to pray for good ways that we can make a difference in this world of ours.

“In peace I will both lie down and sleep;

    for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” (Psalms 4:6 ESV)

When our trust is fully in the Lord and not in the flesh of other humans, and not in ourselves and in our own intellect and reasoning, we can be at peace even in the most difficult of circumstances. We know that God is completely sovereign over our lives and that nothing can touch us but what God allows it, and he allows it for a purpose. And he will give us all we need to endure the trial and to learn what we need to learn during the trial so that we continue to grow to maturity in our walks of faith in obedience to our Lord.

[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Luke 6:22-23; Luke 12:49-53; Luke 21:12-19; John 15:1-21; John 16:33; John 17:14; Acts 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Eph 6:10-20; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13]

His Tender Mercies 

An Original Work / January 26, 2014

Fear not! I’m with you.

Be not dismayed!

God watches o’er you.

Trust Him today.

He’ll lead and guide you;

Give you His aid.

He’ll love and keep you

With Him always.

Walk in His footsteps.

He’ll lead the way.

Trust in His love;

Believe that He cares.

He will not leave you.

Faithful He’ll be.

His tender mercies

Now you will see.

Fellowship with Him

Throughout the day.

Tell Him your heartaches.

He’ll heal always.

Rest in His comfort.

He is your friend.

Your faith He’ll strengthen,

True to the end.

https://vimeo.com/379513308