Psalm 4 Devotional: Trusting God in Distress, Finding Peace in Prayer, and Growing in Faith

During Lent, our confirmation students met with mentors to talk about faith and life—growing in identity, belonging, and purpose through caring relationships. Together they also co-wrote reflections on a Bible verse, and we’ll be sharing these devotionals throughout the Easter season as an invitation to embrace thoughtful dialogue and respond to God’s grace with love in the world.

This devotional was written by 6th grader Kaia Weinstein and her mentor Michelle Stone-Kraus.

Psalm 4

Answer me when I call, O God of my right!

You gave me room when I was in distress.

Be gracious to me, and her my prayer.

How long, you people, shall my honor suffer shame?

How long will you love vain words, and seek after lies?

But know that the LORD had set apart the faithful for himself;

The LORD hears when I call to him.

When you are disturbed, do not sin; ponder it on your beds, and be silent.

Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the LORD.

There are many who say “O that we might see some good! Let the light of your face shine on us, O LORD!”

You have put gladness in my heart more than when their grain and wine abound.

I will both lie down and sleep in peace; for you alone, O LORD make me lie down in safety.

Devotional:

I chose Psalm 4 because I feel like what David is saying in this Psalm really speaks to me about my relationship with God, what it could be, and what other people feel about it. But you probably haven’t gone into the deeper meanings of what this simple, short, but important Psalm reveals. So, you will now see my point of view on how I break it down, regard it, and understand it. This Psalm was delivered way back when David called out to his fellow people and showed his confidence and faith in God. Even though this is an old Psalm, we can still learn from it and use these lessons today to reveal truth in our lives.

The first part of this Psalm reveals that God will not do everything; he will only help you gently reach your goal. David says, “Answer me when I call, O God of my right! You gave me room when I was in distress. Be gracious to me, and hear my prayer.” Though David is calling out, he is assuming God will do anything for him. We know that this isn’t true because God only does these things when he sees fit. David is trying to show his faith by calling out to God, but he seems desperate to prove to the people that he is always right. If you think about it, a lesson emerges: God knows best. This relates to my life because sometimes I get mad at God for not giving me exactly what I want, but everyone should keep in mind that God always knows best.

David goes on to address the people and ask them how long they will, “love vain words and seek after lies” which in turn reveals that we all have flaws and sins. We must stop and listen to God. God will always guide us to the good and faithful path.

David tells the people to trust in God by saying that “the LORD has set apart the faithful for himself” and that “the LORD hears when I call to him.” He is basically saying, if you trust God, and are faithful, your calls will be answered.

He then tells them a few ways to achieve this trust by saying, “When you are disturbed, do not sin; ponder it on your beds and be silent.” David is saying that when you are feeling mad or sad, don’t sin, don’t take it out on others, don’t let those emotions get to you. You must sit and think about WHY you are sad or WHY you are angry, and get a deeper understanding of WHY, of how can this not turn into something big? Or what is the best way to handle this?

He also says that you should “offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the LORD.” This means that you should give gifts that are meaningful and from your heart (for example, that story about the woman who gave her last coin from Mark) because those ones are worth more to God then something extravagant. This knowledge on how to trust applies to our own lives because we can use all of this advice in our relationship with God as well as strengthen our faith in doing so.

From verse 6, “O that we might see some good! Let the light of your face shine on us O LORD” This means that you should be open with the Lord because some people just don’t think he’ll come for them, don’t think he’ll save them, don’t understand fully. In our lives, we always have to know that God will come for us.

David then confesses that if you do all of these good things, God will reward you, for he says that God has “put gladness” in his heart, that this is more valuable (being from God) than “grain and wine abound.”

God has made David safe and happy, and tells the people that now he has put trust in God, he can “both lie down and sleep in peace” because only the Lord makes him lie down in safety.

This is an example of what can happen when we ponder, savor, and try to make a better relationship with God. David has shown us that our connections with God rely on trust, which can be hard to do at times. God will always be there for the faithful who are trying to do the right thing and find their faith path. So, if I were to sum this Psalm up into an Anchor Point, it would be:

If you put your trust in God, true faith will always find you.