Psalm 4

Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer. How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods? Selah. Know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself; the Lord will hear when I call to him. In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent. Selah. Offer right sacrifices and trust in the Lord. Many are asking, "Who can show us any good?" Let the light of your face shine upon us, O Lord. You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound. I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

I have been reading through the psalms and many of the verses in this one stuck out at me. Verse one begs god to listen. How often I feel that God is too far away to hear me! But verse three resolves this question with the reassurance, "Know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself; the Lord will hear when I call to him." But I don't feel capable of qualifying as "godly." So how can I be set apart as heard? I often repeat the question of verse six, "Who can show us any good?" There is far to much evil in the world. There seems to be nothing shining in the darkness. Sometimes it seems that even the greatest deeds of men are selfish. So I pray with David, "Let the light of your face shine upon us, O Lord." How else can we see in this darkness?
Verse two is strange. I'm not sure what David is saying. He seems to ask men how long they will turn his glory to shame. I thought it might be prophetic, as Psalm 2 was, speaking as Jesus for a moment. And I thought that it might be arrogant of David to claim that his own glory is perverted by other men. But then the thought occurred to me that I had said nearly the same thing. It is truly difficult to have a correct perspective on our own righteousness. One word from another man and a good deed, our glory, becomes our shame. I guess the verse is no mystery at all and I pray that my glory will not be turned to shame.
The final verse is very comforting indeed. While all the thoughts of the above verses were swirling through my head, verse eight simply states that "I will lie down in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety." I can rest easy, knowing that God is the sole reason I live and breath.