Psalm 4 – Passionate Prayers, Peaceful Sleep

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Lectionary Readings for April 18       Third Sunday of Easter, Year B
Acts 3:12-19         Peter Preaches in the Temple
Psalm 4       v8 I will lie down and sleep in peace; for, Lord, you alone make me live securely.
1 John 3:1-7 v1 See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!
Luke 24:36b-48   Jesus Appears to the Disciples

Peace through Leadership Quotes

“Peace and justice are two sides of the same coin.”  ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower

“You don't lead by pointing and telling people some place to go. You lead by going to that place and making a case.”   ~ Ken Kesey

We lead by example. The question becomes, where do we want to lead our children, our grandchildren, and our friends and how do we want to lead them. Jesus led by example, one of which is that we are to pray and put our faith into action – prayer and action – two sides of our faith coin.

Any time I preach or lead a group, regardless of age, I start the same way. I’m going to say three short sentences. Please repeat each sentence, with enthusiasm.
God made me.           God loves me.            God has plans for me.

Preface to Today’s Scripture Reading

For all the years I spent growing up in churches, I somehow walked away with the impression that the book of Psalms, all 150 of them, were nothing but warm fuzzies, a long series of, “Oh, I’m so happy. Isn’t everything wonderful? Life is easy; God cares about me; I am in harmony with the world and everything in it.”

OK, a FEW of the Psalms do come across that way, but SO many of them are the polar opposite. Many appear to have been written by young David as he was running over rocky hills and desert dales trying to escape the army King Saul sent to kill him. Yeah... it’s him versus the army. Lovely. THIS, this is the life of someone anointed by God to be the next King?!? Politics has never been an easy gig.

As you may know, the Psalms were written as songs. According to our text, today’s Psalm is “to be accompanied by stringed instruments.” Sadly, we don’t know exactly which stringed instruments, what the tune was, the notes, or the tempo. And when we translate the original Hebrew text into English, we lose all of the linguistic nuances that make poetry beautiful, humorous, and witty.

Imagine taking your favorite church song, perhaps Amazing Grace. Now strip out all of the music and have Google’s culturally-unaware, automated software translate it into a very different language. Now imagine mailing a printed copy of those translated verses – without any music – to someone in a very different culture. The song would still have some meaning, but it wouldn’t be the same.

Being a curious person, I had Google translate the first verse of Amazing Grace from English, to Japanese, and then back to English. Here’s the result: “Amazing Grace! What a sweet sound, it saved misery like me! I used to get lost, but now I've been discovered and blind, but now I know.”

This may give you a glimpse of how much many of us miss when we read Psalms (and other ancient texts) outside of its original language or cultural context. Like you, I am entirely dependent on scholars and the Holy Spirit to help me understand the deeper, intended meanings behind the words.

Today’s Psalm was written with passionate frustration. Yet, for all of the emotion in it, we don’t know who wrote it, where it was written, who the author was talking about, or what the offenses were that so upset the writer.

But the absence of such details invites us to drop ourselves into the author’s place.

  • How many of us have been wrongly accused of something?

  • How many of us have experienced someone trying to ruin our reputation?

  • How many of us have struggled to give God our anger or worries?

  • How many of us have lost nights of sleep focused on anger rather than God’s peace?

As one person in this week’s Bible Study said, “That saying Let Go and Let God is MUCH easier said than done!” So true. And yet, that is the attitude with which the author ends this short Psalm.

Let’s open our ears, minds, and hearts as we embrace today’s reading.

 

Read Psalm 4.

I love the blunt honesty of this Psalm. I love that whoever wrote it had all of these emotions and then took the time to craft a song about how they talked themselves down from explosive to calm. I love that the author isn’t holding anything back from God. Can’t you just hear them...

 

“What’s up God? Remember me, because I’m feeling like You may have gotten distracted a bit. My life’s a complete mess and I need some help right now. I know you’re my creator and vindicator, so answer me when I call out to you!

Have I not sung your praises to everyone who will listen? Remember when I said, ‘you knit me together in my mother’s womb’ (Psalm 139:13-14)? Well the sweater called My Life is coming unraveled so I need you to grab you knitting needles and patch this thing up!

OK... deep breath...

But Lord, folks are talking about me behind my back, saying stuff that’s not true, trying to ruin my reputation. This could ruin my finances. This could ruin my family Lord! But I know You hear me when I call out to you (Psalm 34:17-18).

OK... deep breath...

You know I love you with all my heart, soul, and strength (Deut. 6:5). You know I do Lord. But I’ve worked so hard to get here.

OK... deep breath...

You’re right Lord. You’re always right. I can’t control what folks say or do. The only thing I can control is my focus on You and living like You want me to live. I gotta trust you for everything else (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Yes Lord, I’ll start and end my days thinking about Your words (Deuteronomy 6:7). I know You want me to be still and listen for You (Psalm 46:10), and... ummm... I’m gonna need Your help with that. I know you’ll keep me safe.”

And the author wrapped all of that into a beautiful, amazing, short song; something he could sing as he worked or play for his family after dinner.

After reading and rereading this Psalm, it’s easy to think of Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane shortly before His arrest. For months, if not years, religious leaders had been plotting His demise. Could anything stop the power of the religious and political establishments working together? Imagine Jesus’ pleading cries to God, “Father, everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine” (Mark 14:36).

For me, that moment best encompasses Jesus’ mysterious combination of humanity and divinity. He fully experienced the gut-wrenching, mind-splitting stresses and fears of the moment and, at the same time, remained fully committed to being God’s peaceful presence no matter what happened.

This week’s big local news was learning that our state plans to close one of the two large prisons in Susanville. As of Dec. 31st, the prison (CCC) had 2,138 prisoners and 1,008 employees. In a town of roughly 8 or 9,000 people, this deactivation will have a major impact on our economy.

I imagine a lot of people in our community are already crying out to God, “help us!” I imagine a lot of people are already losing sleep, worrying about a variety of very real concerns, many of which are outside of their control.

For the past year and a half, we’ve talked repeatedly about how we – the members of Susanville UMC – can be the “hands and feet of Jesus” in our community. We cannot solve everybody’s every problem. Jesus never solved everybody’s every problem.

But we can and should be God’s compassionate, loving, caring presence to everyone – especially those in need. We can be shoulders to cry on. We can offer the psalmist’s advice to not let anger drive any of us to sin, but rather let God work on our anger and worries overnight. We can remind ourselves and each other that the greatest joys come from our relationships with God and each other, not from our accumulations of material goods and wealth.

Our Tuesday night Bible Study class talked about how many young kids are depressed and angry because of online bullying. Imagine the lives changed if we hand this Psalm’s wisdom down to our children and grandchildren.

Speaking of relationships, we can assist people we know with practical problems like helping someone update their resume or babysitting their children while they go to an interview. We can help people in need connect with local material and spiritual resources.

Rather than trying to solve every problem, we can become a hub of connections. We can be a place where, if even for a few moments, people can come, feel safe, feel welcomed, and feel relaxed. Is it just me, or is that the kind of environment you might call... the Kingdom of God?

Amen? Amen!