Seeds From Psalms - Psalm 4 (devotional sermon)
Introduction
(This message is a devotion from Psalm 4)
I. Turn Care Into Prayer
Psalm 4:1
After an experiment failed, Lord Kelvin said to his students, "Gentlemen, when you are face to face with a difficulty, your are up against a discovery." This is true not only in learning but also in living.
David was face to face with a difficulty and he came upon a discovery. He wrote in Psalm 4:1, "Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness; Thou has enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer."
If it had not been for his pains there would not be the Psalms. These treasures came only because of his trials. He went from strength to strength because he went from struggle to struggle.
The person who has no trials has no triumphs. Joseph's prison was the path to the palace. If he had not become Egypt's prisoner, he would not have become Egypt's prime minister. Even Job's boils became his blessings. And in heaven there are no crown wearers who were no cross bearers on earth.
Are you in distress? It is not to engulf you but to enlarge you. Turn care into prayer and your trial will become your triumph.
II. Tremble and Sin Not
Psalm 4:4
Some folk were called "Quakers" because they quaked at the presence of sin and the preaching of the Scriptures. David must have wished for a congregation of "quakers." He said in Psalm 4:4, "Stand in awe, and sin not." It means, "Tremble, and sin not." But many have reversed the verse.
They say, "Sin, and tremble not."
Perhaps the greatest mistake in the world today is that men and women have lost their fear of sin. If you want to play with something dangerous reach into the heavens and play with forked lightning, or reach into the furnace and play with fire, or reach into the forest and play with a rattlesnake, but don't play with sin.
Two boys poked a piece of copper wire around a live rail on the subway tracks. There was a bright flash and a loud cry as ten thousand volts of electricity passed through their bodies. Was that dangerous? Yes, but not as dangerous as playing with sin. So, pay heed to Psalm 4:4, "Tremble, and sin not!" And remember, where sin is might, the Savior is almighty.
III.Cure for Sleeplessness
Psalm 4:8
It's been said that Charles Dickens, the teller of tales, never left home to spend the night without a compass. He always turned the head of his bed to the north. He felt he slept better in that position.Do you want a cure for sleeplessness? Count sheep? No, commune with the Shepherd. Take a pill? No, try prayer. Listen to a song? Yes, but make it a psalm. Here's a good one: "I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for Thou, Lord only makest me dwell in safety"-Psalm 4:8. The Lord is stronger than the strongest, wiser than the wisest and better than the best. Nothing and no one can take Him by surprise or find Him insufficient.
Some of my friends were on the Zamzam when it was torpedoed. After spending a night on the floor of the rescue ship, they were asked, "Could you sleep?" "The floor was terribly hard," replied an elderly missionary. "But the Lord reminded me of His work in the 121st Psalm: 'He that keepeth thee will not slumber.' So I said, 'Lord there isn't any use for both of us to stay awake. Since Thou art going to keep watch, I'll thank Thee for some sleep.' And," he said, "I got it."