Psalm 4

    1      Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness!
    You have relieved me in my distress;
    Have mercy on me, and hear my prayer.
    2      How long, O you sons of men,
    Will you turn my glory to shame?
    How long will you love worthlessness
    And seek falsehood?
Selah
 3      But know that the LORD has set apart for Himself him who is godly;
    The LORD will hear when I call to Him.
 4      Be angry, and do not sin.
    Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still.
Selah
    5      Offer the sacrifices of righteousness,
    And put your trust in the LORD.

    6      There are many who say,
    “Who will show us any good?”
    LORD, lift up the light of Your countenance upon us.
    7      You have put gladness in my heart,
    More than in the season that their grain and wine increased.
    8      I will both lie down in peace, and sleep;
    For You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.
Psalm 4

There is a lot of wisdom in this passage that we can learn from. However, for today's devotion we will go over three things: the love of worthless things, righteous anger, and the joy of the Lord.

It is unfortunate how appealing worthless things may be. I remember far too many things I have collected as a child that I look back on recognizing the worthlessness of those items. Yet as a child, it held a certain appeal. While they offered nothing to me or did anything for me, my eyes were set upon them. I think of the prayer the psalmist prays in Psalm 119 as he says, "Turn my eyes from looking upon worthless things." It is a prayer we all ought to pray. If our eyes are set upon those, our eyes are then astray from the Lord. Our meditation must be upon the Lord.

"Be angry, and do not sin."
This can be a very difficult one for us to implement as many of us have anger associated directly with sin. When we hear this, we struggle to see how we can have a righteous indignation. While there is an anger that is unjustified, there is also anger that is justified. In any case, anger or any such emotion should never be a cause for us to enter into sin. If anger itself was sin, then God Himself would be seen as sinful. However, in the righteousness of His anger He sins not. With that anger aroused we are then encouraged to meditate upon our bed in our heart and to be still. We are to be still before the Lord in that and meditate upon the Lord. Our meditation must be upon the Lord.

Yet still, we live in the midst of trial and challenge where we and others may question, "Who will show us any good?" See then how the Lord is the one who lifts our countenance and puts joy and gladness in our hearts. But let us back up for a second. If our eyes are set upon worthless things and our delight is not in the Lord, it becomes increasingly difficult for us to have that gladness from the Lord within us. Look to the last verse in this section.

 I will both lie down in peace, and sleep;
    For You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.

Should we not have the Lord be our meditation and our delight then we do not see that it is the Lord alone that causes us to dwell in safety and to lie down in peace. All such things stem from the Lord and Him alone. So let your delight be in the Lord. Let your meditation be upon the Lord.