Psalm 4:1-3 – Living a set-apart life

The Psalmist begins in this Psalm with a call to God. Notice how God is described. He is the God of righteousness. This means that He is a fair God, there is no unfairness or injustice with Him. We deduce from the content that the author lived in a troubled society full of injustice. Although Israel was founded by God, and the law and instruction He had given, she was none the less far from perfect. Israel then and now is still riddled with troubles both within and without. It is no wonder that the Psalmist should begin with a call to God, the God of righteousness. 

No doubt it would be God alone that anyone could come to for relief from distress. The third line, asking for God’s graciousness, reveals the attitude one need to have in coming to this righteous God. Like the author, we need to come to God with that kind of humble posture and trust. We all know that God hears the humble and will resist those who are proud. This expression also gives hint of a spirit of dependence. Coming to God expecting and anticipating Him to respond requires that we are dependent on Him. This is how we ought to come to God.

Israel was surrounded by pagan nations that served different idols. As a result, her people were constantly exposed, pressurised and tempted to turn to those idols. Obviously, there were some who succumbed to the pressure. The two questions in verse 2 served as a challenge to them. The Psalmist asked how long would they continue in reproaching God? How long would they remain in their worthless pursue and being deceived by them. The real question is how long would they test the patience of God? While God might be patient and gentle in His dealing, the prolonged disregard of Him could harden one’s heart, deaden one’s conscience, and make one numbed to God’s grace. Hence the two questions are wake-up calls. They are set to cause the hearers to think of the outcome.   

The Psalmist distinguished the godly from those he mentioned in the first two verses. He thought aloud what is still true today. That is: God knows those who willingly set themselves apart to honour Him. He then placed himself among the godly, and hence they would be assured that God would respond to his requests. This points to the fact that God desires to hear from those who have set themselves apart for Him, to allow Him to work in their lives.

Here we are called to distinguish ourselves from the ungodly. While others may court the world and the many modern idols, our main pursue in life must be to align our allegiance with the God of righteousness. The assurance is that He will hear us when we make our stand with Him and among the godly. Be assured that He knows where we stand. He knows those who are His. Let’s seek to know Him and be known by Him.