6 how to have a peaceful heart - psalm 4 1-8

8/22/2019 6 How to Have a Peaceful Heart - Psalm 4 1-8

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A MANUAL FOR THE CHRISTIAN LIFE #6

HOW TO HAVE

A PEACEFUL HEART

DATE: 2/28/2010 pm

READ TEXT: Psalm 4:1-8

INTRODUCTION:

I want to preach to you about How you can have a PeacefulHeart when you go through the storms of life

In v. 8 of our text David said - I will both lay me down in

peace and sleep

As we shall see, David was going through a storm, but in that

storm he had a Peaceful Heart

The word peaceis the Hebrew word shalom

Shalom was a common greeting and farewell among theJewish people

As a greeting it was a way of asking how one was doing

Today we say - How you been?

The Jew would say - Shalom

An example is found in Genesis 29:6


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How to have a Peaceful Heart Psalm 4:1-8

Jacob asked about Laban - Is he well?

The word wellis shalom

Jacob was asking - Is he at peace?

Joseph said to his brethren when they were brought before

him

Peace be unto youin Genesis 42:23

In the Hebrew he greeted them - Shalom

As a farewell, one was saying - Peace be unto you

We would say - You take care

When David spoke of laying down in peace he was obviously

speaking of more than a greeting or a farewell

He was speaking of the Condition of his Heart

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia defines the

meaning ofPeace as

a condition of freedom from disturbance, whether

outwardly, as of a nation from war or enemies, or

inwardly, within the soul

This is what David is talking about

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An inward freedom from outward disturbance and distress

How can we have the Peace like David experienced in hisstorms?

Lets try to answer that question as we turn another page in the

Instruction Manual for the Christian Life

Lets look at Psalm 4 and learn -

How to have a Peaceful Heart

~~~OPENING PRAYER~~~

The situation that David was in -

I. WHAT WAS DAVID FACING?

In v.1 David prays - Hear me when I call, O God of my

righteousness: Thou hast enlarged me when I was in

distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer

Look at the phrase when I was in distress

David references a time of great duress in his life

The word distressmeans pressed into a corner, in a

tight place

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We might say between a rock and a hard place

That word is at other times translated afflictionand

trouble

David is speaking of a time when he found himself

hemmed in by Trouble and Affliction

The word is used a lot in relation to an enemy oradversary

David is speaking of Distress that had been brought on by

the Attitudes and Actions of others

There were those that were giving David a hard time

They pressed him into a corner or tight place

The troubles in his life had been caused by others

As we look closer at the Psalm we see these Actions andAttitudes explained

First, notice:

A.What Others Were Showing

People always reveal their motives by their actions

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He says in v. 2 - O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn

my glory into shame? How long will ye love vanity, and

seek after leasing? Selah

The word selahis like our musical rest, which is an

interval of silence in a piece of music, marked by a sign

indicating the length of the pause

David is speaking to those who have caused distress in his

life

He telling them to stop and think very carefully about what

he has just said

What is it that he is asking them to carefully think about?

He speaks of three things they have done

First - he says they had turned his glory into shame

The phrase sons of menspeak of Leadership, people of

Rank

The background to this Psalm is when these leaders had

been seduced by Absalom and with Absalom had led thepeople astray

They had caused the people to turn against David and

make Absalom king

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It was God who had appointed David as king

But the people had been led astray and made Absalom

king instead

David knew that He had no glory of his own, but God

had given him that glory

He knew that God had made him king

Yet the people had shown their rejection of both him and

God by making Absalom king

Warren Wiersbe said - The people werent justdeposing a king; they were fighting against the Lord who

had placed David on the throne

It was Gods Glory the people had turned into Shame

Secondly - David speaks of how the people love vanity

The word vanity speaks of that which was

worthless or empty

What these people wanted, loved, and were following

was Empty and Worthless

Thirdly - David speaks of how the people seek after

leasing

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The word leasingspeaks of that which is deceitful

or untrue

The people were not only following vain things

But also believing lies

And as a result, were following something deceitful

In short, David is talking about the distress that had beenbrought on because others had led many of the people

astray

And now Gods Divine Purpose and Will had been

thwarted

That is why he asked these leaders

O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into

shame?

That is why he asked those who had been led astray

How long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing?

Application: What David is speaking about I have seentime and time again throughout the years

Most of the trouble in a Church follows the same pattern

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I have seen someone get upset about some matter and they

began working on other people to think like them in order

to side with them

For some strange reason the lies are easier to accept

The result is people believe what they are told

They then began to follow the lies they have been told

Not realizing that they are actually being led astray

II Samuel 15 tells us whats going on

It started with Absalom who was on a campaign to be

king

He would catch people who were on the way to see the

king

He would tell them that if he were king he would make

sure things were done right

I can hear him saying - If I were king, we would do

things differently. We would do them like they ought to

be done

It funny how everybody knows your jobs better then

you do

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II Samuel 15:5 says

And it was so, that when any man came nigh to him todo him obeisance, he put forth his hand, and took him,

and kissed him.

In short, he buddied up to the people and laid it on thick

The Bible speaks of Absalom as a handsome manwhose charms were hard to resist

Slowly and gradually he built him a following that led

to the disposal of Gods anointed king

You know how it works

They start calling you and acting like youre their best

friend

When in reality, they rarely ever called you before

But now they have an agenda and youre a part of that

agenda

They subtly began to tell you their story

Working to get you to agree with them

And eventually to side with them

And become a part of their plan

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It happens all the time in Churches

What most people fail to realize

And David understood is that

Their behavior showed their rejection of not just David

But God as well!

Thats why David added the selahat the end of his

words

Hes saying - You need to stop and think about what

they are doing and what they are causing you to do

To follow the disobedient is to become disobedient

And there are consequences for both

For some reason the lie is easier to believe than thetruth

And unfortunately, good people are pulled in by those

with a selfish sinful- motive

What these people were Showing had caused great

distress in Davids life

He also describes:

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B.What Others Were Saying

In v.6a he explains what the people were saying:

There be many that say, Who will shew us any good?

David was well aware of the Grumbling and Complaining

of the people

He knew what they were thinking and what they weresaying among themselves

The phrase - Who will shew us any good?means

O that we might see some good

In other words

We would like to see things different

We would like to see things done differently

They were saying

We want it to be like it used to be and do it like it used to

be done

II Corinthians 10:12 For we dare not make ourselves

of the number, or compare ourselves with some that

commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by

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themselves, and comparing themselves among

themselves, are not wise

I have heard people talk about the good old days, how itused to be

You know what they say about the good old days

The good old days are a combination of a bad

memory and a good imagination

In their thinking, ifit was different, it would be good

Philippians 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to

have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting

those things which are behind, and reaching forth

unto those things which are before

However, the question should be asked, how would it be

good?

Would what they wanted and called good, glorify God?

Would it really be to their benefit or would it merely let

them have their own way?

What some call good is really not whats best

David expressed the goodhe wanted v.6b

He wanted the Glory of Gods smile upon them

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Thats what he meant when he said

LORD, lift Thou up the light of Thy countenance uponus

That was not what they people were thinking about when

they said

Who will shew us any good?

This good was having it their way

Rather than God having His way

The tense of the verb indicates that this statement was

repeated again and again by those who were complaining

The more they complained, the more others took up with

them

What started with a few - soon became many(v. 6)

Like a growing cancer, the Discontent and Complaining of

the people spread until there was widespread infection

This story can be told over and over again

It is how most problems get started in a Church

There is usually a few that are Disgruntled and Unhappy

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And they go around saying - Who will shew us any

good?

The more they do; others began to join in with them

Things havent changed since Davids time

David confesses that the Actions and Attitudes of the

people had at one point caused him much distress

This is WHAT DAVID WAS FACING

But notice also:

II. WHAT DAVID WAS FEELING

You will notice in v.1 that he testifies:

Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress

His distress had been like being in a tight place

But God had brought him into an enlargedplace

The word enlargedmeans wide, open

Distress is like a narrow pit

But we do not have to stay there

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David said in v.7

Thou hast put gladness in my heart

David was in a Distressful Situation

But yet - his heart was filled with Gladness

Why was it that David was feeling this way?

First, notice:

A.The Experience of His Gladness

What David was going through was enough to depress

anyone

But instead, David was filled with Gladness

How could David feel the way he was feeling when he

was going through what he was going through?

See, Davids happiness was not based on what was

happening to him

Instead it was based on his relationship with God!!

The joy and happiness he was experiencing was a joy and

happiness that God had given

In v.1 we see that David had turned to the Lord in his

Distressful time

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He prays

Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness

have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer

David is very much aware that He doesnt deserve

anything from God

That is why he asks for Gods mercy

I love the way He addresses the Lord

He addresses his prayer to the -

God of my righteousness

He knew that he had no righteousness of his own

That his righteousness was of God

Because of his relationship to God

He knew that God cared for him

And therefore He cried out to God for help

God lifted him from the narrow place of Sadness to a

large place of Gladness

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Outwardly, everything was Bleak, but inwardly David

Experienced joy

Furthermore, notice:

B.The Extent of His Gladness

Notice v.7 again:

Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the

time that their corn and their wine increased

He makes mention of the harvest which was always a

celebrated time in Israel

It was always a time of great demonstrations of joy by the

Jewish people

However, the gladness he felt in his heart exceeded that

joyful occasions

The word gladnessis often translated rejoice or

rejoicing

Instead of being Discouraged, he was Rejoicing

From an earthly perspective, he had nothing to be glad

about

Yet, David had something the world didnt have

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He had a joy that only comes from the Lord

You may ask, is it really possible to have such a joy inthe distressing times of life?

I say, Yes

You can have a heart filled with gladness even in thedistressful times of life

WHAT DAVID WAS FACING

WHAT DAVID WAS FEELING

Lastly, notice with me:

III. WHAT DAVID WAS FINDING

David had more than Gladness in his heart

He says in v.8 -

I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou,

LORD, only makest me dwell in safety

He had found a peace that enabled him to be free fromeverything and anything that normally would disturb a

person

The Apostle Paul described it this way:

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And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,

shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ

It is a peace that transcends all understanding

One can be sailing troubled waters, yet be calm

One can be going through a dark time, yet not be filled

with fear or worry

That was what David was experiencing in his dark hour

He could lie down at night and sleep like a baby because of

the peace he had found

The question is, how can we have such a peace?

In CLOSING let me point out three things that David tells

us to do

First, he tells us:

A.Dont Let Your Situations Distract You

He says in v.4 - Stand in awe

The word aweliterally means to tremble

It speaks of having a fear and reverence for God

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When one fears God, they have no reason to fear anyone

or anything else

David is telling us to keep our eyes on the Lord

Dont let what others are doing consume your thoughts

Let your faith be in God

Keep your eyes on Him!

If you dwell on your situation it will fill your heart with

fear

But if you keep your eyes on the Lord, fear Him, stand in

awe of Him, there will be nothing or no one to fear

Secondly, David tells us:

B. Dont Let Your Situations Defile You

It is easy to let what others do cause you to react in a

negative way

Instead, David tells us to make sure we keep our heart

clean

He says in v.4 to sin not

Dont let your heart become filled with anger, bitterness,

and revenge

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A heart that is filled with anger will not be filled with

peace

He also says in v.4 - commune with your own heartupon your bed, and be still

He is telling us to Search and Examine our hearts

Make sure there is nothing there that would keep us from

having a peaceful heart

Thirdly, he tells us:

C. Dont Let Your Situations Defeat You

He says in v.5 - Offer the sacrifices of righteousness,

and put your trust in the LORD

David tells us that no matter what others are doing or

what others are saying

You keep on serving God and trusting Him

Dont let your situation cause you to quit serving God

Dont let it defeat you

You honor God no matter what is happening in your life

Trust God that He will take care of you

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If you will not let your situation Distract, Defile, and

Defeat you, God will give you a peaceful heart

You can be like David

When life has fallen to pieces, you can know a peace that

passes all understanding

I would remind you, you cannot have the peace of God

until you know the God of peace

Do you know Him?

We can have a Peaceful Heart even when we go through the

storms of life

6 how to have a peaceful heart - psalm 4 1-8

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