O People of the Earth

[Psalm 4]

Almost every day, I hear the news of many people dying due to various circumstances around the world. Not only that, but I also witness my beloved ones passing away due to illness or old age. Reflecting on this, I began to appreciate the third verse of hymn 474: "In this world, there are many sinful deeds, and truly the matter of death has piled up..." As I come across the news of deaths here and there, I felt that simply living from day to day is truly a grace from God and something precious. I came across an article online titled "Ode to Death" by Kim Woojin. Here are a few lines from it: “In this world made of tears / When I die, will it all be over? / O people searching for happiness / What you seek is vanity... / O people running wild in vain / Do you know you have been deceived? / What is of the world is vanity to you, / And after you die, it will all be gone.” Truly, when I reflect on what life really is, even as a young person, I think that in this futile and meaningless world, the life that truly seeks what is valuable is the life that is pleasing to God. I would like to meditate on what that valuable life is, using Psalm 4 as the central scripture, under the title "O People of the Earth!" (verse 2).

First, I would like to reflect on three things that people need to repent for.

(1) We must repent for the sin of turning God’s glory into shame.

Look at Psalm 4:2: “O men, how long will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love vanity and seek after lies?” (Selah). In this verse, David, the psalmist, says, “O men, how long will you turn my glory into shame?” Here, "my glory" refers to the royal glory that God gave to King David, and the psalmist is calling on his enemies to repent for their acts of dishonoring that glory.

How can this be applied to our times? I believe that opposing the anointed ones of the Lord, who are His servants in the church, is also a sin that dishonors God’s glory. As Christians, we should live for God’s glory, yet we must reflect on whether we are living in a way that dishonors His glory in this world. The Bible urges us: "How long will you...?" We are called to repent, turn back, and reveal God’s glory in this dark world so that we may live.

(2) We must repent for the sin of loving vanity.

Let us look again at Psalm 4:2: “O men, how long will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love vanity and seek after lies?” (Selah). Here, David says, “O men, how long will you love vanity?” In this context, "vanity" refers to the sin of loving the empty and deceptive things of the world that oppose God’s will, especially in relation to opposing the person whom God has established, David.

The wise man in Ecclesiastes says, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 1:2). As we live in this vain world, we must ask ourselves if we are loving and living for things that are worthless and without value. Living for the glory of God is truly a life of value — an eternal value that all Christians should pursue. However, if we are compromising our lives by seeking after things that are momentarily valuable or completely without value, the Bible urges us to repent for loving vanity (Psalm 4:2).

(3) We must repent of the sin of seeking deception.

Let’s look again at Psalm 4:2: “O sons of men, how long will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love vanity and seek after lies? (Selah)” In this verse, the psalmist, David, says: “How long will you seek after lies?” Here, "lies" refers to "deception." Already, many of David's enemies had lied to his soul, saying, "God will not save you" (Psalm 3:2). Yet, in Psalm 4, David’s enemies continue to use deception to oppose him, seeking to do whatever they can to oppose him. The deception of “God will not save you” is ultimately a lie that denies God as Savior. This is a deception that leads people to deny God as their Savior.

Even now, Satan is working hard to make us doubt God’s salvation with such deceptions. The father of lies, Satan, strives to make us fall for his deception, causing us to doubt God’s sovereignty and the salvation He brings to us. Another of Satan’s deceptions is causing us to deceive ourselves. Let’s reflect on James 1:22: “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” We often fall into the deception of only hearing God’s word without acting on it. The psalmist urges us to repent of the sin of deceiving ourselves.

Secondly, let’s consider two things that people need to understand.

(1) We must realize that God has chosen the godly for Himself.

Let’s look at Psalm 4:3: “But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for Himself; the Lord will hear when I call to Him.” In this verse, the psalmist David says, “But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for Himself.” This means that God, for His glory, has chosen David and other saints, and no one can separate them from His love. What a great word of comfort and grace this is! This fact reminds me of Romans 8:35-39: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ... For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” In Psalm 4:3, the “godly” refers to those who are “favored,” that is, those who receive God’s mercy and love. The reason God’s mercy and love are unchanging is because He has chosen us “for Himself.” Therefore, we cannot turn or dishonor “God’s glory.” Neither the lies nor deceptions of our enemies can change this fact.

(2) We must realize that God hears the prayers of the righteous.

Let’s look at the latter part of Psalm 4:3: “… when I call, the Lord will hear me.” From this verse, we can see that the psalmist, David, believed that God was a God who answers his prayers. What we must remember here is that the reason God listens to the prayers of the righteous is not because David or we are righteous, but because our God is the “God of righteousness” (v.1). God's response to our prayers is not based on our own righteousness. It is solely based on God's own righteousness. We need to recognize this truth.

Thirdly, let’s think about three things that people should do.

(1) We must tremble and not sin.

Look at the first part of Psalm 4:4: “Tremble and do not sin.” Here, the word “tremble” is translated as “be angry” in the Septuagint (according to Park Yun-seon). In other words, it is a command not to sin out of anger. More specifically, it means to be angry about the sin you have committed and not continue sinning (Park Yun-seon).

We must no longer sin out of anger. We must no longer commit the sin of dishonoring God’s glory. We must not love vanity anymore. We must not live a life of seeking deception and falsehood. We should be angry about the sins we have committed in the past and make the commitment to not sin anymore.

(2) We must speak in our hearts and remain silent.

Look at the latter part of Psalm 4:4: “… on your beds, speak in your heart and be still.” Normally, we refer to the time of lying down as night, and here the psalmist is challenging us to speak in our hearts and be still at night. The Bible encourages us not to act blindly but to reflect quietly at night in self-examination before God.

We need to be trained to let God’s Word speak to our hearts. This training is very important because the voices of the world and of Satan are very loud in our hearts. If we do not continually train ourselves to allow God’s Word to speak in our hearts, we will continue to sin against God. Therefore, we must train ourselves to meditate, allowing God to speak to us, and through this training, we will overcome our struggles with sin. One crucial part of this meditative training is to remain silent before God. We need to be still and allow God to reveal Himself to us. This silence is our strength (Isaiah 30:15).

(3) We must completely trust in God with a repentant heart.

Look at the verse from Psalm 4:5: “Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and trust in the Lord.” What does “sacrifice of righteousness” mean before God? It refers to a “broken spirit,” in other words, a repentant heart (Psalm 51:16-17). The psalmist is challenging us to repent before God and to do so while fully trusting in Him. If we do not repent with a broken spirit for the sins we have committed against the Holy God, we cannot say we are living a life of complete dependence on God. The one who trusts in God is the one who repents.

In conclusion, if people do what they must do—repent, realize what they need to understand, and act on what they must—what will the results be? Psalm 4 gives us four results:

1. God, in His mercy, will hear our prayers (v. 1).

2. God will shine His face upon us (v. 6).

3. The Lord will place joy in our hearts (v. 7).

4. God will protect us safely, and we will be able to sleep in peace (v. 8).

These blessings are a privilege for those who know what they must repent of, what they must understand, and what they must do. May these blessings be with all of us.

With the desire to no longer dishonor God's glory,

Pastor James
(Longing for the tears of repentance)