Psalm 4 -
"Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!
You have given me relief when I was in distress.
Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!
O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame?
How long will you love vain words
and seek after lies?
Know that the Lord has set apart the godly for Himself;
the Lord hears when I call to Him.
Be angry, and do not sin;
ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent.
Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the Lord.
There are many who say, 'Who will show us any good?
Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!'
You have put more joy in my heart
than when they're grain and wine abound.
In peace, I will both lie down and sleep;
for you alone, O Lord,
make me dwell in safety."
The response of this man is incredible.
We know that this was a moment of huge grief for him
because when the report comes
that Absalom has been killed,
David crumbles to his knees, and like any father would,
cries out, "Absalom, my son, my son!
Absalom, my son!
No, no, no, he can't be dead."
But listen to David here.
Look at verse 6.
"There are many who say, 'Who will show us some good?'"
He's sort of repeating
what the band of loyal followers are saying.
They're saying, "Okay, David,
how's this going to turn out for good?
Well, what's going to happen now?
Tell us what's going to happen."
He doesn't know what's going to happen,
and he steady says this:
"Lord, lift up the light of your face upon us.
Lord, you be with us.
You have put more joy in my heart
than they have when their grain and wine abound."
The big moment of celebration in this agrarian culture
was when the wine would mature or the harvest would come in.
He says, "I am in this cave, in this dark moment,
and I have more joy than in harvest."
What?!
Is he delusional?
And then he says this:
"In peace, I will both lie down and sleep;
for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety."
Can I ask you a humbling question?
And can I get you to answer it in your mind honestly?
What does your good week look like?
Why do you name it good?
When do you experience rest and peace in your heart?
Or when is your heart nervous and raging and fearful
and you're running through the catalog of what-ifs
as fast as you can?
Could it to be that you know the Lord
and you've known Him for a while,
but much of your peace and much of your rest
is attached to circumstances and relationships and locations.
And when those circumstances become difficult
or that relationship is painful,
or those locations are a bit chaotic,
could it be that you don't have that rest anymore?
Could it be that you've actually turned those situations
and those locations and those relationships
into your substitute Messiah?
What if the house you love so burned down tonight?
What if you got a diagnosis of a disease?
What if you found out that
your husband or wife had been unfaithful
or your dearest friend had betrayed you
in a shocking act of disloyalty?
What if?
Would you lose your rest?
Would you lose your peace?
Would you lose your inner sense of well-being?
Would you even be tempted maybe to bring God
into the court of your judgment
and question Him as to why He would ever do such a thing.
I would ask you this evening,
right here, right now,
do you know David's rest?
Do you know David's rest?
Be honest!
Do you know David's rest?
Rest that's more profound than a situation,
rest that's more profound than a location,
rest that's more profound than a relationship,
rest that's rooted in the reality that God is
and He's your father.