Peace in the Night | Psalm 4 | Morning Psalms & Prayer

Watch This Episode On Psalm 4

This Morning Psalms & Prayer episode with Pastor Mark Groen focuses on Psalm 4 and the peace God gives His people even in times of distress. Through heartfelt prayer, honest reflection, and the reading of Scripture, we are reminded that the Lord hears us when we call—and that only He can make us dwell in safety. A timely encouragement for anyone seeking rest in God’s promises.

📖 Click to Show the Transcript of this Episode

Good morning and welcome to Morning Psalms and Prayers for Monday, June 1st. We begin again with a prayer from the Book of Common Prayer. Let us pray. Let your merciful ears, O Lord, be open to the prayers of your humble servants, and that they may obtain their petitions, make them to ask such things as shall please you, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Our psalm for today has us continuing through this first part of the Psalter. We are in chapter 4. Hear the word of the Lord.

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 man, how long shall my honor be turned into shame?

How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? but 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, you say, who will show us some good. Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord.

You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. In peace I will both lie down and sleep. For you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. Boy, there's a lot here for us today.

I'm going to focus on verse 1 and verse 8. But boy, in the midst of everything that's going on in the world, particularly the things in our own state and in our nation, boy, this opening part of 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. What a great way to begin a prayer. Begging for God to answer us. We know that He will answer us.

But isn't that the emotion of our hearts coming through there? What the psalmist has to say, doesn't that bring out how we feel when we pray? Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness. And, you know, it's important, this second part, that we acknowledge that He has given us relief when we are in distress.

When we've been in distress before, if we're feeling in such a way, that we're really struggling with everything that is going on in the world, we can go back and look and say, you know, God has given us distress. He has given or He has given us distress. He has relieved His people from distress.

He has done that throughout history. He's done that in scripture. He's done it in the history of our own lives. And so what we ask when we pray is that He would continue to be gracious to us, that He would continue to hear our prayers.

And it's wonderful, isn't it, to know that the psalmist cries out like this, because that means that's what we should do. When we are feeling these feelings that we have, we should be crying out in this way. We shouldn't be emotionless about it. We should admit our distress.

We should admit our frustrations. We should be calling out to God. And that's what leads us to verse 8, when it says, In peace I will both lie down and sleep. For you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

In peace, I will both lie down. Why can we do that in the Lord? Because we know that He is in control. We know that He is the one who protects us in distress.

We know that He is the one who saves us. We are His people. He is not going to abandon us. He never has.

No matter what happens to us in life, we have the sure confidence of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, we can lie down in peace and go to sleep. Sometimes that's hard to do. I would look at it and then I'd put it down and try to go to sleep, but then I'd pick it back up again.

I was not resting in God. I was not trusting that He would come to me in these moments and give me peace. But the truth of the matter is that He will. I needed to put it down.

I needed to trust in Him. In peace, I needed to lie down and go to sleep. Why? Because God helps me to dwell in safety.

Sure, I was worried about the world, but I can trust that my God is in control and that He will keep His promises. He loves His people, and whatever happens, we can know that He's going to work it together for good in His glory. What a confidence to have. What a peace that that gives us in our lives.

So, let us go to prayer. Lord of heaven and earth, Answer us when we call. O God of our righteousness, we know that you are the one who gives relief when we are distressed. You are gracious and we know that because of what Jesus has done for us in his life, death, resurrection and ascension, you hear our prayers.

Today we lift up our nation to you. Right now we are overcome with sadness, confusion, anger and despair. We pray for peace in our nation. We ask that this peace would come from you.

We pray that the gospel would go forth and that there would be a change in hearts. A revival of your love and your law. We don't ask only for peace in our nation, but we ask for peace in our hearts. Calm the turmoil within us and by your word and spirit, give us a sure and certain confidence in you.

We know that you alone make us dwell in safety and you allow us to both lie down and sleep in peace. We commend this day to your sovereign hand, trusting in your good and holy will. Grant to us the boldness to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.

Well, that's the end of morning psalms and prayer for today. Have a great Monday and an even better week. Take care.

Looking for more on Psalm 4?

📖 Explore our Dwell in the Word teaching on Psalm 4, where we reflect on God's promise of safety and peace for His people.
👉 Read and watch here

🎙️ Listen to the full sermon, He Makes Me Dwell in Safety, to go deeper into the rich truths of this psalm and how it points us to lasting peace in Christ.
👉 Access the sermon