Monday; August 17
I have read several of the Psalms throughout my lifetime, but the other day I came across one that I hadn’t really noticed up to this point. Psalm 4 is becoming one of my favorites because it is just as applicable today as it was the day David wrote it centuries ago. There are several things that drew me into the psalm, one of which is an observation made in verse 4, “Tremble, and do not sin; meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still.” In this verse we find a couple of insightful observations:
First, we are emotional
beings. Some biblical
translations add extra information by noting “Tremble with anger or fear” which
indicates that we are going to be emotionally impacted by the events in our
lives.
Second, we have
to practice self-control. It is not a sin to have an emotional feeling;
however, we must control how we deal with it – because when we don’t that’s
where we will get in trouble.
Third, we may
need to find some quiet time to work things out. David encourages his readers to
spend time meditating on things in their bed – in other words, these things
should be assessed in quiet reflection.
(In fact, translations add a subheading to this psalm, “Evening Prayer
of Trust in God”.)
Psalm 4 uses some fancy literature to teach the very simple
lesson that we need to be aware of who we are and what we do. When we understand that the key to overcoming
our emotional flare-ups is self-awareness and self-control, we will make better
decisions and be better examples.