The World's Despair and the Believer's Joy Text: Psalm 4:6-8
Introduction: Two Competing Worldviews
We live in a world that is desperately and frantically searching for happiness, and yet it is a world that is drowning in despair. The question that echoes down the empty hallways of our secular age is the same question David records in this psalm: "Who will show us good?" It is the cry of a culture that has abandoned God and is therefore left with nothing but an aching void. They are looking for a harvest of joy where they have not sown any seed. They want the fruit of contentment without the root of righteousness.
This psalm, like the one before it, is likely written out of a situation of great distress, with enemies on every side. But David does not respond with a worldly panic. He responds with a profound theological contrast. He sets two worldviews side by side: the worldview of the "many" who chase after fleeting, material good, and the worldview of the righteous man who finds his ultimate good in the face of God. This is not a small distinction. This is the fundamental divide that separates all of humanity. Where you look for your "good" determines everything about you.
The world believes that good is found in abundance, in the increase of grain and new wine. Their gladness is tied to their circumstances. If the stock market is up, they are happy. If the harvest is plentiful, they are content. But this is a flimsy and fragile foundation for life. What happens when the barns are empty and the investments fail? Their joy evaporates, because it was never true joy to begin with. It was just a temporary pleasure, a fleeting distraction from the underlying vanity of a life lived apart from God.
David shows us a better way. He shows us a joy that is not dependent on circumstances, but is a direct gift from God. It is a gladness that flourishes in the heart even when the world outside is threatening and chaotic. This is the unearthly confidence of the saint. It is the peace that allows a man to lie down and sleep soundly in the midst of the battle, because his trust is not in what he has, but in who God is. This psalm teaches us the difference between circumstantial happiness and covenantal joy.
The Text
Many are saying, "Who will show us good?"
Lift up the light of Your face upon us, O Yahweh!
You have put gladness in my heart,
More than when their grain and new wine abound.
In peace I will both lie down and sleep,
For You alone, O Yahweh, make me to abide in safety.
(Psalm 4:6-8 LSB)
The Cry of the World (v. 6a)
David begins by summarizing the hopeless quest of the ungodly world.
"Many are saying, 'Who will show us good?'" (Psalm 4:6a)
This is the question of the spiritually destitute. It sounds reasonable, but it is born of unbelief. It is the question of a man adrift in a sea of relativism, with no compass and no anchor. He is looking for "good," but he has no standard by which to measure it. He is asking for a demonstration, a sign, some tangible proof that happiness is even possible. This is the cry of every pagan philosophy, every secular ideology, and every man-made religion. They are all frantically trying to answer this question apart from the only possible Answer.
Notice it is the question of the "many." The path of unbelief is a broad road, and it is crowded. They are all asking the same question and getting the same empty answers. They look to politicians, to celebrities, to economists, to philosophers, hoping someone, anyone, can show them what true good looks like. But they are asking the wrong people. They are looking in all the wrong places. They are like men in a dark cave looking for the sun.
This question reveals a fundamental rejection of God's revealed will. God has already shown us what is good. He has shown us in His law, He has shown us in His creation, and He has shown us supremely in His Son. The problem is not a lack of evidence; the problem is a rebellious heart that refuses to see it. They do not want God's good; they want a good of their own making, a good that allows them to remain on the throne of their own lives.
The Prayer of the Saint (v. 6b)
In stark contrast to the world's despairing question, David offers the believer's prayer.
"Lift up the light of Your face upon us, O Yahweh!" (Psalm 4:6b)
The world asks, "Who will show us good?" and the saint answers by turning directly to God. He does not ask for a thing; he asks for God Himself. The ultimate good is not a what, but a Who. This prayer is a request for God's favor, His presence, His blessing. It is a direct echo of the Aaronic blessing from Numbers 6: "Yahweh make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you" (Num. 6:25). To have the light of God's face shining upon you is to have everything. It is to be seen, known, loved, and approved by the sovereign Lord of the universe.
This is the answer to the world's folly. If God looks down on His saints with pleasure, then the frantic search of sinners is sheer madness. The Christian knows that true good is not found in the circumstances of life, but in the countenance of God. This is why the believer can have joy in the midst of tribulation. Our good is not "out there" to be discovered; our good is "up there," seated on the throne, and He has turned His face toward us in Christ.
When God lifts up the light of His face upon us, He is not just smiling at us. He is illuminating our path. He is driving out the darkness. He is giving us clarity, wisdom, and direction. The world stumbles in the dark, asking where the good is. The believer walks in the light of God's favor, knowing he is already in possession of it.
The Source of True Gladness (v. 7)
David now explains the result of God's favor. It is a deep, internal joy that surpasses any worldly pleasure.
"You have put gladness in my heart, More than when their grain and new wine abound." (Psalm 4:7)
Notice the source of this gladness. It is not something David worked up on his own. It is not the result of positive thinking. It is a gift: "You have put gladness in my heart." This joy is a supernatural work of God. It is a fruit of the Spirit. God does not just offer joy; He plants it directly into the soil of the believer's heart.
And this joy is of a completely different quality than the world's happiness. David makes a direct comparison. The peak of worldly joy is a bountiful harvest. It is the security and pleasure that comes from an abundance of "grain and new wine." This represents material prosperity, feasting, and celebration. David says that the joy God gives him is "more than" that. It is better. It is higher. It is deeper.
This is a radical claim. The world lives for the harvest. But the believer has a joy that is not contingent upon the harvest. He can have a glad heart when the barns are full, and he can have a glad heart when the barns are empty. Why? Because his gladness is not drawn from the barn. It is drawn from the face of God. This is the secret of Christian contentment. Our joy is not in the gifts, but in the Giver. And because the Giver is eternal, unchanging, and always with us, our joy has a foundation that can never be shaken.
The Fruit of Confident Trust (v. 8)
The final verse shows the practical, tangible result of this God-given joy. It is a profound peace that leads to rest, even in a dangerous world.
"In peace I will both lie down and sleep, For You alone, O Yahweh, make me to abide in safety." (Psalm 4:8)
The ability to sleep soundly is a barometer of the soul. Anxiety, fear, and worry are the enemies of sleep. The man who is terrified of his enemies, who is worried about his finances, who is consumed by the chaos of the world, will toss and turn all night. But David, surrounded by adversaries, says he will do two things: "lie down and sleep." And he will do so "in peace."
This is not a denial of the dangers. The dangers are very real. This is a declaration of trust. The peace that David has is not the absence of trouble, but the presence of God in the midst of trouble. He can rest because he knows who is in charge. His safety does not depend on his own strength or the strength of his bodyguards. His safety is grounded in the character of God Himself.
He says, "For You alone, O Yahweh, make me to abide in safety." The word "alone" is crucial. David's security is not in God plus an army, or God plus a fortified city. His security is in God alone. This is the confidence of faith. It knows that if God is for us, it makes no difference who is against us. If the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth has determined to keep you safe, then you are safer in an open field surrounded by enemies than a king in a fortress who does not have God's favor.
This is the ultimate end of seeking the face of God. It begins with a prayer, it results in a supernatural joy, and it culminates in a settled, confident peace. While the world is awake with worry, chasing after a good it can never find, the saint lies down in peace and sleeps, secure in the knowledge that his God is watching over him.