Westtown Church
Westtown Church
Lie Me Down to Sleep in Peace
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We live in a dangerous world filled with trials of every kind. Psalm 4 teaches us about the blessing of being under the shadow of God's wings and the secret to lying down to sleep in peace.
Pastor's Sabbatical
Speaker 1Good morning . I'm Morgan Lusk . I'm the associate pastor here at Westtown and before we begin the sermon I want to share just a personal update with you guys . About a month ago I asked our elders if they would consider granting me a sabbatical and they graciously agreed to do so . So my family and I will be taking a three-month sabbatical , beginning July 20th , lasting through October 19th . We will be away from ministry here at Westtown for that time just to focus on rest and restoration , and I'm just incredibly thankful to the session for this gift . I really do see it as a gift and just real quick .
Speaker 1You may be wondering what is a sabbatical and why should you get one ? And a sabbatical is a prolonged period of rest and renewal for pastors and for their families , and for most pastors they are much needed . I'm thankful that Westtown's offering me one , because a lot of pastors do not get this benefit . But pastoral ministry is challenging . Every vocation is challenging , but pastoral ministry is unique because a pastor's spiritual , relational , vocational and family lives are all interwoven in a unique way . So in other words , for me , what happens here at work affects my spiritual life , it affects my family life , it affects my friendship . It's all connected . And for a pastor to get away and detach from that for a little while is vital . And you know what's been going on here . I mean , for the past three years we've dealt with the issues with our former senior pastor , that investigation and his removal , and then there's something going on with the bridge and a very long pastor search , and that's all on top of just the normal stresses of ministry life . So during the sabbatical we will not be coming to worship here . We really won't communicate with the congregation other than maybe to provide a few updates . My teenage boys will probably come to youth group still , but that sounds kind of extreme . But it really is vital to disengage completely so that we can focus on rest and renewal . If you have questions about this , you can feel free to ask me , you can feel free to ask any of the elders about it , or Corey , and we're just really thankful for this gift and thankful for the opportunity and hope to come back in October feeling refreshed . And with that I'll just start off by making the obvious statement that God has designed us all for rest , not just pastors .
Speaker 1Maybe the best way that we see that is the fact that we have to sleep every day , if you think about it . I mean we take that for granted , but it's kind of humbling that we sleep Because you see , we spend a third of our lives sleeping and you know it's like eight hours a day or so . They say we need eight hours a day . We're just unaware , we're just unproductive , we're doing nothing , we're like unconscious . We're just unproductive , we're doing nothing , we're like unconscious . You know that unproductive . And what's really cool about that is that when we wake up , the world is still here , the world is still spinning . Usually everything's fine . Every once in a while you wake up and stuff's in disarray , but for the most part the world is okay . And that's because we have a God who does not sleep . We have a God who doesn't need to sleep . We have a God who's in control of the entire universe . He's the one that is keeping the world going . He upholds the universe by the word of his power . So we can sleep knowing that we don't have to do that , and that is a wonderful gift and a blessing .
Speaker 1Now , why am I talking about sleep ? Because really is that the wisest thing to talk about while you're preaching a sermon , when people are prone to nod off a little bit anyway , I mean like probably not . But this is what David's talking about in Psalm 4 . And so I'm going to have a stand . As we read Psalm chapter 4 , verses 1 through 8 .
Speaker 1He says 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 , selah , 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 hearts on your beds and be silent , selah . Offer right sacrifices and put your trust in the Lord . There are many who 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 . The word of the Lord . You may be seated .
Speaker 1So David is saying that it is possible for us to have peaceful sleep , and that's nice . That's good news , because a lot of us don't sleep very well . Many of us don't sleep well because of physical ailments . Lot of us don't sleep very well . Many of us don't sleep well because of physical ailments . Or maybe you used to sleep really well but you've gotten to that age where , apparently , sleep is fleeting . But others don't sleep very well for different reasons . It has nothing to do with physical ailments . It's because you're anxious about the many different distresses that you're dealing with .
Speaker 1And that's the first point that we'll talk about is that we don't sleep and we lack peace , often because we are anxious about difficult circumstances . He talks about this when he says that he's in distress and that God has given him relief from distress . But even still , even though he has that relief , you can sense that he has been through some anxiety . And we're not talking about social anxiety or the type of anxiety that you might actually need medication for . That's different . We're talking about anxiety from being overwhelmed by the trials and distresses of life . Overwhelmed by the trials and distresses of life .
Speaker 1We know that David was often distressed . If you just go back and look at 1 and 2 Samuel , it just reads like a list of trials all throughout his life . He started off as the youngest of eight children . That in and of itself is a distress To have seven older brothers always picking on you and ordering you around . And then he ends up going and fighting Goliath no big deal , just the greatest warrior of the age and a giant who was like over nine feet tall . Nothing distressing about that . And then , after he's beaten Goliath amazingly by the hand of God , all of a sudden he's like this famous guy , he's this hero . And then he ends up marrying King Saul's daughter , which if you want to look up what was distressing about that , go look up in 1 Samuel 18 what David had to do to get to marry King Saul's daughter , michael . I'll let you look that up later . And then , after he was popular and he was married to Saul's daughter , david all of a sudden is Saul's enemy . Saul decides he hates David , he's jealous of David , he wants to kill him . So now David has to go on the run . He's hiding out in caves and he ends up going and hiding amongst the Philistines and he has to pretend to be a crazy person so that they'll leave him alone . It's just all this stuff . It's like . When did the guy ever have any peace ? So he knows what it means to be distressed , and we understand We've been there too . Maybe our list of distresses doesn't sound exactly like David's , but it's similar .
Speaker 1Who knows what trials you may be walking through at this very moment ? And it's normal , it's understandable , to look at those trials and just feel overwhelmed and feel anxious and feel like what am I going to do ? But here's the issue , here's why we end up with anxiety and here's why we end up losing sleep . It's when we say what am I going to do ? And then we just stop there and we keep on asking that question what am I going to do ? How am I going to handle this ? How am I going to get myself through this ? What do I need to do to make these trials go away ? And on and on . And the focus is always just me and my own abilities , my own strength . That's when we get anxious Because we've forgotten to take the all-important next step , which is what you see in 1 Peter , 5 , 6 and 7 .
Overcoming Anxiety and Fear of Man
Speaker 1He says Humble yourselves , therefore , under the mighty hand of God , so that , at the proper time , he may exalt you , casting all your anxieties on Him , because he cares for you . Why are we anxious and overwhelmed ? It's because we have not humbled ourselves before the mighty hand of God . We've prayed to ourselves instead . Andrew Wilson is a pastor over in the UK .
Speaker 1He says anxiety is what happens when you pray to yourself . You are looking to yourself for the answers . You're looking at your own abilities and capabilities and talents and your own strength to try to handle the things that are overwhelming you . And , honestly , that's pride . It might be misguided pride , but it's still pride , and it's still me thinking that I'm on the throne of my own heart , that I'm the captain of my own soul , that I'm in , ultimately , the position of God in my life . And so no wonder we're anxious , no wonder we are overwhelmed . We think we have to handle it ourselves , and we know , we who need eight hours of sleep every night , we know how limited we are . And so we're afraid and we're anxious .
Speaker 1Instead , what David in the psalm here tells us to do is to humble ourselves , to look to the God of the universe . To look to the God who does not need sleep , to look to the God who does not ever get overwhelmed . To look to the God who is keeping this universe together just by His Word . To look to Him , a God who is that big , a God who can just speak and create the whole universe , and then to know that that's the same God who says call out to me , cry out to me , come to me with your prayers , come to me with your burdens , lay them on me , let me have them . That's incredible that a God who's that big would say every single one of you come and please share your grief with me , share your burdens with me , share your trials with me . That's how we get true peace . That's how we get true rest .
Speaker 1David says he got relief , and that's a little misleading with the English translation , because when we see that word relief , we might think that means that God took away David's trials and so , therefore , david had peace . But if you know this list of trials that I just talked about , how many times was David hiding in a cave praying for God to give him relief ? And the next day he was still hiding in a cave being hunted . God didn't take away his trials , not for a very long time , and then , after he took away his trials , he had some peace for a while . He got more trials , which you heard about last week , but what God did instead was he enlarged his capacity . The relief actually means you have enlarged me . You have enlarged the capacity of my heart to deal with the things that are in my path . You have grown my capacity to walk through these trials and in that way , he's been given relief .
Speaker 1I think of it kind of like parenting . Jennifer and I have four kids , ages 17 to 8 . And our first two we adopted from Uganda in 2013 , and when we were , we were on a connecting flight from Cairo , egypt , to Entebbe , uganda , and we were on the runway in Cairo and I turned to Jennifer and I said Jennifer , I'm not sure I can do this . And she said remember what you said . She said I think it's a little bit too late for that , because I was freaked out just going from zero kids to two kids . I just think I can't handle this . There's no way I can do this . And then it wasn't a week or two before I felt like , okay , maybe I can handle this by the grace of God .
Speaker 1And as we've grown our family , I felt like , with every child , god has given us the capacity to parent them well and to love them , and it's okay , it's normal . I feel like , okay , god's got me , god's got this . And I talk to people who they're about to have their first child and they're kind of in that same boat , like I don't know if I can do this , I don't know how you have four kids . Well , god gives you the capacity . God grows your heart , god enlarges your capacity to deal with what he's given you . And so peace , the peace that surpasses all understanding . It really comes down to this idea that it's not that my circumstances are all going my way , like when does that ever happen ? Unless you're like a five-year-old , you know . No , it's God's got this . That's where peace comes from . It's being able to say God has got this , god's got me . That's where we get peace , even in the midst of distress .
Speaker 1Well , another distress that we often deal with that can steal our peace is the fear of man . The fear of man , the fear of man , is to allow the thoughts , opinions and judgments of other people to rule over us , to dominate our hearts and our thought , lives and our behaviors . David is struggling with this a little bit when he says in verse 2 , o men , how long shall my honor be turned into shame ? How long will you love vain words and seek after lies ? You see , he feels ashamed , he feels judged , he feels wronged by some wicked people . Maybe it's King Saul , maybe it's some of the other people who sought to disparage him . He knows their opinion isn't worth much , because he's already said . He knows that they're men who love vain words and seek after lies .
Speaker 1Why should I care what these people think ? But yet we do , don't we ? We care , everybody thinks and it's normal to care what people think . I think it's actually kind of a good thing . You don't want to be that guy that has absolutely zero thought for what other people might think of you and you end up , you know , never showering and stuff like that .
Speaker 1But like the issue is do we care so much about what people think that we're enslaved to their opinions and judgments ? And that's the trap , right ? Proverbs 29 , 25 says the fear of man lays a snare . It traps us . But whoever trusts in the Lord is safe . So let me give you an example of what that looks like , right ?
Speaker 1So when I was in high school , I , like probably everyone else , cared too much about what people thought of me . You ever heard of the hallway effect ? The hallway effect is when you're you're walking down your high school hallway . If you can transport yourself back there just for a minute , oh the joys and you and you , everybody's standing at their locker between classes , right , and what are you thinking ? You think that they all are thinking about you , but the problem is they're all thinking that everybody else is thinking about them , so really nobody's thinking about anything but themselves . But you think they're all thinking about you Because you're obsessed with what people think For me .
Speaker 1I was enslaved by that . I dressed the way I dressed because of what people thought . I listened to the music that I listened to because of what people thought . I was constantly worried about what girls thought of me . I didn't realize it then , but I was enslaved to it and what I needed was to start by fearing God first , by fearing the Lord and fearing and caring most about what his opinion of me is , and that's why David calls him in verse one . He calls him the God of my righteousness . It's interesting because that's a title . That's why David calls him in verse 1 , he calls him the God of my righteousness . It's interesting because that's a title that's not really used anywhere else in the Scripture . It might be a variation of it , but that specific wording is not used anywhere else that I'm aware of , and Charles Spurgeon says that this means that God is the author , witness , maintainer , judge and rewarder of my righteousness . In other words , my status with God . Like where am I with God ? Am I right with God or not ? Where does that come from ? It doesn't come from me , it comes from God , and we know this even better than David knew this , because we know that our righteousness is found in Jesus Christ and in Him alone . And that's what it means .
Speaker 1To be a Christian is not to have your own right standing with God , not to have your own righteousness with God , not to somehow live a good life and be a moral person and thereby get righteousness . No , to be a Christian is to have the righteousness of Jesus Christ given to you as a gift , and it never stops being a gift . It never stops being His righteousness that matters . Like , your standing with God is not a roller coaster . Your standing with God does not change . Like you're not less right with God because you had a bad week and you sinned a whole bunch and you're not more right with God because you had a really good week and you went to church and you did your devotional and you served and you helped the homeless or something . No , your standing with God is based solely on the work that Jesus Christ finished off on the cross 2,000 years ago . That's what it's based on . It's never based on your behavior ago . That's what it's based on . It's never based on your behavior .
Speaker 1So what that means in this case , when we're talking about the fear of man , is that your worth , your value , your identity , your identity , your validation comes from God and comes from God alone , and you are as valuable and validated as you could ever be , because the God of the universe has said that one's my adopted son or daughter . You don't need anything else if you have that . If you have that , it doesn't matter if everyone in the world hates you . The God of the universe has said that one's mine and that one is right with me . We're good . We've got everything we need Now .
Speaker 1It doesn't mean that it isn't painful when people ridicule us or hate us , but it just means that what they say about us doesn't define us , and what they say about us doesn't have to wreck our lives . We're not enslaved to that . We're not in that trap anymore . We're safe . We're safe because we have right standing with God through the righteousness of Jesus Christ , and so that's why David can say in verse 3 , but know that the Lord has set apart the godly
Finding Peace and Joy in Christ
Speaker 1for himself .
Speaker 1The Lord hears when I call to him . He knows that he has set apart , which is the same word for holy . He belongs to God and it's not because he's done good things and made himself holy , it's because God has made him holy . And he also knows that I have direct access to God . I can talk to him anytime I want . He hears me , he loves to hear me , he loves to hear from me . Nothing , not even our own sin , can take that away . But our own sin can steal our peace . It absolutely can steal our peace . Look at verses 4 and 5 . It says 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 .
Speaker 1Corey talked last week about the consequences of sin and how devastating they can be , and the consequences of sin can absolutely steal our peace . So can the conviction of sin when we've sinned and we know it and we feel convicted over that . If you're not a Christian , the guilt of sin can steal your peace and you may not even realize it . But have you ever said a regretful , impulsive word to someone that you wish you could take back . Have you ever done something regretful and impulsive that you wish you could take back ? Have you ever tweeted something impulsive and regretful that you wish you could take back ? And now it's just out there for the whole world to see . Doesn't that keep you up at night ? Just go back and you wish . I wish I had said this differently . I wish I just hadn't said this , I mean , and then think about where that comes from .
Speaker 1Doesn't it often come from just being angry ? You're angry and you just say something out of anger and you really , really wish you hadn't said it , and now it's just stealing your peace . It's created some consequences , it's hurt someone . That's what our own sin does to us . That's why he says be angry and do not sin . It's okay to be angry . Anger is an emotion . What's hard is anger . It so quickly can lead to sin , because it's such a volatile emotion and so it's so difficult to control it .
Speaker 1Maybe you're sensing a theme here , but this is where , again , we need to look to Jesus , just for how he handled Himself , but also for what he offers us when he was put on trial , when he was falsely accused and he had to go before the high priest Caiaphas , and he had to go before Herod and Pilate . I mean , he probably said two words . He hardly said a thing . When they listed the charges against him , he was just kind of like , yeah , whatever you say , he was mostly silent . Dude , do you think he was angry ? Do you think he was just kind of like , yeah , whatever you say , he was mostly silent . Dude , you think he was angry ? You think he was angry that they were falsely accusing him ? The God of the universe ? I bet he was , and he was righteous to be angry too .
Speaker 1He was totally justified , but he didn't sin in his anger . He didn't sin in his anger . He just took it , obviously because he knew he had to go to trial . He had to go to the cross to save us from our sin . He wasn't going to let anything get in the way of that . But again , look at the way he handled himself .
Speaker 1I think that's what David is pointing to here . He's like when you are angry , when sin is troubling , you walk away , close your mouth , take a nap , be silent , ponder your own heart and your own sin . If you're saying you know like somebody else is being ugly and their sin is the problem ? Well , you know what , probably but also my sin is the problem ? Ponder that , ponder the things that are in me that are causing me to react this way . And then he also says to offer right sacrifices . David would have meant going to the temple and offering sacrifice for his sin , or something of that nature , but we have an updated understanding of what this means because of Jesus right Hebrews 10.12 says but when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins , he sat down at the right hand of God .
Speaker 1A single sacrifice has been made to cover all of our sins , past , present and future , and it's the sacrifice of Christ on the cross . There are no more sacrifices necessary . That's it , it's finished , it's done . The sin that you're going to commit tomorrow , it's already been paid for . The sin that your grandchildren will commit in 100 years , they've already been paid for by Christ's sacrifice on the cross .
Speaker 1So if we've sinned , what do we do ? We don't need to go to the temple and offer sacrifices . We go to Jesus . We are the temple of the Holy Spirit . And so we go to Jesus and we confess our sin and repent and we find that he restores us .
Speaker 1But then look at Hebrews 13 , 15 and 16 . It says through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God that is the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name . Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have , for such sacrifices are pleasing to God . This is kind of what it means , like in Romans 12 , when he says to offer yourselves up as living sacrifices , holy and pleasing to the Lord . We offer our sacrifices now simply by praising God , by worshiping him , and then by going and living lives of obedience , trusting Him through it all . That's our sacrifice . So we live these trustworthy lives and we look to the Lord as our one sacrifice for sin , and we find I think we find peace . But then there's one more thing that steals our peace , one more reason why we lack peace . That's because we're looking for joy in all the wrong places . He says in verses six through seven .
Speaker 1There are many who 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 . So that phrase who will show us some good is what someone might say if they have looked for joy , or looked for goodness or looked for meaning in the pleasures of this world . And they've continued to try to find it in the pleasures of this world and they just never find it . But yet they keep on thinking , well , if I get this other thing , then I'll have joy . But they just never find it . They're never satisfied and so they end up resentful or bitter or feeling like life is meaningless .
Speaker 1What David's trying to say here is that if we think that the good things , the pleasures of this life are going to fulfill us in any meaningful way , any lasting way , then we have misplaced our pursuits , we've misplaced our loves , we're simply mistaken . This is what Solomon is saying in Ecclesiastes 5 , verses 10-12 . Remember , solomon was the wealthiest , wisest man in the world at one point . But he says he who loves money will not be satisfied with money , nor he who loves wealth with his income . This is also vanity . When goods increase , they increase . Who eat them ? And what advantage has their owner ? But to see them with his eyes ? Sweet is the sleep of a laborer , whether he eats little or much . But the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep . In the message version of this it just says mo' money , mo' problems . In the message version of this it just says Mo' money , mo' problems . Not really , but pretty much it's what that means . The more money we have , the more wealth we have , the more our problems just increase and the less we actually enjoy life .
Speaker 1My in-laws used to have a mountain house in Asheville , north Carolina . It was gorgeous . We would go up there and visit when we lived in Chattanooga . It's about four hours away , so it was easy to go over there for a long weekend . Just iconic views , such nice weather , especially like right now . It'd be nice to go up there , but it was also a ton of work . So it was like every time they'd go up there for a couple weeks , they had to spend like four days just doing yard work and cleaning and stuff , and it was just more to think about . Right , it's just another thing to maybe be anxious about . And then you know , obviously this doesn't happen to most people , but they lost their house In 2013, . While we were in Uganda , asheville had all this rain , like historic rainfall , and they had a mudslide and it knocked the house off its foundation . So they actually had to demolish the house so that it wouldn't fall down the mountain and destroy other homes . And then , of course , you know what insurance doesn't cover Mudslides . So they got nothing out of it , right ? They got nothing . It's a beautiful home . They got nothing for it .
Speaker 1My point is not that it's wrong or foolish to have a second home or even a third home . If you've got a third home , man , that's awesome . I'm happy for you , right ? The point is not that it's wrong to be rich . The point is not that wealthy people can't love Jesus . It's certainly not the point . I want to make sure to say that in this room , which is a room full of wealthy people , whether you realize it or not , by the world standards , we are all filthy rich . So just something to think about .
Speaker 1The text also says the sleep of a laborer is sweet . That does not mean that being poor makes it guaranteed that you're going to be a Christian , because a poor person could be just as obsessed with wealth as a rich person . They're just obsessed with the pursuit of getting it one day , right ? No , the point of this is that if our life's goal is to be fulfilled by material wealth , we will never be fulfilled . I know we hear that all the time , and they even have that as the plot of movies sometimes , but it's like people still don't really believe it . But it's the truth . We're going to lack peace if our goal is to have , if our only goal in life is just to have seven figures in our bank account by the time we retire . If that's all you got , you're never going to have peace . If all you're doing is worrying about my 401k , you're never going to have peace . It's not going to happen .
Speaker 1Like he's talking about people whose grain and wine abound . Well , that's like the Old Testament , equivalent to having your 401k be as big as it's ever been . Maybe you have some investment properties and the market is hot . You can sell those things and make tons of equity off of it . He's saying , if you have all that and you find some joy in that , well , guess what he says to God ? You have put more joy in my heart than when all those things abound .
Speaker 1He's saying , if you could measure joy , you would get more joy out of one minute of being in the presence of Jesus than you would out of a lifetime of having everything you ever wanted . That's what he's saying . It's the truth . He has this
Experiencing Joy in Jesus Alone
Speaker 1joy .
Speaker 1I mean David , look great big sinner , messed up royally multiple times . He's a bigger sinner than you or I , I think and yet he has this joy in the Lord . It's just palpable . He wrote all these Psalms because he has this joy in the Lord . Do you have joy in the Lord ? Do you have joy in Jesus ?
Speaker 1Have you experienced ? This is David's experience . It's not just some fact that he knows that he wrote out Like he's actually experienced real peace that surpasses understanding , and real joy that you can't find anywhere else . He's experienced that in his relationship with God . Do you have that ?
Speaker 1I'll be honest , I don't have that very often . I don't feel that very much . Maybe you don't either , I don't know . But what I do know is that there's a reason why it's harder to feel that where we live , we have so much of what we want . We have everything we need , but we have so much of what we want . That stuff tends to dull our understanding of what we lack . It tends to dull our concept of how needy we are . We are extremely needy people If you think about what our sin deserves .
Speaker 1Our sin is utterly offensive to the God of the universe who created us . It's an assault on him and his character and it is deserving of his wrath for eternity . We think about that and then think about what we have in Christ . We have been justified and we've been adopted into his family as his sons and daughters . He's going to seat us . In fact , paul talks about it as such a sure thing that we will be seated with Christ that he uses it in the past tense . It's like it's already happened . That's how sure it is . We're going to be glorified saints living in paradise with the King of kings for eternity , and that's just a gift . None of us deserves that . It's just a gift of his marvelous grace .
Speaker 1If you think about the gap between what we deserve and what we have in Christ , how can we not be joyful about our relationship with Christ ?
Speaker 1How can we not be overjoyed and satisfied by our Savior ? And yet so often we are just so looking for joy in so many other things . I know I am . I just want to ask if you know the joy of Jesus , that he's the friend of sinners , that he delights in you , that he doesn't want to burden you with . You know , do this and do this and do this and this and this and this , and then you can be my buddy . But no , he's given us the gift of salvation at extreme cost to him and at no cost to us . If you know that joy , then you can quote Psalm 8410 , where it says For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere . I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness . With that kind of joy and Jesus alone , that's where we can agree with David . He says in verse 8 , in peace I will both lie down and sleep . For you alone , o Lord , make me dwell in safety .