COVENANT BENEFITS
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Opening Prayer
Father God, thank you for the countless ways you show me your love, for the ways you sustain me, providing all that I need for faith and life.
Read PSALM 4
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm of David.
1 Answer me when I call to you,
my righteous God.
Give me relief from my distress;
have mercy on me and hear my prayer.
2 How long will you people turn my glory into shame?
How long will you love delusions and seek false gods[b]?[c]
3 Know that the Lord has set apart his faithful servant for himself;
the Lord hears when I call to him.
4 Tremble and[d] do not sin;
when you are on your beds,
search your hearts and be silent.
5 Offer the sacrifices of the righteous
and trust in the Lord.
6 Many, Lord, are asking, “Who will bring us prosperity?”
Let the light of your face shine on us.
7 Fill my heart with joy
when their grain and new wine abound.
8 In peace I will lie down and sleep,
for you alone, Lord,
make me dwell in safety.
Footnotes
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
How secure do you feel in God’s justice? Why?
Last Sunday, we saw King David in Psalm 3 calling upon God to destroy his enemies. He committed their punishment to the Lord, in keeping with Deuteronomy 32:35 and 36. In today’s reading, the king again needs rescuing from his foes, but his appeal to God is somewhat different this time. As verses 1 and 3 indicate, it is based on his covenant relationship as a ‘godly’ (literal meaning of ‘faithful’ in verse 3) man with the merciful God who justifies his people.
Many English versions of verse 1, following the original Hebrew and its ancient Greek translation (Septuagint), have David addressing the Lord as the ‘God of my righteousness.’ This conveys the idea that God alone is just (righteous) and the justifier of those who trust in him—a notion taken up in the New Testament by the apostle Paul (see below). David here underlines his spiritual dependency on God. He is not righteous in himself, but solely because of God’s compassion toward him. That is why he cries to God, ‘have mercy on me’ (v. 1). He doesn’t deserve God’s help, but expects it on the basis of his Vindicator’s covenant love.
All of this prefigures the relationship between Christians and Christ. By accepting that he died in our place (as our substitute), taking the punishment our sins deserve, we are declared not guilty in the divine court where our Judge is the only one who can justify us.1 King David understood the essentials, though not the particulars, of this glorious truth. For Christians, the ‘sacrifices’ and ‘trust’ he mentions in verse 5 are centered on Christ. Because we have entered into the new covenant in his blood,2 we, like David, can enjoy God’s peace and expect God’s help for his own name’s sake.
Apply
By using a concordance (or the internet), learn about the Bible’s five foundational covenants which involved Abraham, Noah, Moses, David, and Jesus.
Closing prayer
I praise you, Lord Jesus, for your promise never to leave or forsake me. Thank you for the joy and peace that are mine because you are always with me.
1 Rom 3:25, 26 2 1 Cor 11:25
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