This Day in History: 0000-04-26

April 26 – Psalm 4 

Answer me when I call to You, oh God who declares me innocent.
Free me from my troubles. Have mercy on me and hear my prayer. 

How long will you people ruin my reputation? How long will you make groundless accusations?
How long will you continue your lies? You can be sure of this:
The LORD set apart the godly for Himself. The LORD will answer when I call to Him. 

Don’t sin by letting anger control you. Think about it overnight and remain silent.
Offer sacrifices in the right spirit, and trust the LORD. 

Many people say, “Who will show us better times?” Let Your face smile on us, LORD.
You have given me greater joy than those who have abundant harvests of grain and new wine.
In peace I will lie down and sleep, for You alone, Oh LORD, will keep me safe. 

Does it ever feel like the whole world is against you? Even though it’s probably not true, when our lives come under attack from even a few of the people we love, or even the one person we love most, it sure does feel like it’s the whole world, doesn’t it? It’s hard to keep our focus tight around the truth that God’s opinion of us is the only one that really matters. 

If we have accepted His free gift of salvation, we’ve been declared innocent. We don’t have to work for His approval. We have it!  It doesn’t matter what anyone else says about us, we answer to Him! He has set us apart for Himself, and He’s there for us all the time. Forever on our side. Forever ready to help. Forever in love with us! 

Since that is true, let’s work hard to believe it. Let’s allow the reality of our eternal identity to define not only who we are, but how we act. We are the deeply loved children of the Lord God Almighty, and we don’t need to live in a state in which we’re controlled by our feelings and emotions.  

Our anger, for instance, isn’t always wrong. There are many things that should make us angry. Jesus got angry. God gets angry. However, our anger should never control us! We’re told that in our anger, we mustn’t sin. So let’s be careful to keep quiet in those moments when we feel overwhelmed by anger. (I am preaching to myself here y’all! Big time!) Let’s take at least a day to bring our feelings before the Lord in prayer, and ask Him to help us sort them out in a way that honors Him.  

Sometimes, some metaphorical tables are gonna need to be turned over, and as long as those actions are coming from the leading of God, they won’t be sin. But far more often, as we take the time to seek God in our anger, He will show us that He is going to handle it for us. That we need only be still and wait for Him to act. In the meantime, as we continually put our trust in Him, His Spirit will fill us with unmatched joy in the wait.  

That doesn’t mean it will be easy, but we will be able to lie down in peace each night, trusting that the One who sits on the Throne of Heaven is on our side, and He will keep us safe.