Psalms 4:4-5

Tremble, and do not sin;

Meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still.

Selah.

Offer the sacrifices of righteousness,

And trust in the Lord.

Awoke with a heaviness of heart this morning, seeming mountains to traverse in very direction.  So I climbed back into bed and opened my Bible to Psalms.  It’s what I would advise a downhearted friend to do... so...time to take my own medicine.

Began at Psam 1 but was stopped by Psalm 4:4 and 5.  Seven little instructions popped out as a prescription for the Psalmist’s troubled spirit.  Perhaps for mine too.

a.  “Tremble.”   I guess that means I need to take the serious seriously.  Now is not the time to blow it off or put my head in the sand.  Tremble at the trouble.  Or tremble in His presence.  Or both.  Likely both.

b.  “Do not sin.”  Simple enough.  That is if I just stay in bed with the Bible on my lap.  Once I get out, sin is crouching everywhere.  It’s especially easy to sin when I feel down or stressed... my thoughts and/or words could erupt in sin.  My stress relief elixir could be sin. (food, beverage, distraction...). My gloomy disposition would be sin.  Angry responses, withdrawal, denial, distraction,  ruminating ... so many sinful choices when I’m trembling...

c.  “Mediate upon your bed.”  ✅

d.  “Be still.”  I’m wriggling even as I type it.  Be still.  Meditate in stillness.  This meditation business is the stuff of marinating, not microwaving.  What might be different in my life if instead of forging into action, instead of distracting myself with media or friends or materialism, instead of trying to outrun trouble,  I would simply... be still.  Sit with the heaviness.  Process it with God.

e.  “Selah”.  This is a unique Hebrew word used often in the Psalms.  May mean “to pause”.  May mean “to cast upwards”.  As in to God?  (Now humming... “I cast all my cares upon You... 🎶...”)

f.  “Offer the sacrifices of righteousness.”  Doing the right thing can be so hard.  The word “sacrifice” infers hard, doesn’t it?  Ugh.  The wrong response is so much easier, so much less... sacrificial.  The sacrifice of righteousness...  I think I need to stay in meditation for a bit...

g.  “And trust in the Lord.”  We like that part.  Yet it’s important to note that it doesn’t stand alone here.  Not a glib answer, but rather one of many imperatives... a list of commands.  I do my part: tremble, not sin, meditate, be still, do the hard thing, and then... let it go.  Trust in the Lord.

These two verses in one of 150 Psalms have laid out a roadmap today.  The Psalms are emotional journal entries recording real life moments by real live humans who turn to their only Hope.  As always... God met me there.

It’s a tough prescription to fill, but at least I know the next thing to do...