For today’s devotion, we focus on the Psalm of the Day from Psalm 4. Our devotion comes from Reading the Psalms with Luther.
Jeremiah 26:8–15
Psalm 4
Philippians 3:17—4:1
Luke 13:31–35
Psalm 4 is a psalm of comfort, and at the same time a psalm of prayer and instruction that teaches us to trust in God when things go wrong. It rebukes the ungodly, who concern themselves over vain gods and fleshly comfort, yet will not bear to wait confidently for God, who is the highest comfort. God surprises us by how He deals with His saints. At first, He abandons them and tries their faith and patience. On the other hand are the ungodly who want to have a full and secure belly. If anyone talks to them about faith and patience, they mock and despise Him and say, “Can this fool tell us what is good? Yes, you be patient until a roast chicken flies into your mouth. Trust in that and you will starve!”
This psalm belongs to the First Commandment. It teaches and urges us to hope in God and endure hardship and every need with patience, and it rebukes the faithless and impatient. Psalm 4 is included in the Third and Seventh Petitions, in which we pray that God’s will be done and that we be delivered from evil. It can also be in the Fourth Petition, when we ask for our daily bread, that is, for peace and all the necessities of life in the face of every earthly need.
Devotional reading is from Reading the Psalms with Luther, pages 20–21 © 2007 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved.
Hymn is “Lord, Thee I Love with All My Heart” from Reformation Hymns for Men’s Voices © 2016 Concordia Publishing House.