Psalms 4

Wesley: O God—the witness and defender of my righteous cause.

Shared plea—call, remember past relief, ask grace and a hearing. The God who has enlarged before is still to be sought. Prayer is earnest dependence, not a claim that the world already owns his innocence.

Calvin: faith that, almost consumed by calamities, still betakes itself to God. God of his righteousness means vindicator of his right against slander; he expected relief from mercy. Former enlargements strengthen faith for terrors ahead—God is always present with his own and will not disappoint their desires.

Cry grounded in prior help. The appeal is to God’s equity and free goodness, not to a court that already sides with David.

Wesley: My glory—that honour which God had conferred upon him. Vanity—wickedness. Lying—calumnies raised to make him odious to all the people.

Shared rebuke—how long will shame and lies win the day? God’s conferred honor is not theirs to rewrite. Stop loving vanity; the Selah bids attention before the next word of distinction.

Calvin: how long condemns obstinate purpose, not a sudden impulse. They try to turn into shame the glory God conferred or promised; yet David keeps hold of that honor. Loving vanity and seeking lying will not prosper against God.

Rebuke of obstinate shame and lies. Confidence stands because God determined to defend him; human engines against that appointment are vanity.

Wesley: Godly—me, whom, though you traduce as an hypocrite, God hath pronounced to be a man after his own heart (1 Sam 13:14). For himself—in his stead, or to be his vicegerent, as kings are, especially kings of God’s people.

The LORD’s setting apart answers the shame of v. 2. God has owned the godly one against the traducer’s charge; hearing follows the call of the one so owned. Shared confession—distinction and answered prayer are true.

Calvin: set apart means advanced to the throne not by human suffrage or ambition but by God’s appointment—it is God’s prerogative to choose whom he will. Boldness rests on God the founder of the kingdom. God proves faithfulness by not forsaking the work of his hands but continually defending those he has once received into his favor.

The LORD sets apart and hears. The ground of hearing is God’s own separating choice and ongoing defense of those he has received—not a verdict first won from the crowd.

Wesley: In awe—be afraid, if not of me, yet of God, who hath engaged in my cause. Sin not—by prosecuting your rebellion against God’s authority. On your bed—calmly consider these things in the silent night, at leisure from distracting business. Be still—compose your tumultuous minds.

Shared warning—awe that cuts off sin. Night solitude is for honest reckoning, not for nursing revolt. Compose the tumult; refuse the next sinful step.

Calvin: tremble—awaken from lethargy; ungodly presumption runs without fear of God. Commune on the bed: take account alone, away from public applause. Stillness follows trembling—return from reckless sin begins with fear, then deliberate reflection.

The call is to tremble, search the heart, and be still. The remedy for raging against God is awakened fear and honest self-examination, not louder self-justification.

Wesley: Offer—unto God, that he may be reconciled to you. Righteousness—righteous sacrifices, requiring that the persons offering be righteous and do righteous things, and offer them with an honest mind, with faith and true repentance. Without which, all their sacrifices were of no esteem with God and wholly unprofitable.

Shared call—right sacrifice and trust. Reconciliation is sought with faith and repentance, not empty rite. Trust in the LORD must accompany the offering.

Calvin: he censures hypocrisy—enemies held the ark and temple and vaunted sacrifices while David was banished. God is not pacified by mere outward ceremonies; he requires sacrifices of righteousness over spurious rites. Trust in the Lord, not in altar pomp that pollutes while boasting.

Right sacrifice and trust. Outward access without purity provokes wrath; true worship and confidence in God displace hypocritical boasting.

Wesley: Many—of my followers, weary of waiting upon God. Who—who will put an end to our troubles and give us tranquility. Lift up—upon me and my friends; give us an assurance of thy love, and evidence it by thy powerful assistance.

Shared contrast—many chase “any good”; the godly ask the light of God’s face. Assurance of love is the good worth seeking when weariness asks for quicker relief.

Calvin: many are distracted by desires for present goods; the faithful rest in God’s favor alone. The light of God’s countenance is the manifestation of his favor—shining in the heart by the Spirit to produce trust and hope. Perfect felicity is only in that favor, not in the world’s many goods.

He seeks the light of God’s face over the restless appetite of the crowd. Those who begin prosperity without seeking God’s favor remain miserable; the faithful ask his countenance even when other goods fail.

Wesley: Thou hast—whatsoever thou shalt do with me for the future, I have at present unspeakable satisfaction in the testimonies of thy love to my soul; more than worldly persons have in the time of a plentiful harvest.

Shared joy—God-put gladness outweighs harvest abundance. Present testimonies of love to the soul answer the many who only ask for “any good.” Receive and prize that joy over grain and wine.

Calvin: more satisfaction in the reconciled countenance of God than in garners of corn and cellars of wine. Earthly abundance inflames desire and leaves secret uneasiness; undisturbed peace and solid joy come only when God’s favor shines. The faithful can bear the loss of worldly comforts if they know themselves objects of divine care.

Joy in the heart outweighs the joy of a full harvest. The comparison exposes worldly addiction; true gladness is the gift of God’s favor, not the harvest’s measure.

Wesley: In peace—in tranquility of mind, resting securely upon God’s promises.

Shared rest—lie down and sleep because the LORD alone makes one dwell in safety. Peace is practiced trust that rests on what God has promised; the sleeper entrusts himself where grain and wine cannot keep the night.

Calvin: protected by God’s power, he enjoys quiet as if defended by all garrisons. Under God’s hand alone he sleeps as securely, though destitute of human guardianship, as if surrounded by a great host. Yield this honor to God—believe that though no help appear from men, his hand keeps in peace and safety.

Peaceful sleep under the LORD alone. Safety is God’s placing and defending, not the presence of a human watch.