This is the 6th entry of the Psalm 4 series on Still Waters.
Did you miss the previous entries of this series? Use the links below to get caught up.
Psalm 4:1 Psalm 4:2-3 Psalm 4:4 Psalm 4:5 Psalm 4:6
God has been taking me through the Psalms verse by verse or sometimes a handful of verses at a time. He’s been leading me through such familiar passages at such a slow (sometimes painfully slow) pace. I am a perfectionist looking to complete a To Do list every day and God is showing me that there is more to walking with Him than checking the boxes. This slow, sauntering walk with Him beside streams of living water has uncovered some old stones that I’d dropped and some new ones to pick up. These entries are taken pretty much word for word from my journals and I’m praying that you will be encouraged and blessed as you read them.
Click here to read all of Psalm 4 in full.
Psalm 4:7 – “You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound.”
As I was preparing my heart and mind to hear what God wanted to say to me about this verse, I was praying and going over the events of the day. Asking God for forgiveness for things I had slipped up on and ways I had sinned against Him. I asked Him to clear out the junk in my heart and to quiet the noise in my head. To help me hear what He’s saying.
I felt a wave of gratitude rush into my heart. I couldn’t hold back my tears and somehow I was at a loss for words. All I could say was “thank you” and to tell God how humbling it is for Him to use me, to speak through me. That I’m just an ordinary person but when I pick up a pen and put it to paper He allows something extraordinary to happen. I told God I’m so grateful to be a willing participant in something that feels so fulfilling, that gives me such a sense of purpose and brings me joy.
I opened my eyes and looked down at verse 7: “You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound.” It felt almost surprising to me that this verse was exactly what I was feeling and I didn’t even realize it every other time I’d read it or thought about these words.
With tears streaming down my face, I told God, “You have filled my heart with greater joy than when grain and new wine abound.”
I immediately pictured an empty barrel with just a dusty layer of grain barely covering the bottom and somehow I knew this was me.
The depressed, lifeless, empty me. And the tears fell harder. This is what I prayed:
“God, I’m grateful for how You’ve blessed me. I have gone from scraping the bottom of the barrel, not knowing how I was going to make it to the end of the day much less have what it takes to get up and face tomorrow. You have come in with Your grain and new wine. You have fed my soul and quenched my thirst. Your provisions abound and are overwhelmingly abundant. I was empty, You filled me up. I was lacking, You met my need. My resources were depleted, You restored my provisions. You have filled my heart with greater joy than when the grain and new wine abound.”
This reminder of how God has brought me out of depression reinforced the seed He has planted in my heart to share my struggle with anyone who will listen. A phrase that I have latched onto and have taken on as my life’s mission is “shining His light”. Because I have spent so much time in the darkness I don’t ever want to go back to that and I know God has placed a desire in my heart to use my writing to shine His light. As I was doing some research on my Psalm 4:6 entry about God letting the light of His face shine upon us, I came across a commentary posted on the Ligonier Ministries website that says this:
“Scripture describes the experience of God’s light as the greatest blessing that any human being can ever enjoy. This is certainly true of today’s passage, which says that the light of the Almighty’s face brings more joy than the harvest of grain and wine (Ps. 4:7).
For an agrarian society like ancient Israel, whose livelihood was dependent on such harvests, this is a powerful statement of the glory of the blessings of the Lord. In keeping with Psalm 4:6, we also see in the Aaronic blessing the idea that life in the light of God is the highest honor for mankind (Num. 6:22–27; John 8:12).
Importantly, the Bible is also clear that those who experience God’s light are not to keep it to themselves but to share it with a world that is trapped in darkness. This, in fact, was the original call for Israel — to be the light of the world and illumine the way toward Yahweh, the only true God and covenant Lord of Abraham and his seed (Isa. 42:6). It is the call that our Savior gave to His church in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:14–16).
As those who have been rescued from the darkness of sin, we have the responsibility to shine forth the truth of Christ in our words and our deeds, that people would see the true gravity of their sin and turn from it to the light of grace and holiness revealed in Jesus. This is a high calling indeed, and it is one that we could never fulfill if left to ourselves. Thankfully, we have not been left to ourselves but have been given the Spirit to shine through us as we follow the Lord.”
I’ve been thinking on this for about a week and in taking time to examine how I let God’s light shine, I’m starting to see what motivates me and drives me to bring glory to Him or attempt to bring glory to myself. I’ve made a couple of observations:
When I shine on my own, I shine only within my own circle.
When I’m feeling like my light is dull and lifeless I gravitate towards dimming someone else’s light but trying to tear you down to dim your light, doesn’t make my light shine any brighter.
I can shine on my own and I can shine brightly without feeling threatened or insecure by how someone else’s light shines. At the same time, I can also shine brightly without apologizing for how my light shines in the face of someone else’s negativity. I don’t have to dim my light to make someone more comfortable with themselves.
However, if you’re in a dark place, my light can shine brightly into your life, removing the shadows.
If your light already shines bright and I add my light to yours, we can shine brighter together.
Our circle of impact grows as we endeavor to push back the darkness together by adding more bright lights to shine as one instead of looking for ways to shut each other down and allowing the darkness to swallow us up.
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” – Matthew 5:14-16
If you’d like to continue reading, click here for the Psalm 4:8 entry on the Still Waters page!
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Shining His Light 