Sandals Church Podcast

Pastor Fredo explores Psalm 4, a prayer of trust in God’s provision during times of distress. As David cries out for God’s help, Pastor Fredo highlights the theme of trusting in God’s righteousness, even in uncertain times. He encourages us to reflect on the peace that comes from relying on God alone.
In this video, Pastor Fredo prays through the Psalm’s themes of peace and security, showing us how to rest in God’s presence. Psalm 4 challenges us to find joy in God's provision, even when circumstances seem bleak.

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What is Sandals Church Podcast?

At Sandals Church, our vision is to be real with ourselves, God and others. This channel features sermons and teaching from Pastor Matt Brown and other members of the Sandals Church preaching team. You can find sermon notes, videos and more content at http://sandalschurch.com/watch

Pastor Fredo Ramos:

For whatever reason, I have always struggled to pray. And so as this new year begins and as many of you think about new routines that you wanna give yourself to, especially for those of you who follow Jesus, I wanna invite you to learn to pray the Psalms with us. It's a practice I picked up years ago that really saved, my ability to learn to pray, to speak to God honestly about how I was feeling and what I was thinking. And so every single day on sandalschurch.tv on YouTube, we're gonna be releasing, praying the Psalms, a psalm a day. We started in January 1st and every day you're gonna get a new psalm, but the opportunity to read the psalm with us, to reflect on a phrase, and then to respond to God in prayer, how to pray through the psalms.

Pastor Fredo Ramos:

This has been a gift to me in my own journey with Jesus. I pray that it's a gift to you and so would you join us. Grace and peace. We continue our journey praying the Psalms and today we're in Psalm chapter 4 where David writes this answer me when I call to you my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress.

Pastor Fredo Ramos:

Have mercy on me and hear my prayer. How long will you people turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods? What a statement. Verse 3.

Pastor Fredo Ramos:

Know that the Lord has set apart his faithful servant for himself. The Lord hears when I call to him with confidence to know that God hears prayer. Verse 4. Tremble and do not sin. When you are on your bed, search your hearts and be silent.

Pastor Fredo Ramos:

Offer the sacrifices of the righteous and trust in the Lord. Many, Lord, are asking who will bring us prosperity? So let the light of your face shine on us. Fill my heart with joy when their grain and new wine abound. In peace, I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.

Pastor Fredo Ramos:

For our reflection time, I wanna 0 in on verse 4 where he says to tremble and do not sin. When you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent. I love that David acknowledges the reality that oftentimes it's out of our control to be afraid, and so he just says it. He names it in prayer. Be afraid and do not sin, and gives us a practice.

Pastor Fredo Ramos:

When you're on your beds, search your hearts and be silent. I would imagine, like me, when you lay down at night, probably as your head hits the pillow, a thousand things maybe runs through your mind. What an opportunity for us to consider David's words, to search our hearts. In other words, to reflect, to to turn inward just a bit, and to be quiet so that we might not just hear those thoughts, but that we might hear God speak to us. As David says that we might actually have joy in our hearts and that we actually might allow the light of God's face shine on us.

Pastor Fredo Ramos:

In other words, what David's hoping for as we search our hearts and get quiet is not just that we would be overwhelmed by our own anxiety at night or even in the morning, but that we would see the the face of God, meaning that we would be in his presence. And so as you find yourself in a moment to get quiet, to rest, to search your heart, know that you do so in the presence of God. Even when you are alone, you are never alone. And what an invitation for you to name the ways that maybe right now you are afraid and to say, I don't wanna I don't wanna sin. And just to say, God, today as I'm afraid of facing this or doing this task or dealing with this person, I can be afraid, but I can trust in you, and I can do so in a way that keeps me from sin, that keeps me from you.

Pastor Fredo Ramos:

And so Jesus, as we hear you inviting to us, inviting us to that today, we ask that you would help us to name the places in our hearts where we are afraid. Where maybe we're thinking like David that we're surrounded by people who who don't know what they're doing or even thinking correctly. But God, would you lead us to a place of safety where the light of your face might shine on us, where we might experience your presence. And the practice of silence, god help us to see you. In Jesus name, amen.

Pastor Fredo Ramos:

Grace and peace continue to follow along as we go through Psalm 5.