Mensa Otabil - Meditate Within Your Heart (11/01/2025)
Psalm 4, verses 4 and 5: Be angry, and do not sin; meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still. Selah. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness and put your trust in the Lord. Very interesting, these two verses. Remember, in verse two, David is asking, «How long, O sons of men, are you going to try to turn my glory to shame? How long are you going to love worthlessness?» So he’s frustrated by people who are persistently against him and trying to mess up his life. Sometimes in life, we go through that-people who seem to always want to make your life miserable.
In verse 4, David is still responding to verse 2, and he tells us how to react to these people who want to make our lives miserable. There are four things he tells us to do. First, he says that if you have people like that who are trying to mess up your life every time you go out, they just want to do something bad against you. He says, «Be angry, and do not sin.» Be angry, but don’t sin. Later, this instruction is affirmed in the New Testament: «Be angry, but don’t sin.» What does that mean? Be angry, and it’s okay to be angry, but don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t put out your hand to do something wrong. Don’t imitate the ways of those who are doing wrong. If you do that, you are angry, and you are sinning.
So David says it’s okay, when you’re hurt, to be angry, but be careful that you don’t do something wrong out of your anger. That’s a warning to you: if people are against you, harassing you, be angry, but don’t sin. The second thing he says is to be still and meditate in your heart. Instead of allowing your mind to conjure up and conceive all kinds of things you can do to pay them back and make their lives miserable, he says meditate in your heart. Basically, don’t meditate about plans to destroy somebody, but meditate on the Lord. Let the word of the Lord dwell in you richly; think about the goodness of the Lord.
So while people are planning evil against you, be angry, but don’t sin, and meditate on the Lord. Then he says the third one, which I like very much: Offer the sacrifices of the righteous. He says, «Be angry, don’t sin, meditate on the Lord, then offer the sacrifices of the righteous.» What does that mean? It’s praise, worship, and adoration. That’s the sacrifice of the righteous. If you are a child of God, that’s your sacrifice. So when people are against you, just worship the Lord. Be in His presence; seek the goodness of the Lord; seek the presence of the Lord; and just allow the Holy Spirit to occupy your atmosphere with the presence of God.
It is in that place of worship that God deploys His own help for you. That’s when He tells you, «You don’t need to fight in this battle; the battle is for Me.» And He comes on the scene and helps you. But if you want to fight your own battle, God takes Himself off the Battlefront. So the psalmist says, worship. Anger is selfish; when you are angry, you want to do something to please yourself. But when you worship, you are selfless; you’re taking everything and giving it to the Lord. So be angry, don’t sin, meditate, and then worship.
The last thing he says is to put your trust in the Lord. In verse two, David says those who want to turn his glory to shame are the sons of men; they trust in themselves, but he will trust in the Lord. He puts his trust in the Lord. The people who are against you are mere men; they are mere women; they are just people, and people can’t do much against you. And when you lift up your hands in worship and seek the presence of God and seek the face of the Lord, the Lord does battle for you. Just put your trust in God, and if you’re going through anything similar to what David went through, follow this guide that David has left us: be angry, but do not sin; meditate before the Lord; offer the sacrifices of the righteous to the Lord; and put your trust in God. That’s how you win your spiritual battles.
Let’s pray. Say with me: Heavenly Father, I offer to You my sacrifice of worship and adoration. Keep me away from acting in anger. In Jesus' name, Amen.