Evening Prayer

Evening Prayer

~Psalm 4~

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm of David.

^{1
Answer me when I call to you,}

^{O
my righteous God.}

^{Give
me relief from my distress;}

be merciful to me and hear my prayer.

2 How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame?

How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?

Selah

3 Know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself;

the LORD will hear when I call to him.

4 In your anger do not sin;

when you are on your beds,

search your hearts and be silent.

Selah

5 Offer right sacrifices

and trust in the LORD.

6 Many are asking, "Who can show us any good?"

Let the light of your face shine upon us, O LORD.

7 You have filled my heart with greater joy

than when their grain and new wine abound.

8 I will lie down and sleep in peace,

for you alone, O LORD,

make me dwell in safety.

^{Evening
Prayers}

^{Prayer
is not just frill - it speaks from deep within us, from our created
self. It submits to the "darkness on the face of the
deep" and wakes up to the Lord's daylight. We all sleep. We all
wake up. Out of these states, we realize the will of our Creator and
Redeemer in us. Sleeping and waking are not just physical, but are
spiritual as well. The conditions of the body are also spiritual modes.}

^{Psalm
4 marks the transition from the daylight world, where it's easy to
suppose we are in control, to the night world where we relinquish our
grip on our jobs, people and even our thoughts, and experience the Will
that is greater than ours ; the God who answers before we ask, Who acts
before we even prompt.}

^{Our
lives begin asleep in the womb - formed in the darkness, where we
are made. When we finally do venture into the daylight, we still spend
much time in the passive mode of sleep, as others care for us in
the areas where we have no wisdom or strength to care for ourselves. We
gradually spend more time in the awake hours and take up tasks for
ourselves. But we never arrive at the point where we are beyond sleep
and are self-sufficient 24 hours a day. Daily we must give up
consciousness and submit ourselves to Who is deeper than consciousness
in order to grow, to be healed, to be created, to be saved. Going to
sleep is beyond a biological act - it is an act of faith. People living
by faith welcome the evening hour of prayer - disengaging from the world
and sinking into God's Words.}

^R^{eturning to sleep
is hard for us because we want to stay in control. We
want to oversee our world. Evening prayer is a deliberate act of our
spirit that cultivates willingly what our bodies finally force on us.}

^{Psalm
4 is a symmetrical beauty from the clamorous beginning:}

^{"Answer
when I call, O God of my right"
(vs 1)}

^{to
the quiet conclusion:}

^{"In
peace I will both lie down and sleep, for thou alone, O Lord makest me
dwell in safety." (}^{vs
8)}

^{There
are two contrasts here that are worthy to notice:}

^{1. (vs 2)
those who pursue futility}

^versus

^{(vs 3)
those who realize divine guidance}

^{2. (vs 6)
those who perpetually ask God for what they do not have}

^versus

^{(vs 7) those
who are overwhelmed before God with what He has already given}

^{"The
Immature who are unhappy over what they don't have, and the Mature who are
happy with what they do have."}

^{St
Francis de Sales}

^{The
center of the prayer moves us from self assertion, where we push our vain
wills on the people and circumstances around us - acting as though we are in
charge of the universe - to a believing obedience that acts as if God is in
charge and that submits to becoming the kind of person God is in charge of.}

^{"Be
angry..."}

^{We
all have things go wrong in our days. They may well be things done out of
spite, malice or blasphemy. We are to face the lowest of the day, and be
angry; but sin not. Our anger is not a work agenda for us to plan a vengeance
that will right the wong. What is wrong with the world is God's business - not
ours. We have our part, and when morning comes, we'll get our assignments.
Meanwhile, God is giving help at a far deeper level than our meddling will ever
reach.}

^{"Commune
with your own hearts on your beds."}

^{We
would be wise to speak to ourselves, to listen to ourselves.}

^{We
become strangers to ourselves in all the voices during the daylight. We need
to become reacquainted with the person God created - not just the person we
have been in order to get through the day.}

^{"And
be silent.."}

^{Nothing
more needs to be said. No explanations, no boastings no apologies. This is WHO
we are. More important than liking or not liking ourselves, more significant
than the day's failures and accomplishments; there WE are. In the silence, we
must simply be the person God gathers to Himself.}

^{"Offer
right sacrifices"}

^{God
transforms what we place before Him. It is no longer in our hands to try and
improve it. We had all day, and now He has all night. His will is to work
with our offerings, not our perfections. We've lived our day - now we must
leave it on the altar as an offering.}

^{"And
put your trust with the Lord."}

^{We
sleep and He transforms.}

^{Dare
we even think about any other way?}

^Father,

^{May
we remember the pattern of this Psalm, and relinquish whatever control we
think we have each night. Let us lie down in peace, ready to be
nourished by you. As our bodies drift off to sleep, I pray we will
gladly hand over the cares of the day to You; hand over our very beings to
You, and welcome Your voice. May our ears and hearts be attentive to
You. Transform our day, our actions,}^{our
very selves into what You want us to be. Heal our pain. Heal our
broken hearts and lost dreams. Renew our visions and refresh our
bodies. We praise You and thank You for Your Word and all the blessings
we have through it. Forgive us when we take it so lightly, and open our
eyes to the value it has on our daily life.}

^{We
praise You and honor You.}

^{In
Jesus' name we pray,}

^Amen.

^{Morning
Prayer}