This is Spoken Gospel.

We’re dedicated to seeing
Jesus in all of scripture.

In each episode, we see what’s
happening in a Biblical text,

and how it sheds light
on Jesus and his gospel.

Let’s jump in.

The exact situation that led David
to write this psalm is unknown,

but Israel was probably facing
something like a severe famine.

So, in response, many Israelites apparently
made sacrifices to false gods and idols,

praying that they could stop
the drought and bring rain.

These false god worshippers look to any person,
any religion, or any means to solve their problem.

And David pictures them as selling their allegiance
to anyone with a decent answer to their question,

“Who will show us some good?”.

But David’s response to this famine is different.

He invites Israel to be silent, to
rest, and to fear the one true God.

While everyone else may be running around trying to solve
their problems through works and sacrificing

to false gods, David says he will lay down in
peace and go to sleep because he trusts God.

David finds rest in a time of chaos.
He finds plenty in a time of scarcity.

Even though David and his people may
experience a lack of food, dwindling supplies,

and a shortage of everyday
provisions, he still trusts God.

This is how David can say he has more joy with God
in a famine than those without God at a rich banquet.

David would rather be poor and with the true God,
than rich and with idols.

Our world is still filled with false gods who offer
solutions to all the modern famines we face.

Consider what people refer to as a personal
drought, including when all the purpose,

joy, opportunities, and
friends in life seem to dry up.

It is so easy to turn to anyone
who can “show us some good.”

Whether it be personal self-discovery, sexual exploration,
or a departure from religious faith altogether, there are
plenty of false gods that say they can make us happy.

The obvious problem is that they, like the idols worshiped
by the people in Psalm 4, are fake and powerless.

We need something real.

That is why David asked to see God’s face, to
experience his nearness, to know his presence.

The good news is that Jesus is
described as the very light of God’s face.

Jesus is the only one who
proves himself as truly God.

He is not a picture of an imagined god, called an idol.
Jesus is the exact image of the true God.

Jesus proves this by going through a famine
no human could survive—the drought of the grave.

When Jesus lay down to sleep in that tomb, God made
him dwell in safety by raising him from the dead.

When physical or personal famines enter our lives, we
don’t have to work and toil to find ways to solve them.

We can rest in the knowledge that if God can conquer
the grave, he can conquer anything.

When we rest in what Jesus has done for us,
then we can have joy even when things are bad.

So, I pray that the Holy Spirit would open your eyes to see
the God who alone is able to solve the famines of our lives.

And may you see Jesus as the only one who
can pull us out of whatever drought we are in

by the good news of what
he did for us on the cross.