(This is the fourth of a few posts on Psalm 4, written as a followup to Oscar Hammerstein and reading the Bible)

But what do I do?

That’s a huge question in a life of faith. We may believe in God, but what does that look like behaviorally (other than going to church on Sunday or giving or reading the Bible or other apparent rules)?

In the middle of Psalm 4, David identifies a handful of specific actions. We’ll start that list today.

First, if you know that God understands betrayal and listens to those who listen to him, when you get angry, you don’t have to take matters into your own hands instead of waiting for his wisdom. As parents, as spouses, as friends, as employees, we know what it is like to be betrayed, to feel out of control, to be angry. We know what it is like to know what we ought to say, what the calm, healing, clarifying, non-combative response is. We know, but we just can’t help ourselves.

At those moments you can, says David, tell God about your anger in the same way a little child bombarded by snowballs but too little to respond can run home and tell parents.  Notice, please, that David isn’t saying “don’t be angry.” You will be.

In other places David speaks of what it feels like to have one of his best friends betray him, a friend who has stood in next to him when talking to God. The frustration he feels is painful. But, as David shows us in the beginning of this song, the right response is to first tell God about the situation, about the feeling, and then to listen to God’s words of identification and empathy.

I’ll be honest. Sometimes those words reflect God’s identification and empathy with the other person. He does at times take sides. I am, at times, wrong.

That becomes clear in conversation.