(Part 1)

Ps. 4:7 Thou has put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased.

Psalms 3 and 4 were written when David fled from Absalom; and if, as some think, Psalm 4 was written at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles, the harvest and the vintage were over, and the rich stores of corn and new wine were at Absalom’s disposal, while David had nothing or very little. It was in every way a hard time for David had nothing or very little. It was in every way a hard time for David, and it was not surprising that many said there was “no help for him in God” and “Who will show us any good?” We all know times of trial when the voices within and without talk like that. But David’s faith breaks through, and he can honestly say, Thou hast put gladness in my heart more than when corn and wine increased. It is not difficult to have gladness in our hearts when we have what we want–corn and wine may stand for whatever we most enjoy doing or possessing–but God asks for something far more than this. He wants what David offered Him when he wrote those words more than.

(Part 2)
What David offered to his God was a heart that was utterly satisfied with His will. There were no private reservations, no little whispered “if”–if only I can be where I want to be, and have what I want to have, then there will be gladness in my heart; O God; he did not say that–he did not even say, By Thy grace I am glad, I am as glad as I should be if I had those stores of corn and wine. He went further, he flew right out of all the restricting thoughts that might have caged his spirit, up and up into the free air of God, and he said, Thou hast put a new kind of gladness in my heart. It does not depend on what I have, it is more than that sort of gladness. It is a joy that is entirely independent of circumstances.

(From the book Edges of His Ways)