Psalms / Chapter 4

Psalms 4

9 verses • Westminster Leningrad Codex

Translator's Introduction

What This Chapter Is About

Psalm 4 is an evening psalm of trust, forming a natural pair with Psalm 3 (the morning psalm). The psalmist calls out to God in distress, challenges those who pursue falsehood, affirms that the LORD has set apart the faithful one, and closes with a declaration of peace and security in sleep. The psalm moves from petition through rebuke to serene confidence.

What Makes This Chapter Remarkable

The closing verse — 'in peace I will both lie down and sleep, for You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety' — is one of the most intimate expressions of trust in the entire Psalter. Where Psalm 3 described sleeping despite enemies, Psalm 4 describes the inner quality of that sleep: shalom, wholeness, peace. The psalmist's security is not circumstantial but relational — it rests on the word 'alone' (levadad): God alone, without any other guarantee, is sufficient. This is the Psalter's answer to anxiety.

Translation Friction

The superscription mentions the director of music (la-menatseach) and stringed instruments (bi-neginot), indicating liturgical use — this personal prayer was also public worship. The identity of the opponents is unclear: bene ish ('sons of men,' or 'men of rank') in verse 3 may refer to social elites who pursue empty prestige rather than God's truth. The phrase hiflah YHWH chasid lo (v. 4) is debated — does it mean God has 'set apart' or 'done wonders for' the faithful one?

Connections

Psalm 4 pairs with Psalm 3 as evening-morning bookends (3 = morning awakening; 4 = evening lying down). The phrase 'offer right sacrifices and trust in the LORD' (v. 6) echoes Deuteronomy 33:19. The question 'Who will show us good?' (v. 7) mirrors the skeptical question in Psalm 12:5 and Malachi 2:17. The 'light of Your face' (v. 7) draws on the Aaronic blessing of Numbers 6:25-26.

Psalms 4:1

לַמְנַצֵּ֥חַ בִּנְגִינ֗וֹת מִזְמ֥וֹר לְדָוִֽד׃

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

KJV To the chief Musician on Neginoth, A Psalm of David.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. La-menatseach ('for the director of music' or 'for the choirmaster') appears in 55 psalm superscriptions. The root n-ts-ch can mean 'to endure, to oversee, to direct.' Bi-neginot ('with stringed instruments') indicates instrumental accompaniment — neginah refers to the playing of stringed instruments (lyre, harp). This is the first psalm with performance instructions, signaling that the Psalter was designed for corporate worship, not just private reading.
Psalms 4:2

בְּקׇרְאִ֡י עֲנֵ֤נִי ׀ אֱלֹהֵ֥י צִדְקִ֗י בַּ֭צָּר הִרְחַ֣בְתָּ לִּ֑י חׇ֝נֵּ֗נִי וּשְׁמַ֥ע תְּפִלָּתִֽי׃

When I call, answer me, O God of my righteousness. In my distress You gave me room; be gracious to me and hear my prayer.

KJV Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The spatial metaphor — constriction versus spaciousness — is fundamental to Hebrew descriptions of distress and deliverance. Distress is narrowness; salvation is width. The same metaphor appears in Psalm 18:20 ('He brought me out into a spacious place') and Psalm 118:5 ('from the narrow place I called to the LORD; He answered me in the wide open').
Psalms 4:3

בְּנֵ֥י אִ֡ישׁ עַד־מֶ֬ה כְבוֹדִ֣י לִ֭כְלִמָּה תֶּאֱהָב֣וּן רִ֑יק תְּבַקְשׁ֖וּ כָזָ֣ב סֶֽלָה׃

You people of rank — how long will my honor be turned to shame? How long will you love emptiness and pursue falsehood? Selah.

KJV O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing? Selah.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The word kevodi ('my glory, my honor') is the same term used in Psalm 3:4, where God is called 'my glory.' Here the opponents attack it. The psalmist's dignity comes from God (Psalm 3); the enemies assault that God-given dignity (Psalm 4). The two psalms illuminate each other.
  2. Kazav ('falsehood, lie') in the Psalter typically refers not to casual dishonesty but to a fundamental orientation toward unreality — choosing illusion over truth, image over substance. It is the moral opposite of emet ('truth, reliability, faithfulness').
Psalms 4:4

וּדְע֗וּ כִּֽי־הִפְלָ֣ה יְ֭הוָה חָסִ֣יד ל֑וֹ יְהוָ֥ה יִ֝שְׁמַ֗ע בְּקׇרְאִ֥י אֵלָֽיו׃

Know this: the LORD has set apart the faithful one for Himself; the LORD hears when I call to Him.

KJV But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto him.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

חָסִיד chasid
"the faithful one" — faithful, loyal, devoted, pious; one bound by chesed (covenant loyalty) to God

chasid is the adjectival form of chesed ('faithful love'). It describes the human counterpart to God's covenant loyalty — the person whose life is characterized by steadfast devotion. The chasid stands opposite the rasha ('wicked') in the Psalter's moral taxonomy.

Translator Notes

  1. Chasid ('faithful one, devotee, loyal one') derives from chesed ('faithful love, loyal kindness, covenant loyalty'). The chasid is the person who both receives and practices chesed — they are loyal to God, and God is loyal to them. It is a relational term, not merely a moral one. Later Judaism used chasidim ('pious ones') as a designation for the devout (cf. the Hasidim and later the Hasidic movement).
Psalms 4:5

רִגְז֗וּ וְאַל־תֶּ֫חֱטָ֥אוּ אִמְר֣וּ בִ֭לְבַבְכֶם עַֽל־מִשְׁכַּבְכֶ֗ם וְדֹ֣מּוּ סֶֽלָה׃

Tremble, but do not sin; search your hearts on your beds and be silent. Selah.

KJV Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Ephesians 4:26 quotes this verse directly: 'Be angry and do not sin.' Paul follows the Septuagint reading of rigzu as orgizesthe ('be angry'). The Hebrew rigzu is broader — it includes anger but also trembling, agitation, and emotional disturbance of any kind. The point is the same: strong emotion is not condemned, but its expression must be governed.
  2. The instruction to examine one's heart 'on your beds' connects to the psalm's evening setting. Nighttime self-examination — lying in the dark with nothing to distract — is a practice the psalm recommends to opponents and reader alike.
Psalms 4:6

זִבְח֥וּ זִבְחֵי־צֶ֑דֶק וּ֝בִטְח֗וּ אֶל־יְהוָֽה׃

Offer right sacrifices and trust in the LORD.

KJV Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Zivche tsedeq ('sacrifices of righteousness') could mean either sacrifices that are themselves righteous (properly performed) or sacrifices offered by righteous people. The ambiguity is probably intentional — both senses apply. True worship requires both proper form and proper heart. Psalm 51:19 will later distinguish between 'sacrifices of God' (a broken spirit) and external burnt offerings.
Psalms 4:7

רַבִּ֥ים אֹמְרִים֮ מִֽי־יַרְאֵ֢נוּ֫ ט֥וֹב הָֽרְאָה־עָ֭לֵינוּ א֖וֹר פָּנֶ֣יךָ יְהוָֽה׃

Many are saying, "Who will show us any good?" Lift up the light of Your face upon us, O LORD.

KJV There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The phrase or panekha ('the light of Your face') derives from the ancient Near Eastern convention that a king's favorable attention was described as his face 'shining' or 'being lifted.' When applied to God, it means God's gracious, attentive, approving presence. The opposite — God hiding His face (haster panim) — means abandonment and wrath. The psalmist asks for the most basic divine gift: that God would look at His people with favor.
Psalms 4:8

נָתַ֣תָּה שִׂמְחָ֣ה בְלִבִּ֑י מֵעֵ֬ת דְּגָנָ֖ם וְתִירוֹשָׁ֣ם רָֽבּוּ׃

You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and new wine overflow.

KJV Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The comparison between spiritual joy and harvest abundance is not a dismissal of material blessings but a ranking. The psalmist does not say grain and wine are bad — they are good gifts. But the simchah ('joy, gladness') that God places directly in the heart outranks even the best material conditions. This anticipates the Psalter's theology of God as the ultimate good, beyond all gifts.
Psalms 4:9

בְּשָׁל֣וֹם יַחְדָּו֮ אֶשְׁכְּבָ֢ה וְאִ֫ישָׁ֥ן כִּֽי־אַתָּ֣ה יְהוָ֣ה לְבָדָ֑ד לָ֝בֶ֗טַח תּוֹשִׁיבֵֽנִי׃

In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.

KJV I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

שָׁלוֹם shalom
"peace" — peace, wholeness, completeness, well-being, soundness, welfare; the state of nothing lacking

shalom derives from shalem ('to be complete, to be sound'). It describes a state of comprehensive well-being — relational, physical, spiritual, material. In this verse, shalom is the quality of rest that God alone can produce. It is not the absence of enemies (they are still there) but the presence of God that creates shalom.

Translator Notes

  1. The word shalom encompasses more than 'peace' in the English sense. Its root sh-l-m means 'to be complete, to be whole, to be sound.' Shalom is the state in which nothing is missing, nothing is broken, nothing is threatened. To lie down in shalom is to rest in total well-being — a condition only God can provide.
  2. The phrase levadad ('alone, uniquely') makes a theological claim of enormous weight: God alone, without supplement, is sufficient for human safety. This is not a statement about isolation but about sufficiency — the psalmist needs no other guarantee because the divine guarantee is complete.
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