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NOTES for Psa 4

Printable version
1 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.
2 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.
3 But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto him.
4 Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.
5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD.
6 There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.
7 Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased.
8 I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.
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The fourth psalm speaks of three things that are of the greatest importance in human life: truth, goodness, and peace. Without them, life itself is scarcely possible; without them, it seems a dark and painful existence. And the psalmist connects all this with the name of the Lord. Rejecting falsehood and vanity, he calls himself and all people to offer a “sacrifice of righteousness.” Truth thus becomes for him a form of service to God. He sees goodness in God Himself and asks Him to let the light of His face shine. David calls everything else vanity, because it passes without a trace; only the Lord’s light endures forever. Finally, he sees peace and joy in God’s help and protection, in the fact that God does not leave a person without His care. Thus prayer becomes for David the fulfillment of the first commandment.

Other notes

 
For
2 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.
3 But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto him.
4 Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.
5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD.
6 There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.
7 Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased.
8 I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.
Hide
The Lord is called here the God of truth, which means that He is unlike the gods as the pagans imagined them...  Read more

The Lord is called here the God of truth, which means that He is unlike the gods as the pagans imagined them, endowed with human “weaknesses”—in essence, vices—one of which is deceitfulness. Even more important, however, is that the One whose might surpasses everything draws us to Himself not by might, not by force, and not by the prospect of receiving wealth and prosperity from Him, but by truth. Truth seems so unimportant to the many people accustomed to saying, “If you do not cheat, you will not sell,” or, “The simpleton tells the truth, so everyone makes him carry the water.” But the Lord offers us another kind of strength, revealed amid apparent weakness and contrary to all familiar notions.

It is probably no accident that after the call to offer sacrifices of righteousness, the psalmist prophetically mentions bread and wine, which the Son of God, who sacrificed Himself, would call His Body and Blood...

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