Psalms 4:1-8: a reflection

1Answer me when I call, God of my righteousness. Give me relief from my distress. Have mercy on me, and hear my prayer. 2You sons of men, how long shall my glory be turned into dishonor? Will you love vanity and seek after falsehood? Selah. 3But know that the LORD has set apart for himself him who is godly; The LORD will hear when I call to him. 4Stand in awe, and don’t sin. Search your own heart on your bed, and be still. Selah. 5Offer the sacrifices of righteousness. Put your trust in the LORD. 6Many say, “Who will show us any good?” LORD, let the light of your face shine on us. 7You have put gladness in my heart, more than when their grain and their new wine are increased. 8In peace I will both lay myself down and sleep, for you alone, LORD, make me live in safety.

Psalm 4 ends with a picture of deep peace. After bringing his distress to God and calling on him, the psalmist arrives at a settled rest: In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety. And earlier he names a joy that surpasses material abundance: You have put more gladness in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. His peace and joy rest not on his circumstances but on God.

Notice the peace, and its ground. The psalmist can lie down and sleep in peace, that most vulnerable and trusting of acts, because his safety rests not on his own vigilance but on God: you alone make me dwell in safety. To sleep peacefully is to entrust ourselves, unconscious and defenseless, to another's keeping; and the psalmist can do it because he trusts God to keep him. His rest is an act of trust. And his joy, too, rests on God, a gladness greater than the world's harvest of grain and wine, because it comes from God himself, not from abundance.

That is a peace and joy worth having. Anxiety often robs us of sleep and steals our joy, because we are trying to secure ourselves and find our gladness in circumstances that can fail. The psalmist points to a better ground: God alone makes him dwell in safety, and God has put in his heart a gladness beyond any harvest. When anxiety keeps you from rest, or circumstances fail to satisfy, learn the psalmist's peace: entrust your safety to the God who keeps you, and find your joy in him, not in abundance. Then you too can lie down and sleep in peace, for he alone makes you dwell in safety.

Lord, the psalmist could lie down and sleep in peace because you alone made him dwell in safety, and his gladness in you surpassed any harvest of grain and wine. When anxiety keeps me from rest and I try to secure myself by my own vigilance, teach me to entrust my safety to you, who keep me. And when circumstances fail to satisfy, help me find my joy in you, a gladness deeper than any abundance. Let me lie down and sleep in peace, trusting that you alone make me dwell in safety. Give me your rest.