Psalms 4:4-8

4:4 Tremble with fear and do not sin! 1 

Meditate as you lie in bed, and repent of your ways! 2  (Selah)

4:5 Offer the prescribed sacrifices 3 

and trust in the Lord! 4 

4:6 Many say, “Who can show us anything good?”

Smile upon us, Lord! 5 

4:7 You make me happier 6 

than those who have abundant grain and wine. 7 

4:8 I will lie down and sleep peacefully, 8 

for you, Lord, make me safe and secure. 9 

1 sn The psalmist warns his enemies that they need to tremble with fear before God and repudiate their sinful ways.

2 tn Heb “say in your heart(s) on your bed(s) and wail/lament.” The verb דֹמּוּ (dommu) is understood as a form of דָמָם (“wail, lament”) in sorrow and repentance. Another option is to take the verb from II דָמָם (damam, “be quiet”); cf. NIV, NRSV “be silent.”

3 tn Or “proper, right.” The phrase also occurs in Deut 33:19 and Ps 51:19.

4 sn Trust in the Lord. The psalmist urges his enemies to make peace with God and become his followers.

5 tn Heb “lift up upon us the light of your face, Lord.” The verb נסה is apparently an alternate form of נשׂא, “lift up.” See GKC 217 §76.b. The idiom “light of your face” probably refers to a smile (see Eccl 8:1), which in turn suggests favor and blessing (see Num 6:25; Pss 31:16; 44:3; 67:1; 80:3, 7, 19; 89:15; Dan 9:17).

6 tn Heb “you place joy in my heart.” Another option is to understand the perfect verbal form as indicating certitude, “you will make me happier.”

7 tn Heb “from (i.e., more than) the time (when) their grain and their wine are abundant.”

8 tn Heb “in peace at the same time I will lie down and sleep.”

9 tn Heb “for you, Lord, solitarily, securely make me dwell.” The translation understands לְבָדָד (lÿvadad) as modifying the verb; the Lord keeps enemies away from the psalmist so that he is safe and secure. Another option is to take לְבָדָד with what precedes and translate, “you alone, Lord, make me secure.”