Psalm 4:8 Peaceful Sleep

Psalm 4:8 In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, LORD, make me dwell in safety.

Like the previous psalm, Psalm 4 also has a heading (the ratio of headings to no heading is around 116 to 34). This is the first psalm that has the heading For the director of music. There are some 55 with that heading altogether. The heading suggests that though the psalm will have been written out of personal circumstances it has been prepared for corporate singing. This one (like seven others) is With stringed instruments. It is again A psalm of David. It appears to be from the same period as Psalm 3. It again begins with prayer (verse 1). This psalm also speaks directly to men (verses 2-6a). David turns to God again at the end of the psalm (6b-8) with prayer (Let the light of your face shine on us) and with expressions of thankfulness and confidence. The final verse is very much like the one we highlighted previously from Psalm 3:5. This time, however, the focus is a future one - not I lay down and sleep but In peace I will lie down and sleep. This is what makes people think of Psalm 4 as an evening prayer. The two psalms could have been composed on the very same day - one in the morning and one in the evening. The reason for confidence, as before, is the LORD - for you alone, LORD, make me dwell in safety. The reminder to put confidence in the LORD is what we need to hear and supports what David has been saying in the psalm - Offer fhs sacrifices kf the righteous and trust in the LORD (verse 5). However tough it gets, we can be sure of safety but only if we are looking to the LORD.