"Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!
You have given me relief when I was in distress.
Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!
2 O men, how long shall my honour be turned into shame?
How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah
3 But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself;
the Lord hears when I call to him.
4 Be angry, and do not sin;
ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah
5 Offer right sacrifices,
and put your trust in the Lord.
6 There are many who say, “Who will show us some good?
Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!”
7 You have put more joy in my heart
than they have when their grain and wine abound.
8 In peace I will both lie down and sleep;
for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety."
Psalm 4
As indicated in the previous Note, 3-5 constitute a warning to reflect before it is too late but David goes still further, exhorting his enemies to turn to righteousness and put their trust in the Lord. In so doing he wonderfully exemplifies the Saviour when he said 'Bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you...'. He meets the hatred of his foes with earnest pleadings that they might turn to God. It is not certain whether 6 applies to David's own followers beginning now to despond, or to his enemies whom he is still trying to win. Either way, the verse contrasts the despairing and even cynical cry of the heart that has no true anchorage and has found no living fountain at which to quench its thirst, with the calm confidence that one who has learned the secret and knows the way into fulness of life (7). It is in this spirit, filled with the fulness of God, that the Psalmist can lie down in perfect peace and sleep, calm in the knowledge that an all-sufficient God holds him in the hollow of His hand. If in fact his own followers were beginning to be despondent as we have suggested, it is not difficult to realise what an impact this sublime expression of faith in the midst of his foes would have upon them. What could have shown them more unmistakably that such a faith really works!