An evening psalm of trust. Nine verses that move from a cry under pressure (V.2) to the deepest rest in the Tehilim (V.9): in peace I will lie down and sleep. Between the two, David turns to the agitated crowd, tells them to tremble and be silent, to offer right sacrifices and trust. Recited at the bedtime Shema and on nights of fear.
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♪ TuningE A D G B E
| AmAm | DmDm | AmEm | AmAm |
~70 BPM · 4/4 · gentle thumb-index-middle arpeggio · one bar per stich, two bars per verse · to reset the progression:
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1
לַמְנַצֵּחַ בִּנְגִינוֹת
מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד
לַמְנַצֵּחַ
lam-na-TZE-ach
to the choirmaster
בִּנְגִינוֹת
bin-gi-NOT
with stringed instruments
For the leader, with instrumental music
מִזְמוֹר
miz-MOR
a psalm
לְדָוִד
le-da-VID
of David
a psalm of David.
Superscription. La-menatze'ach = "to the choirmaster / leader," and bi-neginot = "with stringed instruments" (root נגן, to pluck a string). This is a performance note: the psalm was sung to instrumental accompaniment in the Temple.
The spatial pun: ba-tzar (in the narrow place, distress) answered by hirchavta (You widened), same root as merchav, open space. Deliverance is pictured as room to breathe, the cramped place opened out.
O sons of man, how long will my glory be turned to shame
תֶּאֱהָבוּן
te-e-ha-VUN
will you love
רִיק
RIK
emptiness
תְּבַקְשׁוּ
te-vak-SHU
will you seek
כָזָב
kha-ZAV
falsehood
סֶלָה
SE-la
Selah (pause)
will you love emptiness and seek falsehood? Selah.
The rhetorical questions: ad meh ("how long?") opens an indictment of the crowd. They love rik (emptiness) and seek kazav (lies), two words for substance-less things, echoing the chaff of Psalm 1. Selah marks a musical pause.
Know that the LORD has set apart the faithful one for Himself
יְהֹוָה
a-do-NAY
the LORD
יִשְׁמַע
yish-MA
hears
בְּקׇרְאִי
be-kor-I
when I call
אֵלָיו
e-LAV
to Him
the LORD hears when I call to Him.
הִפְלָה (hifla) = "set apart", the LORD makes the faithful one distinct, marks him out from the crowd. The root is the same as pele, wonder. To be God's chasid is to be singled out, and so to be heard when one calls.
speak in your heart upon your bed, and be silent. Selah.
רִגְזוּ וְאַל תֶּחֱטָאוּ (rigzu ve-al techeta'u), "tremble, and do not sin": the Sages read this as a counsel against anger. Be shaken, but do not let the trembling spill into wrongdoing; instead speak it in your heart on your bed, then domu, fall silent. The cure for night agitation is inward argument, then silence.
6
זִבְחוּ זִבְחֵי צֶדֶק
וּבִטְחוּ אֶל יְהֹוָה
זִבְחוּ
ziv-CHU
offer
זִבְחֵי
ziv-CHEI
sacrifices of
צֶדֶק
TZE-dek
righteousness
Offer sacrifices of righteousness
וּבִטְחוּ
u-vit-CHU
and trust
אֶל
EL
in
יְהֹוָה
a-do-NAY
the LORD
and trust in the LORD.
The turn from indictment to instruction: zivchu zivchei tzedek, "offer right sacrifices." Not more sacrifices, but righteous ones, offered from integrity, not appeasement. And then uvitchu, "and trust": the sacrifice is incomplete without the trust that follows it.
The contrast of desires. The crowd asks mi yar'enu tov ("who will show us good?"), a vague hunger for prosperity. David asks for one thing only: or panecha, the light of God's face. The phrase quotes the priestly blessing (Numbers 6:25), he draws the Temple's light into his night.
Inner joy over outer harvest. The joy God places in my heart surpasses their joy at harvest time (deganam ve-tirosham, their grain and wine). A gladness that does not depend on the barn being full, it is given, not earned.
The deepest rest in the Tehilim. Yachdav ("together / all at once") suggests body and mind lying down in one motion, nothing left unreconciled. The final verb תּוֹשִׁיבֵנִי (toshiveni), "You settle me", is from yashav, to dwell: God seats the one who could find no seat, in safety.
♦ PARDES analysis: פרדס
The four levels of Jewish reading of the sacred text: פשט Peshat (literal meaning), רמז Remez (symbolic allusion), דרש Drash (midrashic interpretation), סוד Sod (mystical meaning). The word פרדס means "orchard", each level is a fruit.
פשט · Peshat: literal meaning
An evening prayer of confidence under pressure. V.1: the superscription, "for the leader, with instrumental music (neginot), a psalm of David." V.2: a cry, "answer me when I call, God of my righteousness, You who widened a space for me in the narrow place." V.3-6: David turns to the "sons of man" who love emptiness and lies, and instructs them, know that the LORD sets apart the faithful (v.4), tremble and do not sin, speak in your heart upon your bed and be silent (v.5), offer right sacrifices and trust in the LORD (v.6). V.7-8: many ask who will show us good; David asks only for the light of God's face, and finds a joy greater than the joy of full granaries. V.9: the close, in peace, all at once, I will lie down and sleep, for God alone settles him in safety.
רמז · Remez: allusion
The title word בִּנְגִינוֹת (bi-neginot, v.1), "with stringed instruments", comes from the root נגן, to pluck a string: this psalm was meant to be played, not only said. V.2 hides a spatial pun: ba-tzar (in the narrow place / distress) answered by hirchavta (You widened), the same root as merchav, open space. Salvation is described as room to breathe. The questions of V.3 ("how long… will you love emptiness, seek lies?") echo the chaff of Psalm 1: rik (emptiness) and kazav (falsehood) have no substance, like the husk the wind carries off. And V.9's yachdav (together / all at once) suggests body and mind lying down in one motion, with nothing left unreconciled.
דרש · Drash: interpretation
הִפְלָה (hifla, v.4) = "set apart": the LORD makes the faithful one distinct, marks him out from the crowd, the same root as pele, wonder. To be God's chasid is to be singled out. V.5 reads, literally, rigzu ve-al techeta'u, "tremble, and do not sin": the Sages read it as a counsel against anger. Be shaken, yes, but do not let the trembling spill into wrongdoing; instead, imru bi-lvavchem, "speak it out in your heart" on your bed, then domu, fall silent. The cure for nighttime agitation is not to act but to argue it out inwardly and then go quiet. V.8: the joy God gives surpasses their joy at harvest (deganam ve-tirosham, their grain and wine), an inner gladness that does not depend on the barn.
סוד · Sod: mystical meaning
Psalm 4 is the night-companion of Psalm 3 (the morning psalm): there David lay down and slept and awoke because the LORD sustained him; here he lies down again in peace. The two frame a single day of trust. V.7's plea, nesa aleinu or panecha (lift upon us the light of Your face), quotes the priestly blessing (Numbers 6:25), David draws the Temple's light down into a private night. The final word תּוֹשִׁיבֵנִי (toshiveni, v.9), "You will settle me", is from yashav, to dwell: the restless one who could not sit with the scornful in Psalm 1 is finally seated by God in security. To sing this psalm at night is to hand the day back, to let the narrow place open into space, and to sleep yachdav, whole.