Psalm Chapter 4

Psalm 4: The Gladness That Outweighs the Harvest

This is an evening psalm — you can feel the day winding down in it, the noise of the world finally quieting enough to hear what matters. David addresses the sons of men with a question that still cuts: how long will you love vanity and seek after what is empty? But the real treasure of this psalm is not the rebuke; it is the comparison. "Thou hast put gladness in my heart," David says, "more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased." More than harvest time. More than the moment the barns are full and the wine vats overflow. That is an astonishing claim — that the gladness God gives to the soul exceeds the best gladness the world can offer at its most generous. And then the psalm closes with what may be the most peaceful sentence ever written: "I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety." Not safety because the walls are high, but safety because God is near. It is the prayer of a man who has stopped striving and started resting.

00:00 Hear Me When I Call
00:15 How Long Will You Love Vanity
00:28 Set Apart for God
00:38 Be Still Upon Your Bed
00:48 Gladness Greater Than Harvest
00:56 Laying Down in Peace