Why read Psalm 4?
Psalm 4 is well suited to evening prayer and the search for inner peace. Its closing words about lying down and sleeping peacefully entrust the end of the day to God.
You can read this psalm when its themes speak to your circumstances, or as part of your regular reading of the Psalter. This explanation draws on the text itself; the psalm is not reserved for one particular need.
In the 1st Kathisma of the Psalter, Psalm 4 awaits its reader with 8 verses of prayer arising from a real experience. It begins with “When I called You, You heard me, O God...” — and from there onwards, everything is a dialogue between the human being and God.
The text of Psalm 4
1. When I called You, You heard me, O God of my righteousness! In distress You gave me delight! Be gracious to me and hear my prayer.
2. Children of men, how long will you be heavy of heart? Why do you love vanity and seek falsehood?
3. Know that the Lord has made His devout one wonderful; the Lord will hear me when I cry to Him.
4. Be angry, but do not sin; repent on your beds of what you say in your hearts.
5. Offer the sacrifice of righteousness and hope in the Lord.
6. Many say: “Who will show us good things?” But the light of Your face has been marked upon us, O Lord!
7. You gave joy to my heart, greater than the joy over their harvest of grain, wine and oil that has multiplied.
8. In peace I will lie down and sleep, for You, O Lord, have especially established me in hope.
When Psalm 4 is read
- In the evening — it is part of Vespers.
- At the end of each psalm, tradition adds: «Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.».
Adjacent psalms
Read also
The numbering follows the Orthodox Psalter (Septuagint). The same psalm may have a different number in other Bible editions.
