Psalms For Life
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Yahveh Elohim hear our prayers

Psalm 4

Peace in the midst of trouble

People who ignore God—believers included—naturally oppose God-seekers and add to their griefs. But thankfully, our merciful God hears the cries of his oppressed people.

A David psalm.

1 Answer me when I call
O God of my vindication!
When I was backed into the corner
you brought me out into a wide-open space.
Be gracious to me now
and hear my prayer.

2 How long will you influencers
drag my good name through the mud?
How long will you falsely accuse me
and traffic in lies?
3 Make no mistake:
YHWH sets the faithful one apart for himself
and YHWH will hear me when I call to him.

4 Be troubled
without giving in to sin.
Rather, quiet your heart on your bed
and be still.
5 Offer sacrifices
with your heart intent on honoring God
and put your trust in YHWH.

6 Many are saying,
“Who will bring us good fortune?”
Lift up your shining face on us, YHWH.
7 You have filled my heart
with more joy than they have
when their barns overflow
with grain and new wine.

8 I lie down and sleep peacefully
since you alone, YHWH
make me rest secure.


Twice in David’s life popular leaders—Saul and then David’s son, Absalom—and their supporters slandered him and tried to kill him. David says the big question people are asking here is, “Who has the most to offer them? Who is their best bet?” During Absalom’s years-long campaign of subversion, Absalom covertly marketed himself to his fellow Israelites as the royal with way more to offer than his dad. That may be when David wrote this psalm

David says influential people are dishonoring him, falsely accusing him, and lying about him, and it’s been going on for too long. With his enemies entrenched, he clearly can’t just wish them away. So he turns to the God who exonerates the faithful and previously released David when cornered, the God who hears and honors those who cry to him.

David counsels himself and his followers not to let their turmoil lead them to react badly and make matters worse. Instead, they should withdraw, calm down, and offer sacrifices aligning themselves with YHWH and his purposes. They should put their trust in him. David clearly knows he’s helpless, that only God can release him from the corner he’s in and truly bless his people.

If the context is Absalom’s revolt, David has in one sense brought this disaster upon himself. So he could easily listen to the inner voice that says, “God’s not going to get you out of this one!” But instead, he cries out to YHWH, the God who redeemed his undeserving people from slavery in Egypt. David asks him simply to lift up his shining face on him and his people. He knows all it will take is one smile from YHWH, who has beamed more joy into his heart than his enemies have at even the best of times. And knowing that, David sleeps peacefully, safe in YHWH’s strong arms.

Prayer:

However many oppose me, Jesus, you’ve set me apart for yourself. You, my redeemer, will yet bring me out into the open. Help me to wait on you and not make things worse for myself. Lift up your beaming face and give me rest in the safety of your embrace. Amen.

In your free moments today, meditate on these words:

Many are saying,
“Who will bring us good fortune?”
Lift up your shining face on us, YHWH.

Why YHWH?

Every translator of the Psalms must decide how to handle God’s personal name, YHWH or YHVH, which occurs repeatedly in its Hebrew text. Translators of the King James Version usually translated it “LORD” (all caps) and sometimes transliterated it (badly) as “Jehovah.” Likewise, all modern translations either translate or transliterate it. Some other options for translating it are “the Eternal,” “the Almighty,” or “the Sovereign Lord.”

While translating it aims to make it more accessible to readers, transliterating it seems to me more faithful to the text since it’s not a word at all, but rather God’s uniquely personal name. This roots it more firmly in the biblical story as the name God revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai. Meaning “the self-existent One who answers to no one,” the name YHWH set Israel’s God apart from all the gods of Israel’s neighbors.

Personal names are, well, very personal. Even the sound of a name can evoke strong emotion. I’ve chosen to transliterate only YHWH’s consonants since the earliest Hebrew manuscripts contain only consonants, the vowels being added much later. My aim in doing so is to honor God’s name and set it apart, as unique.

One problem with YHWH is that we aren’t sure how it was pronounced since Jews long ago stopped saying it out of reverence. (They read Adonai instead whenever they come to YHWH in the text.) I take the advice of my esteemed Hebrew professor, Raymond Dillard, who advocated pronouncing it as Yahveh (Yah·vay). He favored that over the standard Yahweh since the modern Hebrew pronunciation of its third consonant makes the name sound more robustly Jewish. It also makes it sound more robust, period.

Finding strength in the ancient psalms
May these psalms be a light to you in dark times. You can read more of Mark Anderson's writings on Christianity, culture, and inter-faith dialogue at Understanding Christianity Today.