Psalm 4: Give us light in our darkness, Lord
Psalm 4 Easter 3B – commentary by Dr Noel Donnelly.
Psalm four is a psalm of quiet confidence in the One who has released and comforted the singer many times in the past. Yes, as in all the psalms, a singer is involved. As a lead-in to this psalm there are written instructions that the musicians should use stringed instruments to accompany the singer, just as in the next psalm, Psalm 5, they should use wind instruments like flutes! The music here seems to move from a sad and disturbed minor key to a more major tone of peaceful relaxation. In fact after verse 2 and verse 4 there is a mark for a pause or musical interlude. No rushing through this prayer!
The whole of Psalm 4 has the air of a gentle lament: the singer has endured unjust suspicions, perhaps suffered character assassination, yet he or she can still lie down in peace at the end of the day, trusting in God who has always helped in the past.
The psalmist hints that in the past our trust in the light of God’s presence may have eluded us. And yet in the busy-ness of life there has probably been a niggling yearning for a fuller faith, perhaps held back by a hesitation to take serious steps from being just a “good person” to one making a total commitment, becoming someone with a faith in God that is unshakeable in response to God’s unshakeable trust in us.
So, in spite of the singer’s bruises from unjust accusations, with renewed trust in God, he or she can lie down in peace: there will be no insomnia: neither physical nor especially any spiritual insomnia!
audio of the commentary
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Recorded by Grace Buckley
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