Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 4:8
I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.
8. In peace will I lay me down and sleep at once: no fears or anxieties delaying slumber. In Psa 3:5 he recorded his experience: here he gives expression to the trust which sprang from it.
for thou Lord, only ] For it is thou, Lord, alone, who &c. This exquisite expression of absolute confidence, the rhythm of which in the original is as reposeful as the thought, gives an excellent sense in connexion with the context. ‘Many’ had declared that he was abandoned by God as well as man (Psa 3:2), but in unshaken faith he claims Jehovah as his sole protector, beside whom he needs no other.
But the word rendered ‘alone’ elsewhere means apart, when joined with verbs denoting dwelling. Thus it is used of Israel, isolated and separate from the nations, in Num 23:9; and in Deu 33:28; Jer 49:31, it is combined with the word here rendered ‘in safety’. So probably the meaning is, ‘It is Thou, Lord, who makest me dwell apart in safety:’ isolated from my foes in Thy safe keeping. Hence R.V. marg. gives, in solitude.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep – The word both here means at the same time; that is, I will alike be in peace, and I will lie down and will sleep; I will have a mind at peace (or, in tranquility) when I lie down, and will sleep calmly. This is said in view of his confidence in God, and of his belief that God would preserve him. He had put his trust in him; he had sought his happiness in him, and now he felt assured that he had nothing to fear, and, at peace with God, he would lie down and compose himself to rest. This is the counterpart of what is said in Psa 3:5. There he says in the morning, that, though surrounded by fear, he had been permitted to lie calmly down and sleep; here he says, that, though he is surrounded by fear, he has such confidence in God, that he will give himself to quiet slumber. His mind was free from anxiety as to the result of the present troubles; he had calm confidence in God; he committed all to him; and thus gave himself to rest. No one can fail to admire the beauty of this; and no one can fail to perceive that entire confidence in God, and an assurance that all things are under his control, are best adapted of all things to give peaceful days and nights.
For thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety – There are two ideas here:
(a) One a confidence that he would abide in safety;
(b) the other, that he owed this entirely to the Lord.
He had no power to defend himself, and yet he felt assured that he would be safe – for he put his trust entirely in the Lord. The whole language implies unwavering trust or confidence in God, and is thus instructive and useful for all. It teaches us:
(1) that in the midst of troubles we may put our trust in God; and
(2) that religion is adapted to make the mind calm in such circumstances, and to enable its possessor to lie down without anxiety in the slumbers of the night, and to pursue without anxiety the duties of the day.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 4:8
I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for Thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.
Signs of a quiet spirit
In the text are two subjects. Davids privilege or happiness itself. The ground or foundation of this his happiness. In the letter and proposition of it, we have the comfortableness and advantage of natural rest. In the scope and drift of it, we have the comfortableness and advantage of Gods favour. The security and fearlessness of a godly person, who is in the love and favour of God, and hath this evidenced and made good to his soul. He is one that is free from all inordinate disturbance, and disquietness of spirit. Those who are reconciled to God, and in His love, have privileges beyond others, so as in patience to possess their souls, in the midst of the greatest outward trouble. This is grounded upon that persuasion which they have of God Himself, and of His affections towards them. It is implied, that none can well thus compose themselves, but those which are thus affected. None can lie down in peace and sleep securely, but those who have made their peace with God, and are in favour with Him. A guilty conscience can never lie down in quiet. Great estates in the world are, for the most part, occasions of great distraction and disquietness of spirit, and such as are subject to break men of their natural rest. Why could David sleep with his estate, rather than his enemies with theirs? Because his was sanctified and sweetened to him by the love of God. Note the ground of the godly mans composure. Thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety. The blessing itself–a safe and secure habitation. As we desire to dwell safely, let us be careful to dwell holily: and that includes piety and religion; justice, honesty, and righteousness; peace, friendship, love and quietness of spirit; charity and giving to the poor. This blessing flows from God Himself. It is not a business of mere casualty, theres a providence in it. Not a business of mere endeavour, it comes by the blessing of God. (T. Horton, D. D.)
How to close the day with God
This may be understood, either figuratively, of the repose of the soul, in the assurance of Gods grace, or literally, of the repose of the body, under the protection of His providence. The Psalmist having given the preference to Gods favour above any good, having chosen that, and portioned himself in that, here expresses his great complacency in the choice he had made. Those who have the assurances of Gods favour toward them, may enjoy, and should labour after, a holy serenity and security of mind. It is the privilege of good people that they may be thus easy and satisfied; and it is their duty to use the means appointed for the obtaining it. The Psalmist, after an anxious day, now retires to his chamber with the words, I will lay me down in peace, and sleep. Here we have Davids pious thoughts when he was going to bed. Observe his confidence in God, his composedness in himself Doctrine: As we must begin the day with God, and wait upon Him all the day, so we must endeavour to close it with Him. Let us retire to lay us down. Some sit up to do mischief to their neighbours; others sit up in pursuit of the world and the wealth of it; others sit up in the indulgence of their pleasures. But let us lay down with thankfulness to God, and with thoughts of dying; with penitent reflections upon the sins of the day, and with humble supplications for the mercies of the night. We should be convinced of it that we are still contracting guilt. We should examine our consciences, that we may find out our particular transgressions of the day past. We should renew our repentance, for whatever we find has been amiss in us. We should make a fresh application of the blood of Christ to our souls, for the remission of our sins, and the gracious acceptance of our repentance. We should apply ourselves to the throne of grace for peace and pardon. Let us also lie down with humble supplication for the mercies of the night. We must pray, that our outward man may be under the care of Gods holy angels, who are the ministers of His providence. We must pray, that our inward man may be under the influences of His Holy Spirit, who is the author and fountain of His grace. And when we lay down, our care and endeavour must be to lay us down in peace. Let us lie down in peace with God; for without this there can be no peace at all. Let us lie down in peace with all men: we are concerned to go to sleep, as well as to die, in charity. Let us lie down at peace with ourselves. But when may we lie down in peace at night? If we have, by the grace of God, in some measure done the work of the day, and filled it up with duty. If we have by faith, and patience, and submission to the Divine will, reconciled ourselves to all the events of the day so as to be uneasy at nothing that God has done. If we have renewed our repentance for sin. If we have put ourselves under the Divine protection. If we have cast all our cares for the day following upon God. Having laid ourselves down in peace, we must compose ourselves to sleep. It is by the power of Gods providence that we are kept safe in the night. (Matthew Henry.)
Sleep
Sleep is the image of death. Jesus Christ abolished the terrors of the first death, the death of the body. In the text is not a prayer of David, but a determination on his part. To a certain extent, peaceful sleep depends upon ourselves. A peaceful state of mind has a great deal to do with the power of enjoying Gods gift of sleep. And, similarly, a peaceful death depends on ourselves. There is such a thing as the quietness of a stupefied conscience. How may we, as far as conscience is concerned, carry out the resolution that we will lie down in peace?
1. By doing all that in us lies to preserve a peaceful conscience during the day. Begin the day with earnest prayer. Our morning prayers may show us what we wish to be, but the temptations of the day show us what we are. Our consciences cannot but be injured, if we are guilty of faults and errors during the day, and take no account of them at the dose of the day. Self-examination gives an earnestness and a reality to the prayer for pardon. If it be true that the last sleep of all makes the sleep of each night more solemn, it is also true that each nights sleep makes the last sleep of all less strange. What is each day but a picture of the whole life, and each night but a picture of death? Then we must do all that in us lies to preserve a peaceful conscience during the years of life. (W. H. Ranken, M. A.)
The Christian good night
This is one of the many verses in the Bible, especially in the Psalms, which, must come home to every heart of man, if read with any degree of simple faith. It sets full before us the most comfortable and refreshing picture or a devout, sober, honest person, after his days work is ended, his passions kept in order, his sins repented of, and his prayers seriously said, laying himself down to his nights rest, in the full consciousness that he is neither alone nor unguarded; that as there has been a merciful Eye watching over him, a mighty Hand stretched out to guard him, through the dangers and temptations of the day, so it will be with him in the night also. This entire rest and tranquillity of Gods faithful servants, when they lay them down on their bed at night, is beautifully expressed in the text, I will lay me down all together; all my powers of mind and body agreeing, as it were, one with another; not torn by violent passions, by desire on the one hand, and remorse on the other. How catholic, how universal is the thought expressed by the Psalmist. There is no one condition of life that it suits better than another. The need of taking rest is an universal law of Gods providence over men here in this lower world. As death, so sleep may be truly called a great leveller. As sleep is the image of death, and as the slumber of every night is a kind of sacramental token of that last long sleep, these words may be used for a dying Christian also. Only a Christian has a warrant from Holy Scripture to regard death as no more than a quiet sleep. The Father, acknowledging them as His children, receives them at their death into the everlasting arms. As all the blessings which we have or hope for depend on the Passion of our Lord and Saviour, so this blessing of taking our rest, whether in our bed or in the grave, seems to bear an especial relation to the mystery of the burial of Jesus Christ. Our warrant for our hope is that the Son of God died for us, bought us to be His own in such sort, that we should be really joined to Him, mystically made members of His body. As members, inseparable members, of the Man Christ Jesus, we hope to have our bodies buried with Him; and for our souls, our true selves, we hope that when they pass away from our bodies they may be with Him that day in Paradise. Except we have this hope in us, we cannot apply to ourselves the comfortable words of this Psalm. How is it that in sleep, and still more in death, Christian men may humbly depend on a peculiar presence of our Lord Jesus Christ to guard them?
1. Because He is King, who has promised, He that keepeth thee will not sleep.
2. In this act of lying down comes in the remembrance and the power of our Lords sacrifice. That deep sleep of His, on the Cross and in the grave, has sanctified and blessed the sleep of all penitent Christians for all time to come, whether in their beds or in the bosom of the earth. Sin and its punishment, disease and misery, is the great disturber of sleep. Then to have a reasonable hope, grounded on a good conscience, that blemished as you are with many infirmities, you have not forfeited the blessing of Christs death; this is the secret of good nights, and a comfortable death time. Again, we are taught in Holy Scripture to regard the Holy Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ as one very especial safeguard for the sleeping, until they wake, and for the dead, until they rise again. (Contributors to Tracts for the Times.)
A good night watchman
I have noticed in the books of travellers, this observation, We found it exceedingly difficult to obtain a tent keeper who could keep awake at night. One gentleman speaks of discovering a thief in his tent, and when he went outside to call the watchman he found that the man had gone so soundly to sleep that he could only be aroused by one or two gentle kicks. When a man has been travelling with you all day, it is unreasonable to expect him to keep awake through the night to, take care of you. Hence the beauty of the words, Behold He that keepeth Israel. etc. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
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Psa 5:1-12
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 8. I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep] Most men lie down, and most sleep, daily, for without rest and sleep life could not be preserved; but alas! how few lie down in peace! peace with their own consciences, and peace with God! David had then two great blessings, rest by sleep, and peace in his soul. He had a happy soul; and when he lay down on his bed, his body soon enjoyed its repose, as the conscience was in peace. And he had a third blessing, a confidence that he should sleep in safety. And it was so. No fearful dreams disturbed his repose, for he had a mind tranquillized by the peace of God. As to his body, that enjoyed its due rest, for he had not overloaded nature either with dainties or superfluities. Reader, are not many of thy sleepless hours to be attributed to thy disordered soul-to a sense of guilt on thy conscience, or to a fear of death and hell?
Pray incessantly till thou get the light of God’s countenance, till his Spirit bear witness with thine that thou art a child of God. Then thy repose will do thee good: and even in thy sleep thy happy soul will be getting forward to heaven.
ANALYSIS OF THE FOURTH PSALM
There are THREE parts in this Psalm: –
I. An entrance, or petition for audience, Ps 4:1.
II. An apostrophe to his enemies, which is, 1. Reprehensive, Ps 4:2-3. 2. Admonitory, Ps 4:4-5.
III. A petition for himself and God’s people, Ps 4:6-8.
I. He proposes his request and suit for audience. “Hear me when I call;” and this he founds on four arguments:
1. God has promised to hear me when I call: “Call upon me in trouble, and I will hear thee.” I call; hear me, therefore, when I call.
2. His own innocence: “Hear me, O God of my righteousness.”
3. He requests no more than what God had done for him at other times: Thou hast enlarged me in trouble, and why not now?
4. It was mercy and favour to answer him then; it will be the same to do it again: “Have mercy on me, and hear.”
II. His petition being thus proposed and ended, he proceeds to the doctrinal part; and, turning himself to his enemies, 1. He sharply reproves them; 2. Then warns them, and gives them good counsel.
1. He turns his speech from God to men; the chief but the worst of men. beney ish, “ye eminent men.” Not plebeians, but nobles. The charge he lays to them, 1. They “turned his glory into shame.” They endeavoured to dishonour him whom God had called and anointed to the kingdom. 2. “They loved vanity.” A vain attempt they were in love with. 3. “They sought after falsity.” They pursued that which would deceive them; they would find at last that treachery and iniquity lied to itself. 4. That this charge might have the more weight, he figures it with a stinging interrogation, How long? Their sin had malice and pertinacity in it; and he asks them how long they intended to act thus.
And that they might, if possible, be drawn from their attempts, he sends them a noverint, know ye, which has two clauses: 1. Let them know that God hath set apart him that is godly for himself. 2. That God will hear, when either he or any good man calls upon him.
2. The reproof being ended, he gives them good counsel: –
1. That though they be angry, they ought not to let the sun go down upon their wrath.
2. That they commune with their own hearts – their conscience. That they do this on their beds, when secluded from all company, when passion and self-interest did not rule; and then they would be the better able to judge whether they were not in an error, whether their anger were not causeless, and their persecution unjust?
3. That they offer the sacrifice of righteousness-that they serve and worship God with an honest, sincere, and contrite heart.
4. That they put their trust in the Lord; trusting no more to their lies, nor loving their vanities, but relying on God’s promises.
III. The third part begins with this question, Who will show us any good? 1. Who will show us that good which will make us happy? To which David, in effect, returns this answer, that it is not bona animi, intellectual gifts; nor bona fortunae, earthly blessings; nor bona corporis, corporeal endowments: but the light of God’s countenance. 2. Therefore he prefers his petition: “Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.” God’s countenance is his grace, his favour, his love, and the light of his countenance, the exhibition and expression of this grace, favour, and love; in which alone lies all the happiness of man. Of this David expresses two effects, gladness and security: –
1. Gladness and joy far beyond that which may be had from any temporal blessings: “Thou hast put gladness in my heart more than in the time that their corn, and wine, and oil increased; gladness beyond the joy in harvest; and this joy is from the light of God’s countenance. Thou puttest. THOU, by way of eminence.
2. Security, expressed under the metaphor of sleep: “I will lay me down in peace, and sleep;” just as in a time of peace, as if there were no war nor preparation for battle.
3. To which he adds the reason: “For thou Lord, alone makest me to dwell in safety.” I am safe, because I enjoy the light of thy countenance.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Both: this word relates to the two following verbs; as soon as I am laid down, I will quietly compose myself to sleep; whereas many lie down upon their beds, and cannot sleep through distracting cares or troubles. Or, in like manner, i.e. as they do who have abundance of corn and wine, of whom he last spoke, Luk 12:19. In peace; either,
1. In outward peace or safety, as the next clause explains it. Or,
2. In inward peace or tranquillity of mind, as Luk 2:29, resting securely upon Gods promises, and the conduct of his wise and gracious providence.
Thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety; I owe not my safety to my own valour or wisdom, nor to the courage of my followers, but to thee only. Or, thou, Lord, makest me to dwell alone in safety; either,
1. Alone, or apart from mine enemies: compare Deu 33:28. Or rather,
2. Though I be in a manner alone, i.e. forsaken and destitute of friends or helpers, as that word is used, Psa 112:7; Lam 1:1.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
8. both lay me down, &c.or,will lie down at once, and sleep in sure confidence and quiet repose(Ps 3:5).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep,…. Signifying, that he had such a calmness and serenity of mind, amidst all his troubles, that he could not only lay himself down in great peace, and much composure of mind, but sleep also, and that as soon as laid down almost; some lay themselves down, but cannot sleep, through the anxiety of their minds; but the psalmist could do both: or the word rendered “both” may he translated “together” u; and the sense be either that he would lie down and sleep together with his friends, committing himself and them to the care and protection of God; or that he should lie down and sleep together with his enemies; meaning that he was assured that there would quickly be a reconciliation and peace between them; see Pr 16:7;
for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety; suggesting that his protection and safety were owing to the power and presence of God only; and that was the reason of the tranquillity of his mind, and why he slept so quietly in the night watches, though in such danger from his enemies; or “thou, Lord, makest me only” or “alone” w, being solitary and destitute of friends, to dwell in safety; finder the shadow of thy wings, encompassed by thy favour, and surrounded by thy power; see
De 33:28.
u “simul”, Musculus, Junius Tremellius, Piscator, Gejerus, Cocceius. w “me solum”, Cocceius “me seorsim”, Gejerus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(Heb.: 4:9) Thus then he lies down to sleep, cheerfully and peacefully. The hymn closes as it began with a three line verse. (lit., in its unions = collectively, Olshausen, 135, c, like altogether, at the right time) is by no means unemphatic; nor is it so in Psa 19:10 where it means “all together, without exception.” With synonymous verbs it denotes the combination of that which they imply, as Isa 42:14. It is similar in Psa 141:10 where it expresses the coincidence of the fall of his enemies and the escape of the persecuted one. So here: he wishes to go to sleep and also at once he falls asleep ( in a likewise cohortative sense = ). His God makes him to dwell in seclusion free of care. is a first definition of condition, and a second. The former is not, after Deu 32:12, equivalent to , an addition which would be without any implied antithesis and consequently meaningless. One must therefore, as is indeed required by the situation, understand according to Num 23:9; Mic 7:14; Deu 33:28; Jer 49:31. He needs no guards for he is guarded round about by Jahve and kept in safety. The seclusion, , in which he is, is security, , because Jahve is near him. Under what a many phases and how sweetly the nature of faith is expressed in this and the foregoing Psalm: his righteousness, exaltation, joy, peace, contentment in God! And how delicately conceived is the rhythm! In the last line the evening hymn itself sinks to rest. The iambics with which it closes are like the last strains of a lullaby which die away softly and as though falling asleep themselves. Dante is right when he says in his Convito, that the sweetness of the music had harmony of the Hebrew Psalter is lost in the Greek and Latin translations.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
He concludes, by stating, that as he is protected by the power of God, he enjoys as much security and quiet as if he had been defended by all the garrisons on earth. Now, we know, that to be free from all fear, and from the torment and vexation of care, is a blessing to be desired above all other things. This verse, therefore, is a confirmation of the former sentence, intimating that David justly prefers the joy produced by the light of God’s fatherly love before all other objects for inward peace of mind certainly surpasses all the blessings of which we can form any conception. Many commentators explain this place as expressing David’s hope, that his enemies will be reconciled to him, so that he may sleep with them in peace, God having granted him the peculiar privilege of being able to rest without being disturbed or disquieted by any man. But in my judgment the proper meaning is this, that he will live as quietly and securely alone, as in the midst of a great host of men, because God defends him for in the words, I will sleep together, I consider the particle as to be understood, as if the reading were as together, that is to say, as with a multitude. Some refer לבדד, lebadad, alone, to God, translating the words thus, Thou alone, O Lord, hast set me in safety; but this I do not at all approve, because, by taking away the contrast between these two words, together and alone, much of the beauty of the sentence is lost. In short, David boasts that the protection of God alone was sufficient, and that under it he sleeps as securely, although destitute of all human guardianship, as if he had had many to keep watch and ward continually over him, or as if he had been defended on all sides by a great company. Let us therefore, learn from his example, to yield this honor to God — to believe, that although there may appear no help for us from men, yet under his hand alone we are kept in peace and safety, as if we were surrounded by a great host.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(8) Both.Better, and at once. So the LXX. and Vulg.: At the very moment. (Comp. Isa. 42:14.) This, too, is the meaning of withal, used to render the same Hebrew word in Psa. 141:10.
Thou, Lord, only.The authority of all the ancient Versions, including the LXX. and Vulg., is for taking the adverb with the predicate, not with the subject as in the Authorised Version: Thou, Jehovah, makest me to dwell alone in safety. We see from Jer. 49:31, Mic. 7:14, that isolation from other nations was, in the Hebrew view, a guarantee against danger. This certainly favours the view that the poem is national rather than individual.
For the concluding verses of the psalm Luther had a great affection, and desired Ludvig Teuffel to set them as the words of a requiem for him.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
8. I will lay me down in peace The highest sensible evidence of a composed faith. It is fit that this sweet evening psalm should close with a sweet good night. See Psa 127:2.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘In peace will I both lay me down, and sleep,
For you YHWH alone make me dwell in safety.’
David finishes with his declaration of full confidence in YHWH. The final battle is not yet over, but as he prepares for it he can afford to lie down, and yes, he even sleeps (compare Psa 3:5). For he knows that his safety and security are in YHWH’s hands. Because he is YHWH’s he is confident of his safety and security in YHWH’s hands. We too may sleep in peace if we are His.
The great emphasis on the sin of rebelling against YHWH’s anointed finds even greater significance in the light of the coming of Jesus. Here was YHWH’s Anointed par excellence. And so the psalm becomes a call to all men to lay down their arms and submit to Him.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Happy and gracious conclusion of every truly regenerate soul, convinced of an interest in Christ, and a personal union with him. The beloved of the Lord shall dwell safely. Isa 32:18 .
REFLECTIONS
READER! let you and I never lose sight of the Lord Jesus while reading this Psalm. He is the Lord our righteousness. And, therefore, in all our approaches to the mercy-seat, let us go there in a language corresponding to this, which calls Jesus the God of our righteousness. And while men of the world from the world are seeking their chief good, let us desire his favor which infinitely transcends corn and wine, and all the good things which perish in using. Yes! Lord, thy favor is better than life itself. Thou causest them that love thee to inherit substance, and fittest all their treasure, yea thou thyself art their treasure.
And oh! thou gracious God and Father, hast thou in such a wonderful manner set apart one in our nature for thyself? Hast thou indeed chosen one out of thy people? Hast thou beheld him in the purity of his nature, as one in every point godly? Hast thou given him as the covenant of the people? And hast thou declared thyself well pleased in him? Oh! then, well may my soul be well pleased in him also. Now do I know that my God and Father will hear me when I call upon him in Jesus name, and when I look up to him for acceptance for Jesus sake. Yes! my heart is fixed, O Lord, my heart is fixed; Jesus is my hope and righteousness: the Lord will hear me when I call. And henceforth will I both lay me down in peace, and sleep securely in Jesus, accepted in the beloved: for this is the rest wherewith the Lord causeth the weary to rest, and this is their refreshment.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 4:8 I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.
Ver. 8. I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep ] Heb. In peace together will I lie down and sleep; that is, saith the Syriac interpreter, Non solum cubabo sed etiam dormiam, I will not only lie down, but also sleep; which many cannot do for fears and cares, those gnats that keep them waking. The Arabic hath it, I sleep as securely in adversity as those can that are in prosperity. Others thus, I will lay me down together with the joy before spoken of, and confidence in God; this shall be my bed fellow; and then I am sure to rest sweetly and safely. For, Thou, Lord, only makest, thou settest me in safety, thou givest to thy beloved sleep, Psa 127:2 ; that is, extraordinary quiet refreshing sleep, as the learned note upon the Aleph quiescent in which is not usual.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
and sleep = sleep at once. This reference is to 2Sa 17:2. See note there.
makest = wilt make.
safety = confidence.
To the chief Musician. See App-64.
upon Nehiloth; better, nehaloth = concerning inheritances. Referring to Jehovah’s favour as being the true inheritance of godly Israelites, as shown in verses: Psa 4:3, Psa 4:6, Psa 4:7. Compare Psa 144:12-15, the other Nehaloth Psalm. See App-65.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Rest after Toil
In peace will I both lay me down and sleep:
For thou, Lord, alone makest me dwell in safety.Psa 4:8.
1. The Psalms form the most wonderful expression of human feelings that was ever penned. Those who know the Psalms only slightly do not understand this. But those who are wise enough to know them well, to learn them by heart and use them, know that there is not any state of feeling, not any condition in life, for which that wonderful book does not furnish the most exact and well-fitted expressions that can be conceived or desired. With joy and thankfulness the Psalms run over; they abound in expressions of faith, and trust, and cheerful confidence in the mercy and goodness of God. Of penitential sorrow and distress for sins, of humble confession and repentance, they are so full that they almost seem to contain nothing else. For peaceful times, for anxious times, for times of affliction and grief, for reliance on God in the morning or in the evening, awake or asleep, at midnight or at midday, in solitude or in society,none know so well as those who know the Psalms, or some of them, by heart, what a store of heavenly expressions they furnish by which Christian hearts may pour themselves out to God in strains the most beautiful, and most exactly suitable to all their various states of feeling and condition. It has been said of Holy Scripture in general, and it is more applicable to the Psalms than to any other book in it, that its eye follows us, like the eye of a picture, ever fixed upon us, turn where we will.
Eye of Gods Word! whereer we turn
Ever upon us! Thy keen gaze
Can all the depths of sin discern,
Unravel every bosoms maze:
Who that has felt thy glance of dread
Thrill through his hearts remotest cells,
About his path, about his bed,
Can doubt what Spirit in thee dwells?
2. There are two great and equal necessities of mans nature: work and rest. A man cannot be happy without either, without both, of these. We must have work; and we must have rest. Once the two things were one; and once again they will be one. An unfallen being finds repose in activity. In heaven there is no night. The will of God is done there, not only perfectly, but continually. Those holy spirits which behold the face of God, and are sent forth thence to minister to the heirs of salvation, could do but half, not half, of their office, if they took either night or day for rest from labour. They rest not day nor night. They rest in working. Meanwhile there is, for us, a divorce of the two things which God had joined together, work and rest. Work begins where rest ends: not until work is ended can rest begin. That is the condition of earth. Man goes forth to his work and to his labour until the evening. When night comes, no man can work.
I.
Rest of Body and Mind
1. This is one of those many verses in the Bible, in the Psalms especially, which must come home to every heart of man, if read with any degree of simple faith. It sets full before us the most comfortable and refreshing picture of a devout, sober, honest person, his days work ended, his passions kept in order, his sins repented of, and his prayers seriously said, laying himself down to his nights rest, in the full consciousness that he is neither alone nor unguarded; that as there has been a merciful Eye watching over him, a mighty Hand stretched out to guard him, through the dangers and temptations of the day, so it will be with him in the night also. His eyelids sink down with sleep; the Eye of the Lord never becomes heavy. Therefore such an one, be he young or old, rich or poor, is able to compose himself to sleep without fear.
2. This entire rest and tranquillity of Gods faithful servants, when they lay them down on their bed at night, is beautifully expressed in the text by the words, In peace will I both lay me down and sleep. I will lay me down, says the Psalmist, all together: all my powers of mind and body, agreeing as it were one with another; not torn by violent passions, by desire on the one hand and remorse on the other; not in the condition of the natural man as described by St. Paul, The good that I would I do not, but the evil that I would not that I do; and again, I delight in the law of God after the inward man, but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind. Not so is it with him of whom the Psalmist here speaks; rather he resembles the spiritual man, as described by the same St. Paul: The very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Beauty consists, says Ruskin, in certain external qualities of bodies which are typical of Divine attributes, and in the appearance of felicitous fulfilment in vital things. Every one has heard of the repose of true beauty; why is repose beautiful? Because it is a type of Divine Permanence, and satisfies
The universal instinct of repose,
The longing for confirmed tranquillity,
Inward and outward, humble and sublime
The life where hope and memory are one.1 [Note: E. T. Cook, The Life of Ruskin, i. 199.]
3. The need of taking rest in sleep is a universal law of Gods providence over men here in this lower world. In respect of it there is no difference between the highest and the lowest. Therefore, as death, so sleep may be truly called a great leveller. The greatest king and the meanest of his subjects, whatever difference there is between them at any given time of their waking moments, must alike forget themselves in sleep before a great many hours are over. To every one of us, one as much as another, there will then be but one chance of safety: that is, if God should be pleased to watch over us, and be with us, when we are away from ourselves. It is one of Gods ways of continually reminding us all what frail, helpless beings we are, what an absolute nothing without Him.
4. Sleep is the image of death, and the slumber of every night, rightly understood, is to a Christian a kind of sacramental token of that last long sleep. These words, therefore, may well be used, and always have been understood by devout persons, as most proper for a dying Christian also. Of a dying Christian: for only such an one has a warrant from Holy Scripture to regard death as no more than a quiet sleep. Observe how these expressions, fallen asleep, sleeping in Jesus, and the like, are always used in the New Testament. They are constantly employed to denote the death, not of all persons, but of those who die in the Lord. Thus, our Saviour, speaking of Lazarus: Our friend Lazarus sleepeth, but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. Again, the word is used of Stephen: when he had prayed for his murderers, he fell asleep. So St. Paul speaks with horror of some mens notion that there was no resurrection, because in that case it must follow that those who are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. In another place, he assures the Thessalonians that them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him when He comes to raise the dead.
Sleep was one of the apostolic names for death, full of tenderness and peace, but it must not be understood to mean inaction. It is rest from the weariness and harassment of the present life; it is the entrance into the freedom and buoyancy of the life to come. In the sweetest letter of consolation ever written to a parent on the death of a child, Archbishop Leighton says: And is he so quickly laid to rest? Happy he! John is but gone an hour or two sooner to bed, as children used to do, and we are undressing to follow. Life is a long undressing, during which the frailties and faults of our imperfect nature are gradually slipped, and we enter unburdened into the unseen world. As the wrinkles are smoothed from the face of a sufferer by the gentle hand of death, so that the war-worn veteran returns to his youth, so the weariness departs from the soul, and it enters into the rest for which amid this struggle we often hunger and thirst.1 [Note: John Watson, The Potters Wheel, 156.]
Sleep is that death by which we may be literally said to die daily; a death which Adam died before his mortality; a death whereby we live a middle and moderating point between life and death; in fine, so like death, I dare not trust it without my prayers and a half adieu unto the world, and take my farewell in a colloquy with God.
The night is come, like to the day,
Depart not Thou, great God, away.
Let not my sins, black as the night,
Eclipse the lustre of Thy light:
Keep still in my horizon; for to me
The sun makes not the day, but Thee.
Thou, whose nature cannot sleep,
On my temples sentry keep;
Guard me gainst those watchful foes
Whose eyes are open while mine close;
Let no dreams my head infest
But such as Jacobs temples blest.
While I do rest, my soul advance;
Make my sleep a holy trance;
That I may, my rest being wrought,
Awake into some holy thought;
And with as active vigour run
My course as doth the nimble sun.
Sleep is a death: O make me try,
By sleeping, what it is to die;
And as gently lay my head
On my grave, as now my bed.
Howeer I rest, great God, let me
Awake again at last with Thee;
And thus assurd, behold I lie
Securely, or to awake or die.
These are my drowsy days; in vain
I do now wake to sleep again;
O come that hour, when I shall never
Sleep again, but wake for ever!
This is the dormitive I take to bedward; I need no other laudanum than this to make me sleep; after which I close mine eyes in security, content to take my leave of the Sun, and sleep unto the Resurrection.1 [Note: Sir Thomas Browne.]
5. Often in the midst of life, often in the very spring-time of life, we are in death. But whenever it comesthe decisive, the final sicknessit brings with it one call, one trial, one necessity, one only possibilitya call to rest. Nothing can now be done but to lie still. And is that so easy? Visit a bed of death, and see whether even patience, whether even submission, much more, whether affiance, whether faith, is the grace of every man! We see then the truth of the saying, And that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God! To rest on the Lord then is just as impossible with man as it is in life to work for God. But faiththe man of faithcan do it. He thinks this one of the chief blessings, one of the chief evidences too, of Christs Gospel, that it never sets a man to do anything impossible; that its demand is always appropriate, its call exactly suitable to youth and to age, to health and to sickness, to life and to death. To him now it says only these two words, Faith, rest! Lie still and look upward. What has been left undone cannot now be done: rest it upon Christ. What has been ill done cannot now be amended: rest it upon Christ. What has been done amiss cannot now be undone: rest it upon Christ. Lean all thy weight upon Him. He is sufficient. He has borne all. Trust Him, and doubt not. He will undertake for thee. It is enough.
Two days later, with no premonitory consciousness of anything but perfect health, he fell suddenly ill, and a serious operation was deemed necessary. He was taken at once to a hospital and the operation was performed. It was apparently wholly successful, but strength was slow in returning, and the end began to be in doubt. For six weeks he lingered, bearing his painful days and nights with cheerful courage and a sweet and patient self-effacement. All his thought was centred in the effort to keep from the one dearest to him the foreboding that was becoming a certainty to him. To a friend who sat by his side he said, For myself, I regard death merely as the passing shadow on a flower. On 17th March he expressed a wish to be taken home, and there on 19th March, in the greyness of the deepening twilight, the end came. He met death as he had met life, bravely and serenely, fully conscious of the loosening of the cords that held him to the earth. With his last look and smile he said, In spite of all, I am going to sleep; put out the lights; and for those who loved him darkness came.1 [Note: Ferris Greenslet, Thomas Bailey Aldrich, 237.]
Mysterious Night, when our first parent knew
Thee by report Divine, and heard thy name,
did he not tremble for this goodly frame,
This glorious canopy of light and blue?
But through a curtain of translucent dew,
Hesperus with the host of heaven came,
Bathed in the hues of the great setting flame,
And lo! Creation broadened to mans view.
Who could have guessed such darkness la concealed
Within thy beams, O Sun, or who divined,
When flower, and leaf, and insect lay revealed,
Thou to such countless worlds hadst made us blind?
Why should we then shun death with anxious strife
If Light could thus deceive, wherefore not Life?1 [Note: Blanco White.]
II.
Rest of Spirit
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Faith is the apprehension of that rest; the laying hold now upon the promise, the entering at last into the fruition. Faith which works is also a faith which rests.
1. There is a resting of faith which is habitual. Faith rests while it works. This is a peculiarity of the true Gospel. No false religion could teach it. Many human forms even of the true Gospel do not teach it. Many professed disciples of Christ Himselfmen to whom the name of religious persons cannot be deniednever learn it. True faith rests habitually; rests in working. It is a paradox; but a paradox full of truth, full of beauty, full of admonition.
When King Asa went out against Zerah the Ethiopian, and set the battle in array against overwhelming numbers, he cried unto the Lord his God, and said, Lord, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O Lord our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. Faith rested while it wrought. And when King Hezekiah saw the mighty host of Sennacherib coming to fight against Jerusalem, he said to his captains of war, There be more with us than with him: with him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people, it is added, rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah, King of Judah. It was an example of faith resting (not after, but) in working. The Gospel of Christ lays great stress upon this point. What shall I do, asks an awakening conscience, to work the works of God? Surely some great feat of self-sacrifice; some giving of my first-born for my transgression; some deed of self-mortification and self-crucifixion, after which the world shall be dead to me and I to the world; this surely must be the life to which God calls one who, being a sinner, would be an heir of salvation? Mark the answer. This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. To work is to believe. To believe is to rest. Say not in thine heart, Who shall go up for me into heaven? or, Who shall descend for me into the deep? The word is very nigh thee. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Faith is rest.
It is not by retiring from active life or business, or by going down to a cottage in the country, that a man can secure peace of mind. Trifles may be as exhausting and troublesome, as worrying and irritating, as commerce or concerns of State; leisure leaves the mind open to conscience: the only real peace is in the mind; but if the mind is in a turmoil, to retreat into it is only to exchange one set of troubles for another. No man lived more in the rush and turmoil of the world than our great Prime Minister, Mr. Gladstone, and one of the secrets of his success was that when he returned home from the House of Commons he threw off his cares and left them behind him on the Treasury Bench. He used to call his library at Hawarden the Temple of Peace. If he could do so with his immense responsibilities, surely any man might make his mind a sanctuary.1 [Note: Lord Avebury, Peace and Happiness 346.]
O Thou upon whose bosom lay
Those hearts made weary by the way
Of lifes incessant care,
My spirit too, with toil oppressed,
Seeking in vain an earthly rest,
Is driven dove-like to Thy breast,
And bid to nestle there.
It is not that I wish to lie
Forgetful of the earth and sky,
And hid from human ken:
I would not prize, I would not crave
A rest unconscious like the grave,
Nor seek repose that could not brave
The wills and wants of men.
I seek Thy rest that I may find
A stronger impulse to the mind,
And higher stretch of wing,
Even as the lark more freely soars
Because he hears the song he pours,
And is impelled by musics oars
To work as well as sing.
Thou didst Thyself on earth recline
Upon Thy Fathers breast divine,
And rest on Him Thy will;
And therefore it was given to Thee
The mightiest of all souls to be,
To walk upon the stormy sea
And bid its waves be still.
If I am sheltered by Thy love,
I Shall not hurt by heaven above
The path of earth below;
But in my spirits deep repose
I shall be strong against my foes,
And bear the thorn upon the rose,
Unmurmuring as I go.
If first upon the mountain height
I see Thy radiance calm and bright
Before I seek the plain,
With face illumined by the skies
Ill go where the demoniac lies,
And by Thy rest will soothe his cries,
And burst his iron chain.1 [Note: G. Matheson, Sacred Songs, 134.]
2. There is a resting of faith which is occasional.
(1) After long confusions and conflicts within, as to the true way of salvation, at last we see and apprehend it. Christ is all. He has made peace. He has brought in an everlasting righteousness. In Him God is well pleased. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. Can it be but that the soul, finding Him, should, for joy of that finding, rest and refresh itself, consciously, in the Lord?
(2) Sometimes doubt returns. A book which has fallen in our way, the conversation of an unbeliever, something less palpablea thought of unbelief, springing we know not whence withinhas caused us new perplexity, new searchings of heart. What are we to think of Christ? Art Thou He that should come? or must we still look out, as of old, for some one who shall comeor perhaps never cometo be the Saviour of sinners and the Light of the world? At last the clouds disperse, and we see above the brightness of the firmament a form like that of the Son of God in heaven. The clear shining after rain has been vouchsafed to us and faith has rest and is edified.
(3) So it is sometimes after great labour. We have undertaken some work which is all for God. Ashamed of the idleness and self-indulgence which has so long bound and debased us; feeling the wickedness of such a return for the self-forgetting, self-sacrificing love of Christ; seeing the days passing away, and nothing done, nothing even attempted, to bring Him one life, one soul, for His travail even unto death for us; we did at last arouse ourselves by the help of prayer, and calling Him in went forth into the vineyard to bear something of the burden and heat of the day. The toil was at first difficult; flesh and blood rebelled, Satan opposed, conscience misgave me; but I persevered; persevered unto weariness; came back at late evening, faint and hungry; but faith strengthened and brightened within me as I stood before the Lord to report to Him of my poor endeavours: I found Him nearer to me when I thus began to treat Him as a Person, as One who had work for me and would receive my reckoning; that night I was able to say, as never before, In peace will I both lay me down and sleep: For thou, Lord, alone makest me dwell in safety.
(4) It would be ungrateful if we did not add one more to these occasional restings of faith, one which depends not upon any circumstance, inward or outward, of human life, but is provided everywhere, of Gods goodness, in that blessed communion and fellowship which is the Church and body of Christ. When faith droops, under the pressure of things temporal, whether adverse or prosperous, how often does it draw newness of vigour from obeying the call, Let us go unto the house of the Lord, or the charge, Do this in remembrance of me! It is only presumptionit is not faiththat can dispense with these things. Christ judged better for us, as men not of the world yet in it, when He bade us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, promised to be with even two or three thus gathered, and affixed a peculiar grace to the petition in which two should agree. If faith would know what is meant by her resting, she must frequent, with earnestness and large expectation, the table provided in the wilderness, the feast of which it is written, that, when Jesus took bread and blessed it, and gave it to them, their eyes were opened, and they knew him. Faith, struggling elsewhere, rests here. Handle me, and see.
On the next day Francis clothed Divini in the grey clothes of the Order and girded his loins with the cord, and gave him the name Pacificus, because he had left the worlds tumult for the peace of God. Thus, too, a century later, another much greater poet was to seek for peace among the children of St. Francis. One evening he, already grey and bowed down, stood before a lonely cloister in the Apennines and knocked at the door. And to the porters question as to what he sought there, the great Florentine (Dante) gave only the one all-including answer, Pace! (Peace!)1 [Note: J. Jrgensen, St. Francis of Assisi, 155.]
III.
The Giver of Rest
The giver of rest is Godthou, Lord, alone makest me dwell in safety. God is here revealed to us as exercising personal care in the still chamber. And there is something here which should be inexpressibly sweet to the believer; for this shows the minuteness of Gods care, the individuality of His love; how it condescends, and stoops, and acts, not only in great, but also in little spheres; not only where glory might be procured from great results, but where nought is to be had save the gratitude and love of a poor feeble creature, whose life has been protected and preserved, in a period of helplessness and sleep. There is something inexpressibly touching in this lay me down of the Psalmist. In thus lying down, he voluntarily gave up any guardianship of himself; he resigned himself into the hands of another; he did so completely, for, in the absence of all care, he slept; there was here a perfect trust.
My barque is wafted to the strand
By breath Divine,
And on the helm there rests a Hand
Other than mine.
One who has known in storms to sail
I have on board;
Above the raging of the gale
I have my Lord.
He holds me when the billows smite,
I shall not fall.
If sharp, tis short; if long, tis light;
He tempers all.
Safe to the land! Safe to the land!
The end is this;
And then with Him go hand in hand
Far into bliss.1 [Note: Dean Alford.]
There is no peace like the peace of the man who loves to lie down at night with the thought of God possessing his mind and heart. Happy the man who delights to recall the thought of God before he sinks into slumber!
Be my last thought how sweet to rest
For ever on my Saviours breast.
There is no peace like the peace of a man who, when he awakes in the morning, gives first welcome to the thought of God.
Fairer than the morning, lovelier than the daylight,
Dawns the sweet consciousness, I am with Thee.
The man who finds in God his shield, who seeks in Him his glory, and who makes in Him his boast, will have mornings of joy, and evening times of light.2 [Note: J. H. Jowett, Thirsting for the Springs, 99.]
Let us learn as Luther did, who, looking out of his window one summer evening, saw, on a tree at hand, a little bird making his brief and easy dispositions for a nights rest. Look, he said, how that little fellow preaches faith to us all. He takes hold of his twig, tucks his head under his wing, and goes to sleep, leaving God to think for him!3 [Note: P. B. Power, The I Wills of the Psalms , 19.]
In The Sunday Magazine for 1877 the following hymn, written by a young Brahmin lady, was published:
I lay me down in peace
Beneath Thy wing,
And safely sleep.
Thy watch can never cease,
For Thou, O King,
My soul wilt keep!
My sins are all forgiven,
So now I see
Thy Presence bright.
A days march nearer heaven
And nearer Thee
I am this night.
For all the tenderness
Which Thou hast shown
To me this day,
For strength in feebleness,
To Thee alone
My thanks I pay.
Thy holy angels stand
As guards above
My lowly bed;
And Thine own gracious hand,
Thy hand of love,
Is neath my head.
What if, before the morn,
Thou bidst me rise
And come to Thee?
Then homeward swiftly borne,
Beyond the skies,
My soul shall be.
Or if it be Thy will
That I should see
Another day,
O let Thy presence still
Remain with me,
And be my stay!1 [Note: Ellen Lakshmi Goreh.]
Literature
Jerdan (C.), For the Lambs of the Flock, 15.
Jowett (J. H.), Thirsting for the Springs, 94.
Moberly (G.), Plain Sermons Preached at Brighstone, 34.
Power (P. B.), The I Wills of the Psalms , 1.
Price (A. C.), Fifty Sermons, xi. 353.
Vaughan (C. J.), Voices of the Prophets, 75.
Vaughan (C. J.), The Family Prayer and Sermon Book, i. 737.
Churchmans Pulpit: Good Friday and Easter Even, vii. 189 (Keble).
Expositors Library: Psalms, i. 167 (Keble), 173 (Greenwood).
Good Words, 1866, p. 818 (Vaughan).
Plain Sermons by Contributors to the Tracts for the Times, vi. 85 (Keble).
Sunday Magazine, 1895, pp. 494, 496, 499 (Wells).
Fuente: The Great Texts of the Bible
I will: Psa 3:5, Psa 16:8, Job 11:18, Job 11:19, Pro 3:24, 1Th 4:13, 1Th 4:14, 1Th 5:10, Rev 14:13
for: Lev 25:18, Lev 25:19, Lev 26:5, Deu 12:10, Deu 33:27-29, Eze 34:25, Hos 2:18, Rom 8:35-39
Reciprocal: Lev 26:6 – ye shall 2Sa 17:1 – this night 1Ki 14:20 – slept Psa 127:2 – for so he Ecc 5:12 – General Act 12:6 – the same
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 4:8. I will lay me down in peace In tranquillity of mind, resting securely upon Gods promises, and the conduct of his wise and gracious providence. For thou, Lord, only makest me to dwell in safety I owe not my safety to my own valour or wisdom, nor to the courage of my followers, but to thee only. Or, Thou, Lord, makest me to dwell alone in safety Though I be, in a manner, alone, forsaken and destitute of friends or helpers, yet I am not alone, for God is with me: though I have no guards to attend me, the Lord alone is sufficient to protect me. He can do it himself when all other defences fail. Happy the Christian who, having nightly, with this verse, committed himself to his bed as to his grave, shall, at last, with the same words, resign himself to the grave, as to his bed, from which he expects, in due time, to rise, and sing a morning hymn, with the children of the resurrection. Horne.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
4:8 I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, {l} only makest me dwell in safety.
(l) This word in Hebrew may be referred to God, as it is here translated, or to David, signifying that he should dwell as joyfully alone, as if he had many about him, because the Lord is with him.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
He could rest and sleep peacefully with this knowledge (cf. Psa 3:5). Even though many sinners opposed him, he was right with his righteous God. He knew God would protect him. David’s name means "beloved," and his words in this verse express his appreciation for the fact that he was beloved by the Lord.
The elect of God can experience true joy and peace-even though the ungodly may oppose them-because He will protect and provide for them (cf. Gal 5:22; Rom 14:17).
"As an expression of confidence in God, the psalm helps the reader to meditate on God’s fatherly care and to leave the troubles and causes of anxiety in his hands. Here the psalmist teaches us that in our walk with God he can bring us to the point where we can sleep without fear." [Note: VanGemeren, p. 80.]