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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
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Daily Psalms - Classical Psalms Every Day — Psalm Chapter 4. Machine-transcribed; use the interactive transcript above to jump the player to any line.
0:00Psalm 4 Hear me when I call, oh God of my righteousness, thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress, have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer. O ye sons of men, how long will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love vanity and seek after leasing, say la? Know that the Lord has set apart him that it is godly for himself, and the Lord will hear when I call unto him. Stand in awe and sin not, commune with your own heart upon your bed and be still, say la. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness and put your trust in the Lord. There be many that say, who will show us any good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us. Thou hast put gladness in my heart more than in the time that their corn and their wine
1:00increased. I will both lay me down in peace and sleep, for thou, Lord, only make us meet well in safety.
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