It is often late in the evening, when the noise of the day has quieted, that our hearts begin to rehearse what troubles them. In the stillness, unresolved anxieties rise, and peace feels distant. Psalm 4 is given for this hour. It teaches us where true rest is found when the day ends and the soul is weary.

Like Psalm 3, this is a psalm written during a time of distress. David again prays from pressure and uncertainty, addressing God, his opponents, and his own heart. Yet while Psalm 3 leads us through the night to morning confidence, Psalm 4 teaches us how to lie down in peace before deliverance is fully seen.

The psalm opens with a plea rooted in covenant grace: “Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness.” David does not appeal to his own worthiness, but to the God who gives righteousness. Past mercy becomes the ground for present trust: “You have given me relief when I was in distress; be gracious to me and hear my prayer.”

This confidence rests on the truth confessed in verse 3: “The LORD has set apart the godly for himself; the LORD hears when I call to him.” David’s assurance is not self-generated. The Lord has claimed His people as His own. Their security in prayer rests not in their faithfulness, but in God’s gracious choosing and covenant promise to hear.

From that assurance, David addresses those who oppose him. They chase vanity and false security, yet David calls them—and his own restless heart—to reverent silence, right worship, and trust in the Lord. Peace is not found in self-vindication, but in resting before God.

The psalm closes with quiet confidence: “In peace I both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.” Sleep becomes an act of faith. David rests not because all is resolved, but because the Lord alone guards him.

As with the preceding psalms, our gaze is drawn beyond David to Christ. The Blessed Man of Psalm 1, the reigning King of Psalm 2, and the suffering King of Psalm 3 is here revealed as the One who gives true peace to His people. Christ is the perfectly righteous One whose prayers are always heard, the Son set apart by the Father. In His suffering, He entrusted Himself fully to God, securing peace for those united to Him.

Because Christ was forsaken, we are received. Because He bore unrest, we are given rest. United to Him by grace, we are heard when we pray and kept as we sleep—not by our worth, but by His finished work.

Psalm 4 teaches us how to end the day as God’s people: entrusting unresolved fears to the Lord, resting in covenant grace, and lying down in peace. The God who neither slumbers nor sleeps watches over His own, until the final night gives way to the everlasting morning.