Psalm 4

A Psalm of Trust

Psalm 4, the lectionary psalm for this third Sunday of Easter, follows a psalm of lament (Psalm 3) in which David bemoans his political enemies, who included his own rebellious son Absalom. We might expect the psalmist to deride his enemies, but, to the contrary, Psalm 4 is a psalm of trust. In the history of the church, Psalm 3 has often been considered a psalm for us to pray in the morning (3:5) and Psalm 4 a prayer for the evening (4:8).

Forgiveness and Enemies

Juxtaposing lament and trust may at first strike us as an oddity, both in a literary sense and in our real life setting, but when we see the nature of Psalm 4, that David sought to reconcile with his enemies (4:4-5), a story that is told in…