Psalm 4

The 4th psalm is a psalm of David and belongs to the series of lamenting psalms .

genus

Because of its statements of trust, the psalm is often seen as a trust psalm. Martin Luther calls it a psalm of thanksgiving. Such statements of trust are also common in lamentations, which is why there is often no distinction between a psalm of trust and a lament. The psalm cannot be assigned to the thanksgiving songs, even if the salvation that has taken place suggests this, since there is no actual thanksgiving.

structure

Erhard S. Gerstenberger structures the psalm as follows:

• Verse 1: heading
• Verse 2: Invocation and opening petition
• Verses 3-6: challenge the opponent
• Verse 7: Lament
• Verse 8f .: confirmation of confidence, please

interpretation

Mostly the contrast between the trust of the psalmist and the despair of others is contrasted.

With regard to sacrifice , the psalm is nowadays viewed as “post-cult”, ie the sacrifice is not related to a sacrificial service in the temple. The name of the sacrifice in verse 6 ( זבחי־צדק) - "Justice sacrifice " ( Elberfelder ), "sacrifices what is right" ( Luther Bible ) - is therefore interpreted either from the context of jurisprudence or in terms of alms .

Liturgical use

• In the Catholic Liturgy of the Hours , Psalm 4 is part of Compline on Saturday (followed by Ps 134 : 1-3  EU ).

Web links

Commons : Psalm 4  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Psalm 4 in the standard translation , the Luther Bible and other translations from bibleserver.com
• Psalm 4 in the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS) on bibelwissenschaft.de
• Sheet music in the public domain of settings for Psalm 4 in the Choral Public Domain Library - ChoralWiki (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ z. B. in Hermann Gunkel , Die Psalmen, 6th edition 1986, 16.
2. ↑ Weimar Edition 39.19.
3. ^ Matthias Millard: The Composition of the Psalter. 1994, 54.
4. ↑ Erhard S. Gerstenberger : Psalms. Part I 1988, 54.
5. ^ Matthias Millard: The Composition of the Psalter. 1994, 230.