Psalm 4
Literally Rendered with Footnotes
1. To the overcomer1 via strummings.2 A ballad3 to David.4
2. Answer/Humble5 me in my calling, Gods6 of my righteousness! Thou hast broadened7 to me in Tribulation.7 Favour me and hearken8-to my prayer.9
3. Sons of a man, unto what is my importance10 for calamity? 11 Ye shall love emptiness! 12 Ye shall seek a lie! 13 Cast-up! 14
4. And know ye that Yehovah has segregated15 a graced-one16 for Himself! Yehovah will hearken8 in my calling unto Him!
5. Shake-ye-with-anger! 17 And do not sin. Say18 ye in your heart19 upon your bed, and be ye silent! 20 Cast-up! 21
6. Sacrifice-ye sacrifices22 of righteousness. And trust ye unto23 Yehovah.24
7. Many are saying, “Who will show us good?” Ensign25 upon us a light of Thy faces, Yehovah.
8. Thou gave happiness in my heart. They26 have increased from the time of their grain and their new-wine.27
9. I will both lie down and I have slept28 in peace. For Thou, Yehovah, alone shall make me dwell securely! 29
NOTE: Some footnote topics cover numerous texts. They have been recorded, and will be copied into documents discussing those topics. If you see footnote repetition from one text to another, this will explain why.
1 The root of overcomer according to Gesenius’ lexicon means to excel, be bright, be preeminent, be perpetual, be overseer, be enduring; to act as overseer or superintendent or director or chief. The noun form has the following acceptations (according to Gesenius): eminence, perpetuity, strength, victory, enduring, everlastingness; endurance in time, perpetual, continual, unto the end. Biblical usage, however, directed me toward overcomer, one who is victorious and who endures. This has connected with numerous other texts throughout the Bible.
2 Guitars? I chose guitars since the Hebrew word indicated strummed instruments. Many stringed, strummed instruments can fit this description, so if you protest this choice, consider the options. The timing of the text will determine instrumental availability and existence.
3 A ballad is a story in song that tells of a person’s acts. While ballads can be mythical, Biblical ballads are never mythical, giving infallible information in their stories. Biblical ballads are nearly always future events, recorded as if they have already occurred.
4 David literally means beloved, but comes from a root supposedly meaning to boil. It is more like a lover, showing intense passion (not necessarily bad if the relationship is appropriate).
5 The same Hebrew word that means answer also means humble (both verbs). Context normally distinguishes between two definitions of words that are spelled the same way, but I have found numerous texts using this word in which I cannot distinguish; they are both equally true! Yehovah designed the language, and He sovereignly made sure those two words were that closely linked. Thus, I now frequently render that Hebrew word with ‘answer/humble’ so that the reader can see this.
6 Elohim means gods. When Elohim refers to Yehovah, it is describing Him as being all the true Gods there are. He is God of the mountains, God of the heavens, God of the seas, God of fruitfulness, God of justice, etc. The word is still plural, but normally demands a singular verb. When Elohim refers to false gods, it can also take a singular verb (when those referring to elohim are speaking of their gods), but often takes plural verb forms.
7 Broadened and Tribulation have a common concept. Tribulation has the flavour of a tight squeeze: being put into a bind. Broadening, on the other hand, has the opposite flavour. This is the provision of an escape so that the bind and tight squeeze are (at least temporarily) stopped. The Hebrew word for broadway or boulevard is the noun form of this word.
8 Hearken is not the same as hear; it also includes doing. The Hebrew uses a verb form of ear, also, which is more akin to hearing.
9 Prayer (of this type) comes from a root verb meaning to intervene, interpose, pray, to mediate, judge, to intercede. The main flavour can be described this way: rolling out details in order to properly determine what is appropriate. The Bible has several different words describing different types of prayer. This is the most common.
10 Glory means weight or importance. Its use is exactly like the English idiom, “Man, that’s heavy!” used by Hippies, and showing that something was important.
11 The Hebrew word is cleemah. I quickly saw the sound-relationship between cleemah and calamity. I thus render this as calamity.
12 Emptiness (Hebrew, reek) is one of several descriptions of an idol!
13 Lie is almost always singular in the Bible. The Bible seems to refer to one lie in particular. We researched this lie, and determined (to our satisfaction) that it referred to the original lie: that man, by knowing good and evil, can be as Elohim (Gods). Determine this for yourself.
14 Selah literally means cast-up, referring to mounting road base up for highway building. Highways are built higher than the surrounding lands so that they will not easily be washed out during heavy rains. Readers have usually not considered the importance of highways in the End Times (a great mistake!). Yehovah will conduct many back to Mount Zion, routing them over highways He has prepared. Selah texts (highway texts) give vital information to returners so that they can survive on the way.
15 Segregation is not always evil. Yehovah segregates for the purpose of service. He segregated Israel from the other races so that Israel can serve the other races, bringing His Word and His Truth to them by means of teachings in the form of show-and-tell.
16 Grace is a fervent, ardent zeal by which one is actuated. Defined a little simpler, grace is a very strong, burning zeal (conviction and drive to do something) by which one is motivated to take action regarding anything. That action can be on behalf of someone or something, or it can be against someone or something. It is like a mother who is both protecting her baby from an attacker (grace toward her baby) and is attacking the attacker at the same time (grace against the attacker). Many have rightly heard that Salvation is by grace (though few know what this means), but very few know that damnation is by the very same grace! Yehovah’s fervency and zeal is against those who spurn the price He paid in His grace, and who spurn His grace.
You must determine who this graced-one is.
17 Shake-with-anger is all in this word! It indicates a strong trembling, but also indicates a very strong anger.
18 The command, Say, is present, but the text does not indicate what to say.
19 Your is plural, while heart is singular (the same is true for your and bed). Folks involved will have a single heart. The heart is usually the mind in the Bible, though it can also be the center of something.
20 The Hebrew word dōm seems directly related to the English word dumb (silent); I consider their definitions the same.
21 Footnote 14 describes about Selah. Being silent is a vital, life-saving command! What is occurring?
22 With some exceptions, sacrifices include blood being shed. (Some sacrifices are of grains and breads.) When a command to sacrifice occurs, the reader can know that the price is very high.
23 Unto shows direction toward the target. Trusting in Yehovah is not the same as trusting unto Yehovah. In shows that the persons are already settled regarding Yehovah. Unto shows that the persons are not necessarily initially settled that way.
24 Yehovah is a contraction (abbreviation) of the three tenses of the Hebrew verb, to be:
He will be, He is, He was
Yēhēyĕh+Hōvĕh+Häyäh
Take just the bold letters (if your program allows you to see bold), and you will have
Yĕhōväh
which is the correct pronunciation of His Name, and which means He will be, is, was. This also defines part of His Character (changelessness) and existence status (He always was, is and always will be).
25 I constructed the verb ensign because I could not find another way to show the act of constructing and demonstrating a sign. Signify would not give the right flavour. A sign is nearly always miraculous, and if it isn’t miraculous it is so unlikely that its probability is nearly zero.
26 See if you can identify the objects of this and all pronouns.
27 New wine is always potently alcoholic. It has a sharp flavour, whereas aged wine is much smoother. It is never non-alcoholic grape juice.
28 The second verb (slept) is past-tense because it shows result. In the Hebrew language, when a past-tense action follows a future-tense act, it is because it will certainly follow once the future act is done. For example, one might say in English, “I will go to the store, and I will pick up some bread.” Biblical Hebrew would word it, “I will go to the store, and I have picked up some bread.” This construction shows certainty that the past-tense action will follow the future-tense action.
29 Be sure to establish the timing of this entire Psalm.