Psalms 4:8

4:8 I will lie down and sleep peacefully, 1 

for you, Lord, make me safe and secure. 2 

Psalms 44:23

44:23 Rouse yourself! Why do you sleep, O Lord?

Wake up! 3  Do not reject us forever!

Psalms 59:15

59:15 They wander around looking for something to eat;

they refuse to sleep until they are full. 4 

Psalms 104:22

104:22 When the sun rises, they withdraw

and sleep 5  in their dens.

Psalms 121:3

121:3 May he not allow your foot to slip!

May your protector 6  not sleep! 7 

Psalms 132:4

132:4 I will not allow my eyes to sleep,

or my eyelids to slumber,

1 tn Heb “in peace at the same time I will lie down and sleep.”

2 tn Heb “for you, Lord, solitarily, securely make me dwell.” The translation understands לְבָדָד (lÿvadad) as modifying the verb; the Lord keeps enemies away from the psalmist so that he is safe and secure. Another option is to take לְבָדָד with what precedes and translate, “you alone, Lord, make me secure.”

3 sn Wake up! See Ps 35:23.

4 tn Heb “if they are not full, they stay through the night.”

5 tn Heb “lie down.”

6 tn Heb “the one who guards you.”

7 tn The prefixed verbal forms following the negative particle אל appear to be jussives. As noted above, if they are taken as true jussives of prayer, then the speaker in v. 3 would appear to be distinct from both the speaker in vv. 1-2 and the speaker in vv. 4-8. However, according to GKC 322 §109.e), the jussives are used rhetorically here “to express the conviction that something cannot or should not happen.” In this case one should probably translate, “he will not allow your foot to slip, your protector will not sleep,” and understand just one speaker in vv. 4-8.