Ps. 57.4 (enemy sleep)

O my soul
among lions / I must lie down
among man-eaters
whose teeth / are spears and arrows
and whose tongues / are sharp swords.

Throughout the first few verses we have been drawing attention to position/geography, largely in how that relates to his being in the Temple. Here, we find that theme continued—whereas before we envisioned him, alone, ‘beneath God’s wings’ (in the Temple), as if he had fled to it for safety, now we come to see that he is there “among lions”. The ‘Destruction’ (vs. 1) he is hoping to ‘pass by him’, is, in fact, literally surrounding him. The imagery of enemies as lions is a common one in the psalms. Often the enemy is portrayed as this particular type of beast. Here, however, it is rather frightening image as the lions begin to take the form of military grotesqueries. The sense of “among” (among lions…, among man-eaters…) could be the fact that the psalmist is sleeping in the Temple surrounded by his enemies awaiting a prophetic announcement by a Temple priest as to his innocence or judgment. This would not be surprising given the fact that we have seen this in other psalms, especially those that relate to sickness (its own form of attacking enemy): the sick person retreats to the Temple and sleeps there in order to obtain healing. The point being that the Temple is that place wherein judgment is rendered, or, in the words of the previous verse, where God will send forth his loving-kindness and faithfulness in order to “challenge” those who “hound” (like lions) the psalmist. God’s will (his “purposes”; vs. 2) will be manifest, in the judgment, “on earth as it is in heaven”.  And, it is in the Temple where this ‘gathering in sleep’ takes place, with the righteous lying down the wicked. The fact that they cross the threshold of judgment together in sleep, is laden with potential force. Within the dramatic contours of the psalm, this will take place in the transition from night to day. In this verse, we find the psalmist speaking to his own soul (not to God), as he lies down in the twilight, surrounded by enemies/lions. Perhaps we see here something we have noted in other night/morning psalms: that the creative work of God occurs while man sleeps (surrounded by enemies), and transitions from night today, in much the same way that creation itself (and man) was fashioned in the darkness and in sleep. In the face of judgment, man must enter into this almost entirely passive realm of utter vulnerability, and, within that time, God “sends forth” his saving (and creative) covenantal power…much as a seed must grow in the darkness.