“In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.” Psalm 4:8
June 23, 2023
Very early in my childhood I learned a bedtime prayer many of us remember. “Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.” There is some theological work to be done with this prayer, but it does open us up to David’s prayer in Psalm 4. David was camped out in the wilderness. He doesn’t know what the night may bring. His son, Absalom, had led a rebellion. David makes his appeal to a just God. Absalom was seeking to kill his father and take over the throne of Israel. David prays with a strong rebuke of the rebels. How does one sleep when weighed down by grief and disappointment? Do worries and dangers rob you of sleep? The best remedy for such a time is a rock solid hope in God. David turned the whole crisis over to the Lord. When we do so this can keep us from becoming part of the problem. A clear conscience and right thoughts about God will enable us to see what is right and what is wrong. One thing striking about this prayer of David is that he prays that the hot-heads who are after him will douse their anger with some God-fearing sense (4:4). Read the psalm through and you will see why David could lie down and sleep the sleep of faith. Confidence in God can give true joy and peace.
H