Scripture: Psalm 4:8
I will both lie down and sleep in peace; for you alone, O Lord, make me lie down in safety.
Thought for the Day: These are beautiful and comforting words, but they do not make a lot of sense for the family whose home was destroyed by a bomb in Afghanistan while they slept or the earthquake that wiped out villages in China yesterday. We read these words of scripture and think of it as a request for a hedge of complete protection. We all want to believe in some sort of divine soldier that protects us at night from all possible dangers, but I do not think the Psalmist thought in those terms. In the Hebrew language, the word we translate as ‘safety’ comes from the Hebrew word for ‘trust,’ and it is often used to describe how an individual feels toward God’s promises. It isn’t that God promises to keep us safe all night from every bad thing, but that God can be trusted to be God no matter what occurs to us. It is a lot like the old bed time prayer, “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.” I can trust that no matter what happens to me, I ultimately belong to God.
Prayer: Give me rest, O Lord, in your comforting presence. Provide for me a spirit of peace for you are trustworthy. Amen.
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