In Christ - I am able to sleep without fear

I am able to sleep without fear...

Psalms 3:5 I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me. 

Psalms 4:8 I will lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety. 

What does it take to believe that God will keep you safe through a difficult night?  The bottom line is that you have to TRUST Him completely – you have to KNOW in your heart of hearts that He has your back – that He’s watching over you – that He only has the best in mind for His children – and that He is FAITHFUL to keep His word.  It can be a tall order – difficult to believe – especially if the circumstances of your day have left you reeling and wondering where God is in the midst of your situation.  David was a man who was able to TRUST God – but he had to remind himself of God’s trustworthiness, and that’s what Psalm 3 and 4 are about.  In both, David is overwhelmed with suffering, injustice, and oppression.  In Psalm 3 lament and confidence are intermingled, and become a pattern for praise, peace, and prayer amidst pressure.  In Psalms 4 David moves from anxiety to assurance, as he travels down the road of prayer and trust in God.  At the end of another day of pressure, pain and persecution, David engages in three conversations which ultimately lead to a point of blessed relaxation: Praying to God for Preservation (4:1); Reasoning with His enemies about Repentance (4:2-5); Praising God for True Perspective (4:6-8). *

SO – while David is running for his life from his enemies (including one of his own sons), he finds himself at the end of the day being able to trust God to see him safely through the night.  I don’t know about you – but I think it would be difficult to put my head down on a rock in the back of a cave and fall peacefully asleep knowing that the people who are out to kill me haven’t given up the hunt!  David was able to do that because he kept his perspective – and he put his faith in a God that hadn’t let him down – EVER.  We see from the rest of David’s story that God did, in fact, sustain him.  He will sustain you, too!  Whatever your situation – no matter what’s going on – you CAN close your eyes at night and sleep peacefully, for “He who watches over Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps!”  Sharon

*Some notes from John MacArthur Bible Commentary