Sleep well - Claire Reynolds
Psalm 121
A song of ascents.
1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord watches over you—
the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
We all go through times in our lives when we struggle to sleep at night. Maybe we struggle to fall asleep because our brains won’t stop whirring or maybe we wake in the small hours and lie there worrying away. At 3am, our worries only multiply because we add to them the worries that we will be too tired the next day to function properly and will fall into a vicious cycle.
At times like this, I try to remember Psalm 121 as it was one of the first psalms I memorised as a young Christian nearly 30 years ago.
This psalm reminds us that the Lord is the maker of heaven and earth, so nothing is outside His control. He also promises to watch over His people by day and by night.
Whilst human beings need sleep to rest and process and be ready for the day ahead, the Lord does not need to slumber or sleep. He can watch over us whilst we sleep at night and when we are coming and going during the day.
Most parents know that our children drift away more easily when they feel safe and secure and whilst my children no longer need Mummy by their bedside to go to sleep, it is still a valuable thing for them (and us) to unburden all our worries and concerns to the Lord before bed. Then we can go to sleep safe in the knowledge that the creator of the whole universe is watching over us through the night and that the morning will come. When the sun rises, we can get up and face our problems knowing our help comes from the Lord who has kept us safely through the night.
The promise of verse 8 is that the Lord will watch over us “both now and forevermore” and there will come a day when our earthly lives will end and we will find ourselves with our Lord and Saviour in the new heavens and the new earth where we will be safe and secure for all eternity and worry and anxiety will be no more.
Sleep well everyone!
