Psalm 127:1-2 / Sweet Sleep.
Psalm 127:1-2 / Sweet Sleep.
Unless the Lord builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.
2 It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives to his beloved sleep.
There has been a pattern in my life of lacking sleep in the moments when I seem to need it the most.
The night before a big test.
The night before an early morning plane trip with my wife and five kids.
The night before a Sunday Gathering where I am preaching.
The night before a doctor’s appointment or medical exam.
I tend to lie awake most often on the nights when I need the most sleep.
Have you ever experienced that?
Dying for rest, but unable to stop the wheels of your mind from spinning?
If so, David gives us an answer to our problem.
He says – ENTRUST IT ALL TO GOD.
He says you can build a house, raising kids and establishing a family.
He says you can build up defenses, working to keep what is yours safe and insulate yourself from the pain of the world.
He says you can even try to build success through hard work and long hours.
But none of it will be successful – it will ALL be in vain – unless the Lord is in it.
We can lie awake all night trying to figure it out, work it out, or map it out, but it is only when we hand it over to the Lord that “he gives to his beloved sleep.”
Sleep, there is hardly a more beautiful word in the English language.
Sleep signifies peace.
Sleep indicates a lack of anxiety or fear.
Sleep shows us that we are depending on Someone who is greater than ourselves.
He gives to his beloved sleep.
What do you need to hand over to Him today?
Where in your life are you anxiously trying to work things out on your own?
What is God calling on you to hand back over to Him?
I pray as we entrust it all to God, we enjoy the blessing of a good night’s sleep.
With much love,
Pastor Dave
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