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I Lie Down & Sleep

From the editor of The Hammer magazine.

"I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me. I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side" (Psalm 3:5-6).

Today we can buy sleeping pills to help us get “rest” at night and caffeine pills to get us going during the day. But drug-induced sleep can never be a substitute for the peaceful sleep of a soul resting in God.

Just as a child can cast off his cares in his parents’ arms and sleep, so we see David sleeping amidst “tens of thousands” against him. What was his secret? It was a knowledge of the character of God and a responsive trust in Him. C.H. Spurgeon describes David in this Psalm as reclining “his head on the bosom of his God.”

As Christians, we should recognize that restless sleep is a symptom of a soul burdened with cares that belong on the shoulders of the One who alone can carry them. David had many life-threatening concerns, yet he says, “The Lord sustains me.” Through all the stresses of this life, we too must be sustained by His grace which will indeed enable us to “lie down and sleep.”

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