Psalm 3:5 I lay down and slept, yet I woke up in safety, for the Lord was watching over me.
What keeps you up at night? Worries over your family? Your grades? Your marriage or job? We all have experienced sleepless nights when we can’t stop those nagging worries from filling our thoughts.
Maybe your worries are about whether you’re good enough - are you the one always picked last or made fun of (or ignored) because you dress a little differently or you look a little bit different. Maybe you are having a hard time finding friends – or even just one friend. Maybe you are dealing with mental illness or someone you love is. Maybe you are just exhausted and overwhelmed by the circumstances of your life.
That’s why David’s words in Psalm 3:5 are so striking. “I lay down and slept.” David wrote Psalm 3 not from his bed within the palace, under the watchful eyes of his guard. David wrote those words while he was on the run from his son, Absolom, who had organized a rebellion and was attempting to overthrow him.
David was running for his life. As many as ten thousand soldiers were surrounding him (see Psalm 3:6). The odds were against him and David had every reason to believe that all was lost. So what did he do? He turned to God.
David reminds us in this psalm that even when everything is going wrong and it seems there is no hope at all, God is still there. He cries out to the one who is “a shield around me” and “who holds my head high” (Psalm 3:3).
David could sleep peacefully in the midst of his crisis because he knew that God had heard his prayers. “I cried out to the Lord and he answered me from his holy mountain” (Psalm 3:4). David could sleep because he knew that God was in control of his circumstances, and he didn’t need to worry. When we find ourselves tossing and turning at night, we can remember David. Cry out to God because he hears us too. Grab some sticky notes or scraps of paper, and give each of your worries a name. Place them in a basket—into God’s hands.
Prayer: God, Thank you that you remind us throughout your Word that we do not face the
storms alone but you are always with us. Whispering calm. Speaking peace. Bringing rest
to our souls. Holding us close.