Psalm 4: can you sleep at night?
I have been going through a fairly trying time recently, and I’m not sure when things will get back to normal. Until they do, it’s very reassuring to me to read a psalm like this. In particular the verse, “Realise that Yahweh performs wonders for his faithful, Yahweh listens when I call for him,” makes me feel much better. I’m just a human being, weak, frail and fallible, and written reassurance from God is true aid in an hour of need. It once again comes down to having enough faith in God to let go of my worries, and rely on Him.
It’s hard, it’s very hard to stop worrying. And I think God understands that, because throughout the Bible, I don’t remember reading of instances where He asks us to stop worrying all the time. No, He entreats us to stop vexing ourselves with worry, which is, to stop making ourselves sick with worry, and the particular examples given are all related to sleeping peacefully. This psalm, noted as an “evening prayer” in the NJB, is no exception. The language used, in particular in verses 4 and 8, shows that the author was thinking of sleep, or of evening time, when he wrote the psalm. So, if one were to devise a Biblical standard by which worry were judged, it would be the ability to “lie down and at once fall asleep,” I think. The same is echoed by Peter in the New Testament, when he manages to sleep soundly even though he expects to be executed in the morning (see Acts 12).
Along with that, God wants to remind us that He is in control, and He will perform miracles on our behalf if needed. While we can’t help worrying during the day, we should relinquish all worry at night, and “rest secure” knowing He will keep us in His hand and carry us through any ordeal.
Thank you, Lord, for all you do for us!
