"I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety."
Psalm 4:8
Part 1
Psalm 4 is a prayer of David, turned into a hymn for the congregation of Israel. He begins by asking God to hear his prayer (v. 1). And then David talks with those who have slandered his name (vv. 2-3). Even though the words of evil men weigh heavily on his heart, he settles his heart down as he thinks about the LORD, and trusts in Him (vv. 4-5). David closes his prayer by remembering God’s blessings to him (vv. 6-8). It is in this context that we want to think about our verse for today.
“I will both lay me down in peace.”
In the middle of being terribly slandered, how many people can say that they will “lie down in peace.” Not many, I’m afraid. Unfortunately, aren’t we prone to play adverse events like these over and over in our minds, and we just keep hitting the “play” button. Rather than being peaceful in heart, we are brilliant at working ourselves into a frenzy over the bad things that evil people do to us. David understood this. He certainly had his share of enemies. But what is different with David is that he understood the answer to his need was not within himself, but with his LORD.
Notice where David’s focus is in this psalm. This prayer/hymn is only eight verses long, and in only one verse (v. 2), does he mention the evil that was done to him. The other seven verses have something to do with his God and His God’s goodness in his life. Even during this dreadfully difficult time, David concentrated on the LORD and not on the event or the people involved!
Even in the dark times of life, we must keep living by faith. We need to remember that our God is always there with us.
Ezekiel the prophet spoke out against the evil shepherds of his day that neglected their sheep, and he pointed to the Lord GOD, the faithful shepherd who said,
“I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord GOD” (Ezekiel 34:15).
Now that’s peaceful. Solomon taught his son that God’s words, the words of wisdom will let him lie down peacefully.
“When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet” (Proverbs 3:24).
Zophar, Job’s “friend” does speak truth to him when he said,
“And thou shalt be secure because there is hope; yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take thy rest in safety. Also, thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid; yea, many shall make suit unto thee” (Job 11:18-19).
What about when we keep thinking about what that guy did, and we can’t sleep? Tomorrow we will talk about this. Please come back then.
Quote: “As we pour out our bitterness, God pours in His peace”[1] (F.B. Meyer).
[1] F.B. Meyer’s quote. Downloaded: Monday, June 29, 2020.
From: https://www.christianquotes.info/top-quotes/19-beautiful-quotes-about-gods-peace/.