Did you ever hear the little ditty my parents would say to me when it was time for me to go to bed? It went like this: “Good night, sleep tight. Don’t let the bedbugs bite!” Which I always thought was a weird way to send your kid to bed; instead of drifting off to sleep with various pleasant thoughts, the poor children would see “visions of creepy-crawlies dance in their heads.” Not especially conducive to blissful rest! The other restful line kids were told to say included the words, “If I should die before I wake . . .” which though theologically correct, was also somewhat anxiety-producing.
Perhaps it was one of those lines going through my head, or maybe a mess of unresolved thoughts about the current state of our country and world, or, whatever movie I watched before bedtime, or most likely, my own personal health issues. Whatever the mix of those thoughts recently, I couldn’t get any sleep. After tossing and turning most of the night, even after praying for relief, I finally decided I needed to fill my mind with more restful thoughts.
I got up and staggered to my computer. First, I found a video of “sleep- inducing” nature sounds: a good old Midwestern rainstorm. I blanked the screen and listened to the sounds of rain and far-off thunder. The video was said to run for three hours, but I didn’t make it that long; It turns out the sound of running water called forth sympathetic urges in myself that interfered with any thought of sleep.
After that experiment, I tried sitting in the dark while imagining a more benign fantasy of lecturing at some college. I have no idea why I thought that would work, because before long I had created an entire course syllabus in my mind, along with fleshed-out talks, illustrations drawn from current events, and book citations that went back to a book I read in high school! Then came imaginary exchanges with the students and I knew this plan was not working. My mind was just too hyper-active.
That was when I decided I needed to read Scripture. But I knew that the choice of what to read would be important: nothing too exciting (like Joshua) or too theologically complicated (like Romans or Revelation). Nothing to arouse me to ponder ongoing denominational debates. No, maybe something like Leviticus or the genealogical lists of Genesis 10 (“The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. . . etc.”)
But then my choice became obvious: the Psalms. I remembered that many of them contained the cries of God’s people asking for relief, and I knew that applied to me. So I began reading, right at Psalm 1 “Blessed is the man . . .” From that, I skipped around, looking for the words that seemed most relevant to my pressing need.
I found some very helpful passages. Psalm 86 spoke more generally where it said “Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; listen to my plea for grace. In the day of my trouble I call upon you, for you answer me.” (verses 6, 7). And Psalm 127:2 addressed my need directly: “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.” Amen!
But what I discovered as I read these and other psalms was more important than verses about helping me to sleep. The thing that all these psalms had in common, besides whatever specific need they expressed, was that they praised God for who he was and what he has done. Even those psalms that complained to God about injustices, or celebrated his creation, or shared the wisdom of fearing God, all concluded by praising God.
As I pondered that, I realized that my own prayers had been weak in that area. Sure, God does call on us to bring all our needs to him. Christ himself taught us that the Father wants us to bring our petitions to him, that he knows our needs and will give us what we need (Matthew 6:8). But too often we treat God like a genie from Aladdin’s lamp; we summon him when we want something, and then put him away until next time. That’s actually a pagan way of treating God, as a servant we can control by saying the right magical incantations, making the right promises, giving the right offering, or performing the correct rituals.
Our right to call on our heavenly Father is not based on our actions, however sincere, but on our relationship to him; and that is based on his love and what he has done for us through Christ his Son. John 1:12 says, “to those who received him, who believed on his name, he gave the power to become the children of God.” Romans 8:16 says, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. . .” Jesus reminded us that if our earthly fathers knew how to give good gifts to us, how much more will our heavenly Father do so (Luke 11:11-13).
Even if God had not made us his children and given us salvation,we should still praise and worship him for who he is. It is here that the psalms excel, and here where I had a lesson to relearn.
- “At all times I will bless him; his praise will be in my mouth” (Psalm 34:1)
- “I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations.” (Psalm 57:9)
- “For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods.” (Psalm 96:4)
- “From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised!” (Psalm 113:3)
- “My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.” (Psalm 145:21)
- plus another 65 psalms that likewise praise the Lord.
After my reading, I listened to a couple hymns – “When Peace Like a River” and “Nearer My God to Thee” before lying back down and trying to sleep. I’d like to say I immediately fell asleep, but it still took a while. Again, it’s not magic. But I can say that all those other thoughts that had robbed me of my sleep had gone away, and I felt comforted to finally drift off in my Father’s arms.
Now may the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.
Read: Psalms 34, 57, 96, 150.