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Psalm 121:3 — Sleeping in Peace
By Julie | October 24, 2008
He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber
Psalm 121:3
Scrapbooks…
I have a note, in my handwriting, in my scrapbook from years ago. It says, “Give your worries to God before you go to bed, He’s up all night anyway.” It was something my sister told me on the phone one night when I was in college. Apparently I needed to hear it. I wrote it down right after she said it, and later rubber cemented it in a scrapbook. Sometimes when I’m scanning those pages I’ll stumble on it, and need to hear it again. Maybe you need to hear it today. Life is definitely not always easy, and biblically, we’re told to expect trials. But we’re never alone, even when we sleep. I like knowing when my brain and body shut down; someone is still taking care of me, and solving my problems.
Watching Little Boys Sleep…
Sometimes after my kids are asleep I’ll check on them in their beds. I’ll cover them up to make sure they’re warm, or turn a fan on in hot weather. If I wake up in the night and have to get up, I always make sure they’re ok before I get back in bed.
My youngest is only two. Occasionally, if he is really asleep I’ll pick him up and rock him for a little while. My oldest is five, and a little too tall to be rocked. But on the nights I miss him when he’s asleep I’ll sit beside his bed and watch while he sleeps, for a little while. It’s amazing to see my sons so peaceful, without that energy they have in the day. Sometimes it seems like they go too fast for me I don’t get a good look at them. But at night, asleep, they are mine to admire, to protect. They’re so beautiful to watch, but not just in a physical sense. Their innocence is beautiful. The way they just trust me, and know I’ll always try to care for them, is beautiful. I can get so frustrated with them when they’re running through the house like wild boys, making messes, and not listening. But, at night, when I see them sleep, I know this time I have with them is precious, and fleeting. I want to hold onto it as long as I can. One day they won’t need me, but I hope they always know I’ll need them.
He Who Watches Over You…
As I watched them sleep one night I was reminded of my journal entry, and the verse Psalm 121:3: … ‘he who watches over you will not slumber.’ Does God ever kneel beside our beds when we are sleeping, crouch down low and marvel at what He created in each of us? Does He ever wonder why we go so fast that we don’t give Him a chance to get a good look at us? Does He long for the days of our childhoods, when we just trusted Him, and knew He loved us, for no good reason? Does He wonder why we run around, like wild people, making messes of our lives and sometimes other people’s lives? Does He wish we’d take the time to listen? Does He want to hold onto us as long He can, because one day it will be too late? Does He want to know why so often we think we don’t need Him, when He needs us to rely on Him?
Give it to God:
If there is something you’re struggling with, tonight when you go to sleep… give it to God… “He’s up all night anyway.”
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