Sleep in Heavenly Peace
“In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” – Psalm 4:8, ESV
“How many of our sleepless hours might be traced to our untrusting and disordered minds. They slumber sweetly whom faith rocks to sleep. No pillow so soft as a promise; no coverlet so warm as an assured interest in Christ. O Lord, give us this calm repose on thee, that like David we may lie down in peace, and sleep each night while we live; and joyfully may we lie down in the appointed season, to sleep in death, to rest in God!” – Charles H. Spurgeon
My love for Christmas is probably a little out of proportion; okay there’s no probably about it. In that affection though, the music of Christmas is near the top of the out of proportion-ness. I for sure have a play list titled, “Christmas in August.” Having said all that, the title for this blog and its focus came first from the Spurgeon quote and then, in reflection from the carol, “Silent Night! Holy Night!” The first stanza runs:
Silent night, holy night,
All is call, all is bright
Round yon virgin mother and Child.
Holy Infant so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.
And while I’ve often sung those words, I always thought of those last two lines as being directed to the mother and Child and never to others. Yet, we can say without that Child, our sleep would not be bathed in heavenly peace. Especially our final sleep. But, because of that Child’s birth, life, death, and resurrection none of us need suffer tormented sleep. Whether that sleep is for a night or our sleep in death. It is on this plain that Psalm 4’s promises take their grandest form. The good that David seeks and that God alone can provide, His smile and His peace come to fullness only in light of eternity. If we measure them by earth’s little while, we will have far too small a view of what God intends. Our Savior came to grant us victory over every foe, death last of all. When we close our eyes in sleep, we can do so with fresh assurance of His perfect provision for our every need. We need not fret and worry. We need not fear the darkest of shadows or the hardest of seasons. All that God has promised us in Christ will, in His good time, be ours. Our work is to rest in faith upon Him. Just as David could rest in God in the midst of the mockery and hardships, so too, we will find Him faithful who’s every promise is, “Yes and amen” in Christ.
Questions for application/discussion:
What anxiety do you wrestle with the most? How will you preach to your soul the truth of Psalm 4:8 related to it?
In thinking of the sleep of death, what fears or anxieties do you have? What can the truths of Psalm 4 do to help calm those specific fears?