Blog post July 2, 2026

In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety. Psalm 4:8

Perhaps the most interesting part of this verse is the backstory of the author and timing of the statement. King David was having family problems. It was more than just a stressful day. David's relationship with his number three son was becoming toxic and getting uglier by the day. In Psalm three and four David writes about the same situation in which his son had staged a coup to rob him of his title as the king of Israel.

David had to flee Jerusalem because his son wanted to kill him to seal the deal and become the king.

Generally speaking, internal peace that leads to a peaceful sleep comes as we live our lives in obedience to the Lord and place our trust in Him. Doing so will contribute to the potential of our ability to peacefully lie down and sleep. I like what Matthew Henry who lived in England in the 1600s wrote; " A quiet conscience is a good bed fellow. 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 is so soft as a promise."

I love the imagery of those last statements. At times we all need cuddled and rocked to sleep by our Lord. We need to let our head settle into the soft pillow of His promises. We may not have a child who is trying to kill us like David did, but we all know what it is to have a stressful day and a mind that won't shut off when it's time to go to sleep.

Heavenly Father thank you for todays scripture. Thank you for Mathew Henry's insighful thoughts. I love the idea of You rocking us to sleep and laying us on the pillow of Your promises. Thank You in Jesus name. AMEN AMEN