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

— Psalm 4:8

In my younger days I looked forward to falling into bed at night with the sigh, “Sleep at last!” I still look forward to sleeping, but now I don’t always look forward to bedtime. Sometimes, as night falls, I begin brooding about disappointments, regrets, unsolved problems—and I fear taking my anxieties to bed.

In Psalm 4 it seems that King David may be brooding again about the rebellion of his son Absalom (Psalm 3; July 8)—not to mention his many other enemies. This psalm gives us a heightened sense of his desperation. We can almost see David twisting and turning, messing up the covers on his bed. Here again he calls out to God, pleading for mercy. In the middle of the psalm, though (v. 4), David offers some sound advice for such times of struggle in the darkness: searching one’s heart and asking for forgiveness for any sins one may have done.

Then, as often happens in the psalms, David moves from turmoil and agony toward trust. He does this by deliberately turning his mind toward God’s faithfulness and provision.

David’s struggles aren’t fully resolved in this psalm. But in reaffirming his trust in God, he sees a way forward. He ends with a declaration about peaceful sleep, a complete letting go into God’s faithfulness.

In all of our struggles, Lord, help us to cry out to you and in faith to turn to you in trust and gratitude for the gift of sleep. Amen.