"Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take."
When we were kids my mom would come into my sister's and my room to pray this short prayer with us before we went to sleep and then she went into my brothers' room to pray the prayer with them. As I read Ben Patterson's thoughts this morning on Psalm 31 I can relate when he remembers praying that short prayer with his mother. He recalls not being thrilled about the dying before waking part but realizing pretty quickly that staying awake to avoid that possibility was not a viable plan. I'm guessing that the same thought occurred to us as well.
I'm not ashamed to say that I still pray that little prayer on occasion as I fall asleep, but now I pray with confidence that my soul will rest with God for eternity when that time comes. What a beautiful reality.
David penned this psalm when he was in imminent danger. He realized that his hope would ultimately come only from his God. Ben leads me to verse 5 of Psalm 31 where David cries out, "I entrust my spirit into Your hand...." And again, in verse 15, "My future is in Your hands..."
My desire is to pray those verses with the fervor of David, knowing that whatever challenges I encounter, I can have full confidence that I am firmly in God's grip.
Thank you, Ben Patterson, for these timely reminders this morning. (God's Prayer Book: The Power and Pleasure of Praying the Psalms).
"I will be glad and rejoice in Your unfailing love, for You have seen my troubles, and You care about the anguish of my soul."-Psalm 31:7 (NLT)
Hmmm...."ruminations". Not a bad choice of words from a dairyman's wife😊
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