Promises of Sleep
Psalms 127:2 – It is vain for you to rise up early, to take rest late, to eat the bread of [anxious] toil—for He gives [blessings] to His beloved in sleep.
(MSG) – It’s useless to rise early and go to bed late, and work your worried fingers to the bone. Don’t you know he enjoys giving rest to those he loves?
(CEV) – It is useless to get up early and stay up late in order to earn a living. God takes care of his own, even while they sleep.
Jeremiah 31:25-26 – For I will [fully] satisfy the weary soul, and I will replenish every languishing and sorrowful person. Thereupon I [Jeremiah] awoke and looked, and my sleep was sweet to me.
(TEV) – I will refresh those who are weary and will satisfy with food everyone who is weak from hunger. So then, people will say, I went to sleep and woke up refreshed.
(CEV) – Those who feel tired and worn out will find new life and energy, and when they sleep, they will wake up refreshed.
(MSG) – I’ll refresh tired bodies; I’ll restore tired souls. Just then I woke up and looked around—what a pleasant and satisfying sleep!
Fellowship at Night
Psalm 16:7-8 – I will bless the Lord who has counseled me; indeed, my mind instructs me in the night. I have set the Lord continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
Psalm 4:3-4 – … The Lord hears when I call to Him. Tremble, and do not sin; meditate (speak, say) in your heart upon your bed, and be still (silent, relaxed, quiet).
KJV – Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.
Psalm 17:3 – You have tried my heart; you have visited me by night…
Psalm 42:8 – The Lord will command His loving-kindness in the daytime; and His song will be with me in the night, a prayer to the God of my life.
Psalm 63:6 – When I remember you on my bed, I meditate on you in the night watches.
Psalm 77:6 – I will remember my song in the night; I will meditate (muse, consider) with my heart, and my spirit ponders.
NIV – I remembered my songs in the night. My heart mused and my spirit inquired.
Psalm 119:147-148, 55 – I rise before dawn and cry for help; I wait for Your words. My eyes anticipate the night watches, that I may meditate on Your word. O Lord I remember your name in the night…
Psalm 1:2 – But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. …And in whatever he does, he prospers.
Joshua 1:8 – This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.
Meditating on the word of God throughout the day will cause me to prosper, but these passages speak of meditating on the Word also at night.
It is more natural to worry at night then to meditate on the Word. Even if you are disciplined enough not to allow yourself to worry during the day, many times those anxious thoughts take over at night. If you want to prosper in ALL YOU DO, you will have to eliminate nighttime worry and replace it with meditating (musing, chewing up, going over) the Word (God’s viewpoint thoughts about everything) in the night as well as in the day.
Isaiah 26:9 – At night my soul longs for you, indeed my spirit within me seeks you diligently…
Lamentations 2:19 – Arise, cry aloud in the night. At the beginning of the night watches, pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to Him…
Luke 18:5 – …will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them.
Jesus Prayed at Night
Matthew 21:17 – And He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.
Luke 6:12 – It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray and He spent the whole night in prayer to God.
Luke 21:37 – Now during the day He was teaching in the temple, but at evening He would go out and spend the night on the mount that is called Olivet.
Protection at Night
Proverbs 3:21-24 – My son, let them not escape from your sight, but keep sound and godly Wisdom and discretion, And they will be life to your inner self, and a gracious ornament to your neck (your outer self). Then you will walk in your way securely and in confident trust, and you shall not dash your foot or stumble. When you lie down, you shall not be afraid; yes, you shall lie down, and your sleep shall be sweet.
Psalms 3:5 – I lay down and slept; I wakened again, for the Lord sustains me.
Psalms 4:8 – In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for You, Lord, alone make me dwell in safety and confident trust.
Psalms 91:5-7 – You shall not be afraid of the terror of the night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor of the destruction and sudden death that surprise and lay waste at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not come near you.
