Submission to a Full Night’s Sleep
Psalm 119:49-56
Verses 55-56 In the night, Lord, I remember Your name, that I may keep Your law. This has been my practice: I obey Your precepts.
The psalmist has shared with us how he finds comfort in the law and how we can find that comfort too. He saw the need of the law for a peaceful night’s sleep. As sleepless nights are quite common in our world it may be a good idea for us to see why he felt the law would help him sleep better.
In the night. That time of day where we are still enough for our thoughts to catch up with us. These thoughts are filled with things we should have done, need to do and want to do. The “should’ve, would’ve” musings of life can cause more than sleepless nights and restless days. They may be nothing more than our confusion of who is in control.
This man of song knew that the law wasn’t just for the day but for the night as well. He also understood our need to see the law and it’s Giver in the light of who He is. This will also remind us of our place. The psalmist says that in the night he remembers the Lord’s name and that helps him. What is this name that he remembers? The word used here as Lord is from the Hebrew word Yahweh, which is the name for God. The term Lord shows the submission of the psalmist.
Lord. A term of endearment and sovereignty wrapped up into one word that we throw around with little to no thought, but a name that deserves our understanding. We readily accept Him as our Savior but when it comes to giving Him lordship of our lives we dig in our heels. We don’t like to think about giving up control of the details of our lives and there lies the reason for the sleepless nights.
The psalmist brings up another point as he draws this stanza to a close. Placing the Lord in His proper place in our life takes more than just saying that He is Lord. If we don’t embrace His law and obey it we will still be missing the mark that the psalmist said gave him peace. Because of his placing the Lord in His proper place, the psalmist has also placed himself in his proper place. We need to find ourselves in the same place, knowing God as Lord and obeying the law as we come to love it.
Making It Personal
Is God the true Lord of your life? What areas do you find it hard to surrender to Him? How is not fully submitting a way that you go against the law and the One who gave it?
Making It Personal Kids
What does it mean to submit? Does giving Jesus all the control mean you have no responsibility in your spiritual life? Does knowing that Jesus is in control help you sleep better?
Closing Prayer
Father, thank You for being in full control. We have no reason to fret. Give us the needed level of surrender to allow Your full work in our lives. In Jesus’ name, amen.