He Slept

Read Psalm 3 with the story behind it in mind. Second Samuel 15 tells how Absalom, David's handsome and ambitious son, stole the hearts of Israel and raised a rebellion. David left Jerusalem barefoot and weeping, climbing the Mount of Olives with his household. Ten thousand or more were against him. Advisors he had trusted switched sides. A man named Shimei walked along the ridge throwing stones and curses.

That is the situation in verse 1, where David counts his enemies and finds that they are many. Verse 2 records what they were saying: that God would not rescue him. It was a plausible thing to say. David had sinned badly with Bathsheba, and the prophet Nathan had told him that trouble would rise from within his own house. Anyone watching might reasonably have concluded that the king was finished and that heaven agreed.

Then comes verse 5. David lay down and slept, and he woke again, because the LORD sustained him.

Sit with that for a moment. He slept. Not because the danger had passed. Not because the numbers had changed. He slept because he had cried out to God in verse 4 and been heard, and because a man who is held can close his eyes. There is nothing naive about this. David posted guards. He made plans. But at the end of the day he did what only faith can do: he handed the night over.

Many of us are not sleeping well this year. The reasons vary. Some are medical, and there is no shame in getting help. But a great deal of our sleeplessness is Psalm 3:2 running on a loop, the voice that says there is no help for you, that the situation is beyond repair, that God has stepped back. David answers that voice in verse 3 before he ever reaches the pillow. The LORD is a shield around me.

Here is the turn toward life. Tonight, before you sleep, do what David did in order. Count the trouble honestly. Name what the voices are saying. Then tell God who he is, out loud if you can. And then lie down. Waking is his business. So is deliverance, which is the psalm's last word.