Mensa Otabil - The Lord, Makes Me Dwell In Safety (10/02/2025)
We bring our study of Psalm 4 to an end today as we read verse number eight: «I will both lie down in peace and sleep, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.» David ends Psalm 4 on notes of peace, rest, and safety in the Lord. As I mentioned at the beginning of this study, Psalms 3 and 4 are together, and if you compare them, in Psalm 3, he made a similar statement. After all the battles, the Lord was the one who made him sleep. So, David is showing us the attitude we should have in prayer or in any warfare—that at the end of the day, we trust the Lord to give us peace, we trust the Lord to give us rest for our souls, and we trust the Lord to give us sleep.
Part of our spiritual life includes spiritual warfare, prayer, and engaging in intense prayer, and there is a place for intensive prayer and spiritual warfare. The Scriptures note that Jesus occasionally prayed with intensity, and in the Bible, you’ll find verses urging us to pray with intensity. We see that many of the patriarchs in the Old Testament prayed with intensity or contended spiritually for something. So, there is a place for spiritual intensity in prayer, and it helps us to engage in spiritual warfare.
Spiritual warfare is not battling by ourselves to gain victory; spiritual warfare is standing in the promises of God and in the victory that Christ has already made available to us. In Christian prayer, we don’t pray into victory; we pray from victory to victory. We already have the victory, and we are ensuring that the enemy doesn’t steal our victory from us. So, there is a place for spiritual warfare, but we must always guard against getting to a place where we are constantly spiritually agitated—constantly praying, constantly crying, and never finding rest, never finding peace, and never arriving at a place of safety in the Lord.
For those of you who like intense prayer and engaging in spiritual warfare, you have to find rest in the Lord. He gives His beloved sleep and rest, and we must learn that after we have contended for something, we should find rest in the Lord. David says, «I will lie down and sleep; I will rest in the Lord.» Now, remember, at this time, he is in a huge battle, and the enemy is getting stronger, but he says, «I’m just going to rest in the Lord. I’m going to lie down; I’m going to sleep.» The reason he can say this is that you, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.
Listen, if God doesn’t give you safety, who will keep you safe? Can you make yourself safe? If God doesn’t surround you with peace, where are you going to find your peace? So, after we’ve prayed and waged warfare, remember you have to trust the Lord for safety. Even in a heated battle, if you trust Him for safety, you can say like David, «I will both lie down in peace and sleep.» May the Lord give you peace from all your struggles and battles, and may you find the safety He provides in all the issues of your life.
Let’s pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, you are the one who keeps me safe. Thank you for the peace and rest you give me. In Jesus' name, amen.» I’m so glad we could do this study together. We’re gradually moving through the Scriptures; we’ve done Psalms 1, 2, 3, and 4, and we will continue with other passages in the Bible. We are studying the book of Exodus, and I will return to that shortly. We are also exploring some of the New Testament. Together, we are building our spiritual arsenal. I’ll catch you tomorrow morning. I’m Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom—peace and life to you.