Mensa Otabil - A Peaceful Habitation
- Watch
- Donate
Well, we bring our study of Psalm 4 to an end today, and 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 said at the beginning of this study, Psalms 3 and 4 are together. If you compare Psalm 3, he made a similar statement after all the battles that 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. Now, part of our spiritual life includes spiritual warfare, prayer, and engaging in intense prayer. There is a place for intensive prayer and spiritual warfare. The Scriptures note that Jesus occasionally prayed with intensity. In the Bible, you'll find verses urging us to pray with intensity. We see that many of the saints 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 making sure the enemy doesn't steal our victory from us.
There is a place for spiritual warfare, but what we always have to guard against is getting to the point where we are constantly spiritually agitated -constantly praying, constantly praying, constantly praying - spiritual agitation. We are constantly crying and never finding rest, never finding peace, never arriving at a place of safety in the Lord. For those of you who like intense prayer and engage in spiritual warfare, you have to find rest in the Lord. He gives His beloved sleep and rest. We must learn, after we have contended for something, to find rest in the Lord. David says, " I will lie down and sleep. I'm going to rest in the Lord."
Now, remember, at this time, he is in a huge battle. The enemy is getting stronger and 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 says is because you, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. Listen, if God doesn't give you safety, who will make you safe? Can you make yourself safe? If God doesn't surround you with peace, where are you going to get your peace from?
After we've prayed, after we've waged warfare, remember you have to trust the Lord for safety. If you trust Him for safety, although it's a heated battle, 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 all your battles, and may you find the safety that He gives us in all our life issues.
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."