To His Beloved He Gives Rest
A t the end of the fourth Psalm, there is an exciting line, and it is far from the only place in the Bible where this idea is found. David has just finished listing out some of the blessings that the set apart of God enjoys when he says, “I will both lie down in peace and sleep.” My mind naturally went to the verse that says that to God’s beloved, He gives sleep or rest, but in the process of looking for that verse, I found several others that hadn’t immediately come to mind. It turns out that rest is mentioned quite a lot as one of the blessings that obeying God brings. Psalm 4:8 NKJV I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; For You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety. We find several different types of rest mentioned in the Bible, from death to ceasing from work to sleep, but they all point to something greater, with none of them being an end unto themselves. Following God enables us to be able to lie down and go to sleep without fear of what will befall us in the nig...