Psalm 3:5 Updated American Standard Version (UASV) 5I lay down and slept; I woke again, for Jehovah sustains me.
I lay down and slept. Notwithstanding these troubles and dangers, I had such confidence that God hears prayer and such calm trust in his protection that I laid me down gently and slept securely. The psalmist mentions this as a remarkable proof of the Divine protection and favor. He was driven from his capital, his throne, and his home. He was compelled to wander as a poor fugitive, accompanied by only a few friends. He was pursued by enemies, who were numbered by thousands. He was made an exile and persecuted by his own son, and with this son, there were men of age and of experience in war. The forces of his enemies might come upon him at any moment. In these circumstances, persecuted as he was, and under all the anxiety and distress which he felt in view of the ungrateful conduct of his own son, he regarded it as a singular proof of the Divine favor, and as an illustration of the peace which confidence in God gives to those who put their trust in him, that on such a dreadful night he was permitted to lie calmly down and sleep. As such a proof and illustration, it may be regarded here:—a proof of the unspeakable value of the Divine favor and an illustration of the effect of confidence in God in giving calmness and peace of mind in time of trouble. Ps. 127:2.
I woke again. Still safe and secure. He had not been suddenly attacked by his foes and made to sleep the sleep of death; he had not been crushed by anguish of spirit. That we are “awaked” in the morning after a night’s refreshing slumber; that we are raised up again to the enjoyments of life; that we are permitted again to greet our friends and to unite with them in the privileges of devotion, should always be regarded as a new proof of the goodness of God, and should lead to acts of praise. We have no power to wake ourselves, and when we remember how many are taken away from our world each night—how many there are who lie down to sleep to wake no more, we should never rise from a bed of repose without giving our first thoughts in gratitude to our Great Preserver.
For Jehovah sustains me. He kept me from danger; he preserved me from death. And it is as true now as it was then that God is the supporter of life when men sleep. He guards us; he causes the action of the heart to be continued as it propels the blood through our frame; he secures the gentle heaving of the lungs, both when we slumber and when we wake.
