Psalms 4:8, “I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; For You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.”

From time to time, in conversations with peers of my generation, we find ourselves remembering what it was like when we were kids. There are a couple of websites I check for the news each day, and they often highlight the differences between the times when different generations grew up. It’s amazing how much the times have changed. Several things my generation did are now outlawed, not because they were against the law when I was a kid, but because they have been deemed unsafe.

I recently had a conversation with a fellow minister about fear. He mentioned something that frightened him. I told him that that particular thing didn’t bother me. He then said, “I don’t think you are afraid of anything.” Well, that may be a wee bit of a stretch, but it did get me thinking.

I grew up in a time when many of today’s fears did not exist, at least where I grew up. We didn’t worry about roaming alone all over town and staying out long after the sun went down. Like most in our town, we didn’t know what air conditioning was. A box fan in the window of Mama and Daddy’s room was about it. I can remember having my window open, sliding my bed over to it, sticking my head out, and praying for a breeze. I had no thought whatsoever that it wasn’t safe.

David, the author of Psalms 4, knew what it was like to live in troubling times. For years, King Saul sought to kill him. Understanding that brings some clarity to his desire to lie down in peace and sleep in safety. I’m also aware that my peaceful childhood was very different from that of people around the world. Wars, strife, and mean, hateful people stole peace and safe sleep from many people.

If we exclude these extenuating circumstances, David is saying that trusting God is the key to finding peace and happiness. We can lie down at night free of the fear that Satan wants to assault our hearts and minds with, and sleep.