Psalm 4 – – Romans 8:26-28 – – Proverbs 1:28-33 (you might want to read these before you read further)

Interesting prayers here. One the one hand, David calls out to God to answer his pleas; on the other, David acknowledges that God has already done just that, and continues to do so. It’s David’s strong confidence in God, built on many an answered prayer, that drives him to plead again. He even uses his history with God to answer those who would ridicule him, or who would question God’s goodness.  David says, “You’ve done it before; please, I need you to do it again.”

“The Lord has set apart the godly for himself; the Lord hears when I call to him.”  Paul describes how that sometimes works.  One of the tasks of the Holy Spirit in us is to communicate to God our most difficult prayers, those we don’t even know how to pray. God, of course, knows his own mind, and he is intimately connected to his Spirit in us.  So God knows, through his Spirit, what we think, how we feel, what we most need – – and he responds in just the right way. We can therefore trust him to act in the way we most need, at the time we most need it.

It’s our own inability to know these things that leads us to think he isn’t listening, isn’t answering. And so we, like David, cry out for more obvious answers . . . when we should be reflecting on all the prayers God has already answered.  We ‘ll then be more inclined to “lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, Lord, make me live in safety.”

How are you sleeping these days?  Use the COMMENTS to share with us how God is helping you rest.

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