Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep
PSALM 4 “NOW I LAY ME DOWN TO SLEEP” JULY 15, 2008 BBC
INTRO: IF SLEEP WERE A CREDIT CARD COMPANY, MANY OF US WOULD BE IN DEEP TROUBLE. MANY OF US WOULD GET CALLS FROM SLEEP CENTRAL WANTING TO KNOW WHEN WE ARE GOING TO GET A GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP. MANY OF US WOULD RESPOND WITH I AM TAKING THE MIN. PAYMENT BUT JUST CAN’T SEEM TO CATCH UP; YES, I WORKING BUT TIRED ALL THE TIME AND SOMETIMES SO TIRED I CAN’T GO TO SLEEP.
IN THIS MONTH’S HARVARD WOMEN’S HEALTH WATCH, IN THE ART. CALLED REPAYING YOUR SLEEP DEBT. THE ARTICLE SUGGEST THAT FOR GREAT HEATH AND FUNCTION, THE AVG. PERSON NEEDS NINE HOURS OF SLEEP DAILY. BUT MORE THAN 60% OF WOMEN REG. FALL SHORT. AND THE GREAT THE SLEEP DEBT THE HARDER IT IS TO RECOGNIZE AND WE FIND OURSELVES A FUNCTIONAL SLEEP DEPRIVED INDIVIDUALS WHO SUFFER FROM BEING FUZZY HEADED, IRRITABLE AND FATIGUED.
AS TIME GOES ON, WE FIND OURSELVES “BURNING THE CANDLE AT BOTH ENDS”…GET TO BE LATE, AND GET UP WITH JUST ENOUGH SLEEP…AND AS SLEEP DEBT MOUNTS AND HEALTH CONSEQUENCES MOUNT PUTTING US AT RISK OF WEIGHT GAIN, DIABETES, HEART DISEASE, STROKE AND MEMORY LOSS.
TV COMMERCIALS FLOOD OUR HOMES WITH MEDICINES CALLED AMBIEN AND ROXERAN; THEY SELL US A PILL WHICH MAYBE NECESSARY AND PRESCRIBED FOR SOME FOR A RESTFUL NIGHT SLEEP AND SWEET DREAMS. WHETHER INSOMNIA, CHEMICAL IMBALANCE, SLEEP DEPRIVATION DUE TO CONSTANT CHANGING SHIFT WORK; OR JUST PLAIN OLE STRESS AND STRAIN ASSOCIATED WITH RIPPING AND RUNNING…THERE ARE THREE BASIC NEEDS IN ALL OF OUR LIVES. THEY ARE FOOD, WATER AND SLEEP.
EXPL: IN THE TEXT WE ARE INVITED TO ENTER INTO THE EXPERIENCE OF KING DAVID, THE HYMN WRITER OF ISRAEL, THE CONQUEROR OF DAVID AND GOLIATH; THE FINEST KING OF ISRAEL. PS. 4 IS AN EXTENSION OF PS. 3 WHICH AS BEEN CALLED A PSALM OF THE MORNING, AND IS CALLED A PSALM OF THE EVENING OR A HYMN OF THE EVENING. IT IS A PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO DAVID’S FLIGHT AND EXILE FROM HIS SON ABSALOM. IT IS A SAD STORY OF CONSPIRACY WITHIN THE ROYAL FAMILY. DAVID AHS TO LEAVE THE PALACE, CROSS THE KEDRON BROOK WITH A FEW FAITHFUL FOLLOWERS TO HIDE HIMSELF FROM THE POWER HUNGRY ABSALOM.
DAVID HAS SURVIVED THE STRESSFUL EVENTS OF THE DAY ON THE RUN; AND BEFORE HE RETIRES FOR THE NIGHT….
NOT IN THE PALACE ON THE ROYAL BED OF EASE AND COMFORT, NOT WITH THE ENTOURAGE OF ASSISTANTS. BUT IN THE DARK WILDERNESS, UNDER THE CANOPY OF DARKNESS AND ON BEDROLL UPON THE FLOOR CARPETED BY DIRT.
HE PRAYS…NOW I LAY ME DOWN TO SLEEP FOR YOU JEHOVAH ALONE MAKE ME TO DWELL IN SAFETY. DAVID SAYS…I’VE BEEN RUNNING FOR MY LIFE AND NOW WILL REST IN THE LORD.
INTER: WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THIS PSALM OF THE EVENING THAT WILL ENCOURAGE US TO PRAY BEFORE WE RETIRE FOR THE NIGHT?
PROP: THE LESSON IS WHEN WE PRAY IN GOOD TIMES, IT NATURAL TO PRAY IN THE NOT SO GOOD TIMES.
TS: AS WE LOOK AT THIS PSALM WE WILL LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PERSONALITY OF THE “MAN AFTER GOD’S OWN HEART”…AND ABOUT THE POWER OF PRAYER…TO HELP US ON OUR CHRISTIAN JOURNEY.
MPI PRAY THROUGH YOU PAIN V. 1
PSALM 4:1 FOR THE CHOIR DIRECTOR: A PSALM OF DAVID, TO BE ACCOMPANIED BY STRINGED INSTRUMENTS. ANSWER ME WHEN I CALL, O GOD WHO DECLARES ME INNOCENT. TAKE AWAY MY DISTRESS. HAVE MERCY ON ME AND HEAR MY PRAYER.
DAVID UNDERSTAND THE IMP. OF PRAYER NOW DUE TO HIS PAST PROBLEMS; PROBLEMS WILL MOVE US TO CALL ON THE LORD…PRAY THAT GOD WILL 1. HEAR ME, 2. RELIEVE ME ( YOU’VE DONE IT IN THE PAST AND NOW I AM PRAYING FOR YOU TO DELIVER ME IN THE PRESENT ….GOD TAKE MY SIDE IN THIS SITUATION…..AND MAKE SPACE FOR ME.) 3. HAVE MERCY ON ME.
IMP. EVEN THOUGH WE MAY FIND OURSELVES HEMMED IN, OUR BACKS AGAINST THE WALL, YOU CAN LEAD ME INTO THE WIDE OPEN PLACES OF YOUR GRACE. YOU CAN LEAD ME FROM BET. A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE TO THE ROCK OF SAFETY … AND VINDICATE ME AND MAKE THIS EASY FOR ME….ENLARGE MY TERRITORY.
EVEN IF WE ARE IN A ROUGH PLACE, IT’S GOOD TO BE IN RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LORD WHO CAN HEAR AND GRANT OUR REQUEST.
JABEZ - 9 NOW JABEZ WAS MORE HONORABLE THAN HIS BROTHERS, AND HIS MOTHER CALLED HIS NAME JABEZ, SAYING, "BECAUSE I BORE HIM IN PAIN." 10 AND JABEZ CALLED ON THE GOD OF ISRAEL SAYING, "OH, THAT YOU WOULD BLESS ME INDEED, AND ENLARGE MY TERRITORY, THAT YOUR HAND WOULD BE WITH ME, AND THAT YOU WOULD KEEP ME FROM EVIL, THAT I MAY NOT CAUSE PAIN!" SO GOD GRANTED HIM WHAT HE REQUESTED.
JEHOSHAPHAT – PRAYER IN THE MIDST OF PERIL AS ARMIES OF AMNON AND MOAB CAME AGAINST ISRAEL. THE KING PRAYS AND SAYS, “O OUR GOD, WILL YOU NOT JUDGE THEM? FOR WE HAVE NO POWER AGAINST THIS GREAT MULTITUDE THAT IS COMING AGAINST US. NOR DO WE KNOW WHAT TO DO…BUT OUR EYES ARE UPON YOU.
APP; PRAY FOR YOURSELF - CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD…IN THE TEXT..ANSWER, HEAR AND HAVE MERCY ARE ALL IMPERATIVES; THEY ARE ACTIVE, EXCLAMATIONS TO GOD!!! THU WE PRAY, WE CALL AND CRY OUT AND KEEP ON CALLING, CRYING AND PRAYING TO GOD. PRAY AND KEEP ON PRAYING.
ILL: CONTINUOUS PRAYER - PRAYER MEETING OF 53 HOURS
FIVE MEN WERE ENTRAPPED IN A DESERTED ZINC MINE IN SALEM, KENTUCKY, BY FALLING ROCKS. THEY HAD NOTHING TO EAT. THEY WERE IN UTTER DARKNESS. ONE OF THE MEN COULD HAVE SAVED HIMSELF HAD HE NOT RUN BACK TO WARN THE OTHERS.
WHEN THE ENTOMBED MEN DISCOVERED THAT THEY COULD NOT ESCAPE, THEY BEGAN TO PRAY AND SING. THEIR PRAYER AND PRAISE SERVICE LASTED FOR FIFTY-THREE HOURS! THEN THEY WERE RESCUED. LATER ONE OF THE MEN TESTIFIED, “WE LAY THERE FROM FRIDAY MORNING TILL SUNDAY MORNING. WE PRAYED “WITHOUT CEASING.” WHEN THE RESCUERS REACHED US, WE WERE STILL PRAYING!”
WHEN THE MEN WERE BROUGHT UP OUT OF THE MINE, ON THE CAPS OF EACH ONE WERE SCRAWLED THESE WORDS: “IF WE ARE DEAD WHEN YOU FIND US, WE ARE ALL SAVED!” —WALTER B. KNIGHT
[1] MP II. PRAY FOR THE PEOPLE. V 2-6
DAVID PRAYS FOR THE PEOPLE, BUT HE PRAYS FOR THEM…TALKS TO THEM …BY TALKING TO GOD. YOU RABBLE, HOW LONG DO I HAVE TO PUT UP WITH YOUR SCORN AND YOUR SHAME; HOW LONG WILL YOU LUST AFTER LIES; HOW LONG WILL YOU LIVE WEARING ROSE COLORED GLASSES; HOW LONG WILL YOU LIVE AS FOOLS FILLED WITH FOLLY?
KNOW THESE TRUTHS…YOU SHOULD KNOW; THE LORD SET APART THE FAITHFUL AND GODLY FOR HIMSELF; THE LORD HEARS WHEN HS OWN CALLS; IF YOU ARE ANGRY….BE ANGRY AND DO NOT SIN; ON YOUR BED AND AT YOUR REST, REFLECT IN YOUR HEART AND BE STILL AND KNOW THAT HE IS GOD. WORSHIP HIM, OFFER SACRIFICES AND TRUST IN THE LORD. DON’T CREATE YOUR OWN BLESSINGS…DON’T ASK WHO WILL SHOW US KINDNESS AND FAVOR.
IMP. IN THE MIDST OF MESS, GOD IS MERCIFUL: DAVID’S PRAYER IS ONE OF INTERCESSION….ASKING GOD TO MOVE IN SUCH AWAY THAT THE PEOPLE WILL RECONSIDER THEIR ACTIONS; THINK DEEPLY ABOUT WHO THEY ARE AND WHAT THEY ARE DOING. STOP, LOOK AND LISTEN IN SILENCE AS YOU COME AGAINST THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD. THE PRAYER OF INTERCESSION WAS NOT ONE OF “TAKE THEM OUT”, KILL THEM, REMOVE THEM;
BUT CHANGE THEM
CHANGE AND CONSECRATE THEM
CHANGE AND CAUSE THEM TO COMMIT TO YOU
CHANGE AND THEM INSTILL CONFIDENCE IN THEM.
OUR PRAYERS SHOULD BE FOCUS ON THOSE WHO ARE AGAINST US AND AGAINST GOD….THAT HE WILL GIVE THEM TIME TO REST AND REFLECT, THEN MAKE A DECISION TO SIDE WITH THE LORD.
TEXT: 2 KINGS 6:22- THE STORY OF THOSE LOOKING FOR ELISHA AT DOTHAN. ELISHA LED THEM INTO SAMARIA, THE ENEMY CAMP, AND WHEN THEY GOT THERE …INSTEAD OF KILLING THEM..”YOU SHALL NOT KILL THEM…GIVE THEM FOOD AND DRINK AND SEND THEM HOME AGAIN TO THEIR MASTER.
PROV. 25:21 – WISDOM SAYS IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, GIVE HIM BREAD TO EAT; AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM WATER TO DRINK; FOR SO YOU WILL HEAP COALS OF FIRE ON HIS HEAD, AND THE LORD WILL REWARD YOU.
MT. 5:44 – BUT I SAY TO YOU, LOVE YOUR ENEMIES, BLESS THOSE WHO CURSE YOU, DO GOOD TO THOSE WHO HATE YOU, AND PRAY FOR THOSE WHO SPITEFULLY USE YOU AND PERSECUTE YOU.
LU 23:43 – JESUS IS OUR BEST EXAMPLE: ON THE CROSS…HE SAID, “FATHER, FORGIVE THEM, FOR THEY NO NOT WHAT THEY DO. AND THEY DIVIDED HIS GARMENTS AND CAST LOTS.
APP PRAY FOR YOUR ENEMIES.
ILL:
III. PRAY FOR PEACE V. 7-8
ILL: NUCLEAR ARMS AND WARHEADS – 30 YRS AGO, IN THE MIDST OF US –SOVIET ARM RACE, PRES. JFK WARNED OF THE DANGER OF NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION. IRONICALLY, SINCE THE COLD WAS HAS COME TO AN END….NUCLEAR ARMAGEDDON IS A REALITY. IN 1983 WHILE WE WERE ALL SLEEPING…IN MOSCOW -- JUST AFTER MIDNIGHT, IN A SECRET BUNKER OUTSIDE MOSCOW, THE WARNING SIRENS BEGAN TO BLARE. A SIMPLE, OMINOUS MESSAGE FLASHED ON THE BUNKER'S MAIN CONTROL PANEL: MISSILE ATTACK!
IT WAS NO DRILL. A SOVIET SATELLITE HAD DETECTED FIVE U.S. NUCLEAR MISSILES INBOUND.
THE CONTROL COMPUTER ORDERED A COUNTERSTRIKE, BUT THE BUNKER COMMANDER, A NERDY LIEUTENANT COLONEL NAMED STANISLAV PETROV, ACTING ON A HUNCH, OVERRODE THE COMPUTER AND TOLD HIS KREMLIN SUPERIORS IT WAS A FALSE ALARM. THE SOVIET BRASS QUICKLY STOOD DOWN THEIR MISSILES, SAVING 100 MILLION AMERICANS FROM NUCLEAR INCINERATION.
THIS BRUSH WITH ARMAGEDDON HAPPENED MORE THAN TWO DECADES AGO, BUT NUCLEAR MISSILES ARE STILL ON HAIR-TRIGGER ALERT IN RUSSIA AND THE UNITED STATES. TODAY, THEY MAY BE EVEN MORE VULNERABLE TO AN ACCIDENTAL OR RENEGADE LAUNCH THAN THEY WERE IN PETROV'S DAY. THE SECURITY OF BOTH NATIONS SHOULD NOT BE DEPENDENT ON THE HEROIC ACT OR GOOD JUDGMENT OF A SINGLE INDIVIDUAL," SAID SAM NUNN, THE FORMER SENATOR FROM GEORGIA. WITH THAT NEW KNOWLEDGE IF THERE WAS EVER A TIME TO PRAY FOR PEACE..IT’S NOW.
IN THESE FINAL TWO VERSES…DAVID IN THE MIDST OF AN OVERTHROW…PRAYS…
YOU HAVE PUT JOY AND GLADNESS IN MY HEART. YOU HAVE GIVEN ME GREATER JOY, SPIRITUAL JOY, THAN THOSE WHO HAVE AN ABUNDANT HARVEST. I WILL TAKE MY REST IN PEACE BECAUSE ONLY THE LORD CAN KEEP ME SAFE AND SOUND.
IMP. PEACE OF MIND - ONLY GOD CAN GIVE US PEACE IN THE MIDST OF THE STORM.
IT TAKES US BACK TO THE BEGINNING OF VERSE 6…LIFT ON US THE LIGHT OF YOUR FACE…WHICH POINTS TO THE AARONIC BLESSING. WHEN GOD BLESSES US HE PROTECT US AND KEEPS US SAFE AND SECURE.
PRINCE OF PEACE - IT IS INTERESTING THAT THE LORD JESUS CHRIST IS CALLED THE PRINCE OF PEACE. HE IS NOT CALLED THE PRINCE OF HOPE, THOUGH THAT WOULD BE APPROPRIATE. HE IS NOT CALLED THE PRINCE OF LOVE, THOUGH THAT WOULD FIT HIM. HE IS NOT CALLED THE PRINCE OF FAITH, THOUGH THAT WOULD NOT BE OUT OF PLACE. HE IS CALLED THE PRINCE OF PEACE.
TEXT: IS 26:3 THOU WILT KEEP HIM IN PERFECT PEACE WHOSE MIND IS STAYED ON THEE; BECAUSE HE TRUST IN THEE.
ISAIAH 9:6 FOR UNTO US A CHILD IS BORN, UNTO US A SON IS GIVEN: AND THE GOVERNMENT SHALL BE UPON HIS SHOULDER: AND HIS NAME SHALL BE CALLED WONDERFUL, COUNSELOR, THE MIGHTY GOD, THE EVERLASTING FATHER, THE PRINCE OF PEACE. 7 OF THE INCREASE OF HIS GOVERNMENT AND PEACE THERE SHALL BE NO END, UPON THE THRONE OF DAVID, AND UPON HIS KINGDOM, TO ORDER IT, AND TO ESTABLISH IT WITH JUDGMENT AND WITH JUSTICE FROM HENCEFORTH EVEN FOR EVER. THE ZEAL OF THE LORD OF HOSTS WILL PERFORM THIS.
JOHN 14:27 PEACE I LEAVE WITH YOU, MY PEACE I GIVE UNTO YOU: NOT AS THE WORLD GIVETH, GIVE I UNTO YOU. LET NOT YOUR HEART BE TROUBLED, NEITHER LET IT BE AFRAID.
APP: BE STRONG AND FULL OF COURAGE….AND REMAIN CALM IN CRISIS.
ILL: THERE HAVE BEEN MANY CRISIS IN OUR HISTORY
IN THE 1800’S THERE WAS THE CRISIS OF CIVIL WAR AND SLAVERY
IN THE 20’S THERE WAS THE CRISIS OF WAR AND WEALTH
IN THE 30’S THE GREAT DEPRESSION
IN THE 40’S THE WORLD TO END ALL WARS WWII
IN THE 50’S THE COLD WAR AND THE BEGINNING OF THE NUCLEAR AGE
IN THE 60’S THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS AND CRISIS OF CIVIL RIGHTS
IN THE 70’S THE GAS CRISIS AND POLITICAL CRISIS OF WATERGATE
IN THE 80’S THE CRISIS OF APARTHEID
IN THE 90’S THE CRISIS OF WAR IN THE PERSIAN GULF
FOR THE FUTURE WE HAVE THE UPCOMING SOCIAL SECURITY CRISIS
ILL: CRISIS AND THE CALM… ALL OF US ARE CALLED TO REMAIN CALM UNDER FIRE….
A COOL BREEZE LIFTED OFF THE HUDSON RIVER THAT MAY MORN…AND RIPPLED UP THE ALREADY COLD SPINE OF A YOUNG MAN HEADED FOR WEST POINT, NY. AS THEY DOCKED…HE TUGGED HIS CUFF AND STRAIGHTENED HIS COLLAR. HOW WOULD HE DO?
17 YEAR OLD HENRY O. FLIPPER OF ATLANTA GA HAD BEE ASKING HIMSELF THIS QUESTION EVERY SINCE THE LETTER CAME APRIL 17, 1873…NOTIFYING HIM OF HIS CONDITIONAL APPOINTMENT AT THE MILITARY ACADEMY.
BORN IN 1856 OF SLAVE PARENTS, HE LEARNED TO READ AND WRITE FROM A MECHANIC WHO CONVERTED HIS WORKSHOP INTO A NIGHT SCHOOL. AT THE END OF THE CIVIL WAR, HENRY CONT. HIS EDUCATION...TUTORED BY A CONFERERATE WIDOW AND THEN HE WENT TO SCHOOL IN ATLANTA. FROM ATLANTA TO WEST POINT HE KNEW HE COULD DO THE WORK…BUT HE WAS NO SO CONFIDENT ABOUT ENDURING THE INSULTS AND PHYSICAL BLOWS RECEIVED BY OTHER BLACK OFFICERS. WOULD HE FIGHT BACK….WOULD HE LOSE EVERYTHING HE WORKED FOR…???
AS HE WALKED PAST THE BARRACKS ON THE FIRST DAY, CADETS TAUNTED HIM, BUT HENRY WHO WAS OVER SIX FEET TALL…STOOD TALL, LOOKED STRAIGHT AHEAD AND WALKED ON. HE PASSED HIS ENTRANCE AND WAS ADMITTED, BUT THEN SUFFERED FROM ISOLATION AND LONELINESS. DESPITE THOSE CHALLENGES, FOUR YRS LATER HE GRADUATED…ON JUNE 14, 1877…AS HE WALKED FORWARD THERE WAS DEAD SILENCE. SUDDENLY THERE WAS A ROAR FROM THE BACK OF THE AUDIENCE THAT RIPPLED IT’S WAY FORWARD…AS THE CLASS WAS APPLAUDING HIM. HE WAS THE FIRST BLACK TO GRADUATE WEST POINT, AND WAS COMMISSIONED AS A SECOND LIEUTENANT IN THE US ARM. …AND ASSIGNED TO THE 10TH UNITED STATES CALVARY AT FORT SILL IN OK.
ON THAT DAY…FELLOW CADETS CROWDED AROUND HIM TO SHAKE HIS HAND. CONGRATULATOR LETTER AND TELEGRAMS POURED IN. NEWSPAPERS PRAISE HIM FOR HIS PERSISTENCE AND CALM UNDER FIRE.
WELL..THERE IS ANOTHER WARRIOR…CALM UNDER FIRE..HIS NAME IS JESUS…
CLOSE:
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[1]Tan, Paul Lee: Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations : A Treasury of Illustrations, Anecdotes, Facts and Quotations for Pastors, Teachers and Christian Workers. Garland TX : Bible Communications, 1996, c1979