Dwell
DWELL – January 2024
In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. Psalm 4:8
I chose Psalm 4 verse 8 for January for a couple of reasons. In the winter our bodies are moving a little slower, we are resting more, sleeping more, and covered in peace. I also thought it would be a great verse to start the year with. When we look at the verse and let the words dwell in our hearts, we find that we can rest in the confidence of the safety that the Lord provides.
We don’t have to sit up at night and wrestle with fear and the voices of the world. We can lie down and sleep in peace. It says I WILL both lie down and sleep. Which means I am going to, I WILL, it’s bound to happen, and BOTH means at the same time. So, lying down and sleeping happen together, at the same time.
I don’t know about you, but I tend to toss and turn, over think things that happened 5 years ago and wonder how long my kids will be in therapy for my (lack-of) parenting skills before I can even think about sleeping. I tend to think that only my husband can lie down and sleep at the same time. How many of my sleepless nights can be traced back to my disordered and untrusting mind? We would do well to memorize this verse and recite it as we lie down and sleep.
Another great part of this verse is that we recognize that the Lord alone is the one who keeps us safe. We don’t have the power to defend ourselves, but we can be assured that the Lord will keep us safe. Does this mean that nothing will ever make us ache in our body? That we will never have an accident or an injury again? No, of course not. But our salvation is secure. We can lie down and sleep knowing that our eternal life in heaven has been paid for by Jesus’ death and resurrection.
What a blessing, what a gift we have been given to know that we can rest securely in safety. Since it is a gift there is nothing that we are going to do to take care of this ourselves. There’s nothing for us to mess up, to overthink, to underperform, to show up late, to miss the boat. It’s all done. We can with confidence and peace both lie down and sleep and know that the Lord ALONE makes us dwell in safety.
To learn more about why I chose the word DWELL for 2024 (and get a free coloring page!) visit this post.
Do you have a word you are focusing on right now? How do you find yourself being reminded to dwell with the Lord? I would love to hear from you in the comments!
