It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.
Every Psalm contains its own special truth and this song, which is credited to Solomon, reminds us that it is the Lord Who blesses our daily lives, our domestic duties, our business opportunities, and our various labors. The Lord is the one Who provides for our everyday needs, and it is upon Him that each one of us should justifiably depend. The Lord pours out His favor on our labor and establishes the work of our hands. But when our toil is divorced from His providence or when we undertake to work in our own strength, we discover the futility of our actions. When we seek to be independent of the Lord, we find it is vain to rise up early and retire late in order to eat the bread of painful labors…for the Lord gives to His beloved…even in his sleep. What a lovely truth to realize that the Lord is not only the Author of that beloved sleep that refreshes us daily, but “He gives gifts to His beloved children – even when they are sleeping.” God, in His grace, provides us with sleep, with its rejuvenating, refreshing, revitalizing, and restorative qualities which benefit our spirit, soul, and body. But also, when His children are asleep, His gifts and graces continue to flow…from Him to us. Sleep itself is a gift from the Lord to His dearly beloved children, but through sleep the Lord bestows many good and precious gifts, and pours grace upon more grace on His beloved, blood-bought children. It is as we abide in Him and rest in His love, that the Lord endows us with His perfect peace which passes human understanding, and gives us the assurance that He is with us…even to the end of the age. Our bodies were designed, by God, to have a prolonged period of sleep each day, and research shows that sleep provides us with many benefits…both for the body and the soul. But God sends rain on the just and the unjust. The benefits of sleep are not confined to righteous men, for God is good and gracious…long-suffering and of great kindness to all humanity. However, those that are His children receive gifts and graces from the Lord, even when they are fast asleep and unaware of His good work within. For those that are saved by grace through faith in His redemptive work, the Lord gives and continues to give innumerable benefits. However, without faith it is impossible for His children to please Him. How futile, therefore, to stress about getting up early and striving to work late into the night in order to supply what we need according to what WE do, when God has promised to supply all our needs according to His riches in glory…and to bestow His grace on His beloved children, even when we are sleeping.
Spiritual Steve 