Be Not Timid or Tame

35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.

36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For,

“In just a little while, He who is coming will come and will not delay.”

38 And,

“But the righteous one will live by faith.  And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.”

39 But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved. - Hebrews 10:35-39

In the verses preceding these, the description is that the Christians have persevered through public humiliation and persecution, maybe been in prison, and had their belongings confiscated.  Sounds a lot like what Christians in Iraq are going through today, over 2,000 years later, except their children are taken and the boys forced to be jihadists, the girls sold as sex slaves, and the parents beheaded or cut in half in front of the whole village or town where they live.  Just typing that last sentence hurts.  How can that truly be happening to people in our time? How can the average person not see Islam and Muslims as pure evil?

The message here is for us to keep the confidence of our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior.  Continue to persevere and do not doubt knowing that God is faithful and He has not left us.  He will come again and He is with us even now.  

Further, the text calls out how much our Lord does not enjoy the one whose faith falters.  I am reminded of the verses in Revelation where Christ despises the luke-warm church.  He takes no pleasure in the luke-warm Christian, the one whose faith is kinda there and kinda not, the one who thinks he has faith but if it requires an action its not enough to respond, the one who has faith when alone but around others isn't strong enough to allow it to be shown when the circumstance demands it.

Finally, there is a word of encouragement saying we are not of those who fall back but of those who have confidence in our faith and know we are saved by a faithful living God.  This type of writing reminds me of Teddy Roosevelt's famous speech in Chicago talking about the man to be admired is the man in the fight, daring greatly, who if he fails fails greatly, but he is in the fight and not with the timid and tame souls who are too afraid to enter.  

May we be the brave faithful, ready to enter into His call to action, ready to serve and ever confident in our faith in Him, no matter what may happen - and never to be a timid and tamed believer with a curious faith that is neither testable or believable. 

Consuming Fire

Deuteronomy 4: ²⁴ For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

Deuteronomy 4 and Hebrews 12 address obedience and talks about God being faithful to correct those He loves.  Fire is unique in that as it forces an oxidation reduction reaction in the fuel, it forever changes the fundamental molecules involved.  Often the fuels involved, such as gasoline, are large, complex molecules that get broken down into simpler, non-reactive elements. 
God uses two cleansing elements in His creation: water and fire.  We remember the cleansing we receive in Christ's death, burial, and resurrection at our baptism upon accepting Him as savior.  I wonder though, as we journey from that point of justifying grace through the remainder of life experiencing God's sanctifying grace if at times God uses fire to break down barriers to a more pervasive control of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  Our hold on idols in our lives can be simply impossible for us to break on our own.  Fortunately, we are set free from the requirement to do this on our own as Christ has placed himself in us via the Holy Spirit to do what we cannot do on our own.  Breaking these walls must at times break down my complex character into simpler elements so that I can become more like Christ.  
Are you going through difficult trials, times, or circumstances?  Could God be allowing you to go through the crucible of a cleansing fire to change you into His likeness?  I pray that I welcome His correction such that become more like Him and am therefore useful in His service.    

Night Moves

Last night, I was awoken from a restful sleep by strong feelings leading me to recognize that I should stop teaching a Sunday School class.

Yes, I know, that's strange.  If you keep reading, it gets stranger.

After reflecting on this obvious impression upon me and wondering if it was God speaking to me or what or why I would have these feelings, I felt like God impressed even more upon me.  There will be a renewal, a vibrancy, a type of revival-like occurrence at the church, and I would have no leadership role in it.  Oddly though, it was as if He asked me if I was okay with that.  And so I answered that I was just thankful that such a thing would happen for the church, what did I matter?

Immediately in my mind I felt as though I was in water and at the bottom of a very deep place lying on my side.  Above me was dark and the only light was a glow from something bright to the side that I couldn't see.  From the glow I could see a single foot of a giant in the distance and I knew I was at the feet of God.  An oddly shaped 4-leaf clover looking handle appeared in front of me and I knew to grab it.  When I did I was pulled into a giant river of flowing lava looking substance.  Though it was flowing it wasn't going in any particular direction.  Once I entered it, I dissolved completed and did not exist.

I don't know how to describe the feeling of your existence being wiped away.  You as you know you are no longer.  I just don't know how to put into words exactly how that feels.  Everything you know, have known, did, didn't do, were, were't, or whatever is no longer.  You are gone.

Was I taken into a river of lava in the pit of hell and dissolved for being the wretch that I am?  At first, I certainly believed this.  But God said to me, can not the spirit of God be fiery and intense?  And I thought of the tongues of fire at Pentecost and the flowing light from another of my dreams and immediately saw that this was not the pit of hell, but something different.  And I no longer had a name that mattered as I was spread apart to wide to be myself and no longer was myself but dissolved into it.

I know what you're thinking.  Chris, please please quit taking drugs.  Maybe it was the boiled peanuts and chocolate milk I had before bed.  I really don't know, but I know it happened in my mind and the feelings are real.  Being awake and having a dream is a very strange experience.

I prayed this morning for revelation.  I asked God to provide me with interpretation.  The best I can gather is that I shall have no influence upon our church.  I should let it go and just be, as God so does His will with it.  There will be leaders and there will most definitely be movement.  Praise God for it.  It is their time and they are ready, I am not.

And I am praying for more interpretation.

Cottage Meetings

Judges 17:  ⁶ In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.

Pastor Dave Barkalow is having cottage meetings with church members in their neighborhoods.  What a great way for our new pastor to both meet members in their own setting, but also to get a pulse of the congregation.  By that I mean he's getting frank feedback in small group settings on strengths and opportunities for our church.  I found ours to be well attended, to include visitors invited by Frank and JoAnn Rankin, and full of frank and open discussion. 
One of Dave's questions was along the lines of "if you could wave a magic wand and fix one thing in the church, what would it be?"  The group started with ideas along the lines of church growth such as bringing in more young families which led to discussions about advertising, van ministry, and an elevator.  I confess a certain amount of frustration with these responses.  Not because they're not valid, they absolutely are on point, but I see them as self-limiting.  Perhaps its because of the way the question was phrased, but I was hoping for a discussion more along the lines of what is God calling this particular group of believers to do in our local community and the world?  In military parlance, I found the discussion tactically focused on small things that were clearly within our span of control and ability when the situation is one of strategic importance regarding how we can be of use to ensure that the Gospel message has permeated every nook and cranny of Fort Walton Beach and beyond that clearly requires God to work through us miraculously. 
My concern is that we've lost sight of the King of Kings - who He is and what He said He would do.  He said "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matt 28:18-20).  How is our local church fulfilling this?  We can point to individual efforts unseen by most of our congregation, small group efforts, or one day of service in the year or even to our connectional ministries through the larger United Methodist Church, but how is God calling our whole church to be about this commission each and every day?  How do we discern His specific calling?
We've tried worldly ways:  committee meetings, brainstorming, focus groups, visioning conferences, etc.  The disciples tried his method as well and I believe missed what God was already doing.  In Acts chapter 1, Peter, referencing scripture, called for a replacement for Judas.  He established clear criteria, held a nominations meeting with the 120 or so members of the first church, prayed, then cast lots between Barsabbas and Mathias.  Out of that event, Mathias was chosen, then if I'm not mistaken, never heard of again.  Note the order of events.  I've always wondered if they hadn't used worldly logic to limit God's choices to 2 if they would have done things differently.  Perhaps if through prayer first, they would have waited upon the Lord because several chapters later, Jesus confronts Saul and appoints him the responsibility to take the gospel message to the Gentiles.  I've always thought the early church missed what God was doing.  Are we missing what God is calling us to do?  While we worry about a building without an elevator, are we missing a connectional ministry to the lost and hurting in FWB? 
I am worried that we're not skilled at seeing God at work and joining him in it.  Instead, we look for something we can do for the creator of the universe.  So, we put up ads, talk about how limited our vans are to carry the elderly or disbled, and worry about code violations of a two story building with no elevator.  While valid points, I find them tactical resonses to a strategic situation of a lost city.  Perhaps we're stuck in business practices we've learned on the job or through other service organizations.  I guess I find these methods worldly and "the easy way out."  God said "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. in Jeremiah 29:13.  I think discovering God's will may take hard work.  Not that He is difficult to find, but that our own stubborn pride, logic, and ideas get in the way.  It's like a shiny object and the whole school of fish is focused upon it.  I think seeking God, His will, and His ways, demands the hard work of putting aside my own selfish agenda and truly becoming open minded.  Am I really willing to do so?  Is First Church willing to do the hard work of setting aside our own personal agendas and seeking Him first?  I hope I receive some cogent responses. 


   

He is faithful

Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for He has given you the autumn rains because He is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. - Joel 2:23

Trying to feel a little autumn or fall in the air these days after what has been to me one of the hottest Augusts in a while.  In fact, I don't remember an August this hot since Ivan hit. ... Just sayin'.

Here in Joel, there were locusts that swarmed and devoured the land leaving the people without crops and devastating complete regions.  God promises the people that the locusts won't destroy them and they will have grain and new wine.  And so, they are to "rejoice in the Lord your God" because He is delivering them "because He is faithful".

If we want to be like God, to have His characteristics, then we must be faithful.  If God is faithful to us, delivered us from the locusts that seek to destroy us each year with the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Savior, then our chief characteristic, the one we work the most on, might should be our faith in Him.  Do we truly trust Him in everything simply because He says it.  If not, then we need to work on our faith.  Do we wake up and think to ourselves, "If God isn't in today, then I'm not going to make it."  If not, then we need to work on our faith.  Our faith must be a belief in and complete dependence on our living Lord and nothing else.  

If we are defined by nothing else, we should at least always be defined by an obvious and deliberate faith in our God "because he is faithful".

Delegate

¹³ The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening. ¹⁴ When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, “What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?”

¹⁵ Moses answered him, “Because the people come to me to seek God’s will. ¹⁶ Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, an I decide between the parties and inform them of God’s decrees and instructions.”

¹⁷ Moses’ father-in-law replied, “What you are doing is not good. ¹⁸ You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. ¹⁹ Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him. ²⁰ Teach them his decrees and instructions, and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave. ²¹ But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. ²² Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. ²³ If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.” - Exodus 18:13-23

Here, Moses learns to delegate.  I find this an amazing story because of Moses' background.  How had he not learned to delegate while a student in Egypt.  They had an obvious command structure.  I would assume that he would copy their system.  But he didn't.  And here he is, completely overwhelmed with trying to lead the people by himself.  He is their spiritual leader and their lawgiver as the chosen one of God to lead the people.

"Sometimes the better part of valor is learning we need to ask for assistance." says Tony Dungy.  Sometimes, this is the hardest thing to do.  I know how I want it done and I know I can do it, if I only had enough time.  "What you are doing is not good" says Moses' father-in-law.  And if we try to do everything ourselves and are not willing to involve others in every aspect of our busy lives, what we are doing is not good.  We can't be the expert at everything.  I often consider that I can't even be good at everything and sometimes anything. 

It is important to be willing to involve others to be better at some things and to be able to have influence in the lives of others.  "I realized in my own process of delegating that I was adding value to the lives of my friends - of people I respected and admired and, perhaps more important, people I had a responsibility to help to become all they could be."  We are here to add value to the lives of others.  The best way to add value to someone is to introduce them to Jesus Christ who came here for their sins and can thereby establish a value upon them that is more than they will ever be aware of apart from Him.  The next way is to allow them to be a part of our own initiatives and to get the reward for accomplishing work.  In this way they can see, or we can see, the character of God in each other and two or more can spread that much faster than one.

We must be willing to give up some control and delegate to others.  It pours our life in others and it allows them to pour their life into others.

Loving Correctly

Proverbs 13:24

Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them.

With the news regarding Adrian Peterson's discipline tactics dominating the news, I think it essential for Christians to be armed with scripture to address the issue of discipline.  First, I think it essential that everyone understands there are life-and-death consequences of sin.  Romans 6:²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in^[a] Christ Jesus our Lord.  I heard the resident shrink, Dr. Ablow, on Fox News yesterday equate spanking with a psychological problem with parents, reasoning that any parent who truly loved their child couldn't possible inflict bodily harm via spanking.  Taking this logic to its full extent then one would have to reason that a loving God could never see anyone in His creation burn in hell.  This is clearly counter to scripture, yet is a pervasive view in today's world.  Scripture warns us that we should actually fear God!  In fact, scripture warns us that prosperity and life on this earth stem from a fear of the Lord:  Deuteronomy 6:24 The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the Lord our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today.  Wisdom and knowledge also stem from a fear of God: Proverbs 1:7  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. What is it we are to fear?  The consequences of disobedience.  So for me, teaching my kids from a very early age that there are dire consequences associated with sin (disobedience) that cannot be avoided. 

Discipline, when administered in any fashion whether in revoking privileges or spanking, must be followed by loving instruction.  Failure to balance the two is to fail to be Christ-like.  Refer back to Romans 6:23 wherein God didn't even complete His sentence regarding the wages of sin without reminding us that it was He who provided the means to avoid hell.  God dooms those who choose not be accept His free gift of grace, but has provided a way for everyone who chooses to believe in Christ.  So when it comes to discipline, I've always believed that the punishment should be swift and painful, but should be followed (after the significant emotional event is over!) immediately by loving instruction.  Ephesians 6:4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

I don't know the specifics of the Adrian Peterson case.  I applaud a father who is trying to discipline his child.  If that discipline transcended reasonable application of "the rod," then he should be held accountable for abuse.  I fear, however, that people like Dr. Ablow from Fox News will use this case to continue the assault on spanking as a form of parenting.  For me, failure to properly discipline a child to include proper spanking when warranted is to truly NOT love my child.  I'm thankful that my earthly father truly modeled a Christ-like discipline technique.  When I needed to be reminded of the dire consequences of disobedience, he always marched me to the bathroom, made me bend over the toilet and used a shower brush quite forcefully on my backside.  As it turns out, that LOOOONG march to the bathroom was actually a cool-down period for him to ensure that this was a metered spanking and not a parent abusing a child in a moment of uncontrolled rage.  Bending over the toilet presented (a large in my case) target to ensure the punishment wasn't inflicted in an uncontrolled manner.  Finally, the shower brush with it's flat plastic head, provided plenty of pain without the risk of breaking skin.  Trust me, I learned to fear my earthly father's wrath and I think it kept me from much sin.  In fact, even in my worst "prodigal experiences" my far country wasn't very far at all.  Truly my own experience bears out Proverbs 1:7. 

I've tried to apply these lessons from my own experiences to my own children.  It was always my goal to ensure that my children knew that I loved them unconditionally and that part of that love meant that they needed to fear my wrath.  They needed to know from the outset that there are dire consequences for sin.  I believe I accomplished that to some degree and perhaps it was part of the reason they have believed on and are following Christ today. 

I support corporal punishment as I believe it to be central in scripture.  Where do you stand?

Psalms 51 (Part III)

¹³ Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you.

Once I can live in the joy of my salvation from my sin and it is greater than the depravity of the sin, then I will teach other sinners that salvation is a gift from God so they will turn from their sins to You, my Lord.

¹⁴ Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Savior,
    and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

Lord, make a way for there not to have to be more pain and suffering to even more people, so the pain is not spread and I would know it is because of my sin.  I will worship Your ways and tell of Your righteousness in how You make right paths where there is no path and how You bless Your people.

¹⁵ Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise.

When I speak it shall honor You and tell of Your great mercy and Your gift of salvation.

¹⁶ You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
¹⁷ My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.

I have nothing to offer.  I am nothing.  There is nothing to bring that will please you God, except an open heart that hates the sin that You hate, that wants to be clean before You, to be cleaned with Your own hand, that despairs to be blessed by You.  Destroy me if I can't be cleaned so Your righteousness stays true.  Lord, You alone love the unlovable, rebuild the unbuildable, and want the unwanted.  Remake me.  Accept myself, kneeling before You, offering only myself.

¹⁸ May it please you to prosper Zion, to build up the walls of Jerusalem.
¹⁹ Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous, in burnt offerings offered whole; then bulls will be offered on your altar.

I pray that You will delight in blessing me and that it will be a service to Your children and Your church. And I pray that You will enjoy the broken spirits of those who will come to You.

Psalms 51 (Part II)

⁷ Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
⁸ Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

Only if you clean me Lord, will I be clean.  When you wash me I will be completely spotless; I will have no fault, not the slightest blur in my soul.  Deliver me from the haunting of my sin, may I know joy in my heart once again.  May my crushed spirit rejoice in the touch of Your hands! 

⁹ Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.

¹⁰ Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

O God!  Please do not look upon my sins but wipe them from Your eyes!  Remove it so You can no longer gaze upon it.  Make me something new; I don't want to be what I am.  Create in me a clean and pure heart.  Renew my spirit with true purpose; I want to live again. 

¹¹ Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.
¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Keep me before You!  Don't consider me worthless and cast me aside.  I'm holding onto You, please do not leave me!  I beg for Your Spirit to stay within me!  Grant me joy again from the life in Your gift of salvation, may I rejoice at Your power at work for me.  Allow me, through Your Spirit, to stand in the face of my sin and be sustained to live in the joy of Your salvation.

Psalm 51 (Part I)

While many people would consider rewriting Scripture to be sac-religious or wrong in that man isn't capable of putting God's Words into his own, I consider rewriting to be a method of understanding and clarification.  If I can't rewrite it in my own words as it applies to me first, then how can I share it?  How will it be personal?  I have felt no internal condemnation in doing so, but am aware that many people, much more educated and spiritual minded than myself might be offended.  But since this is a mostly private blog ... so be it.

¹ Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love;

according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.
² Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.

O God, do not give to me what I deserve for my sins, keep your wrath and judgment from me, and may the resistance to my destruction be because of Your love that will not fail.  My very existence depends completely upon Your love.  Lord, please forgive me my sins, wipe them from the book of my life so they will no longer be read by You.  My God, only You can cleanse this sin from me.

³ For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
⁴ Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.
⁵ Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
⁶ Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

My sin is always on my mind and I cannot escape it! It is with me when I wake up and it is there when I fall to sleep and it is in the eyes of everyone I see. It haunts me, but no matter its torture of me, I am distressed because I have violated Your Word, Your Path, and have failed to listen to Your Voice. Only You know good from evil, only You can determine righteousness. My sin offends You first and You alone. Only You have the right to judge me and Your sentence is righteous.

I was conceived and born with this sin in my bones. But that is no excuse because You are a perfect God and through You all things are possible, even my perfection. You have desired faithfulness in You from my conception and You taught me this wisdom of faith in my soul.

(In addition to the sin being against God's Word, Path, and Voice, it is also against another child of God whom He loves.  And this is yet another way our sin is against God and God alone.)

The Urgency of Discipleship

Luke 9: ⁵⁹ He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” ⁶⁰ Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” ⁶¹ Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” ⁶² Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

What an incredibly cruel and heartless response to these two who are willing to serve, but have some legitimate things to finish!  Or is it?  Clearly Jesus knew of their respective situations, issued a call to service and made an example out of them when they offered excuses rather than obedience.  Verse 62 is quite a harsh rebuke for this lack of immediate obedience.  I've heard many opine that these were young men and the first meant to finish helping his perfectly healthy father run the family business until such time that his father grew old, died, he could liquidate the assets and support his life of discipleship.  There is no faith in such a worldly approach.  The other is even worse.  After all, they didn't have iPhones back in the day with which they could call or message the fam with a "hey I'm gonna backpack across the promised land with this Rabbi named Jesus."  It seems perfectly reasonable to run to the house, spread the good news of being invited to be a disciple of a rabbi, pack a change of underwear and a toothbrush, and hit the road, right?  
As Christians we spend most of our time doing everything EXCEPT serve.  We work, we recreate, we sleep, and if there is time we might drop by church.  Sometimes we're not even loyal fans of Christ.  Clearly a call to action demands an immediate response, yet there are so many very real responsibilities in today's world.  We've got families, jobs,  homes, cars, numerous accounts, etc, all requiring attention.  Isn't a reasonable response to Christ, "let me get myself in order and I'll be ready to serve?"   
Apparently not to Jesus.  He knows not only our history and current status, he uniquely knows our future.  These two were not willing to trust their future to His care.  Am I?  Have I been called to service and missed it because my house isn't in order?  

Psalms 4 (Part IV)

⁶ There are many who say,
“Who will show us any good?”
Lord, lift up the light of Your countenance upon us.

This is the people in David's day saying, "What have you done for me lately?"  And somehow we think man is smarter and more advanced than man of thousands of years past.  The people are almost saying, what side should I be with?  "Who will bring us prosperity?" the NIV says.  I am confounded by the uneducation in the actions of God for a people whose only education is in God and His actions to them, the Israelites. 

I hate to keep comparing them to America today, but isn't this the same constant question to the political parties?  Isn't this what motivates most people's vote?  I'd love to say that we were a Christian nation and voted on the values and character of the candidate, but for the average voter it's really upon the perception of what the candidate can do for them.  Here David is, obviously having had the hand of God upon his life having done great and miraculous things, having restored Israel, and yet the people are asking, "What have you done for me lately?"  "Who should we trust to bring us prosperity?"  The short-sidedness of only seeing physical things is the greatest veil for fooling people, and we are all suspect to it in one way or another.

David responds spiritually to the physically minded people.  "Lord, lift up the light of Your countenance upon us."  Just the impact of the Lord's look upon them will change them and they will know Who it is that has their best interest.  A simple gaze towards them from the Lord will penetrate all and force righteousness in character, peace of mind, and depth of heart to know God is the only living true God and they have no need for anything else.  May the living Lord also let the light of His face shine upon us today!

⁷ You have put gladness in my heart,

More than in the season that their grain and wine increased.
⁸ I will both lie down in peace, and sleep;
For You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

The only true joy that feeds and satisfies the soul is from God and it is God Himself.  No material thing will ever sufficiently fill our "need" box.  May we rest peacefully in the midst of trials knowing that we are satisfied in the fulfillment of our Lord.  That He is truly all we need.  In no other way can we rest soundly, at peace, and in security.  It is important for us to stay focused on the reality of God.

Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep.

     If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.

Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep.

     May angels watch me through the night, and wake me with the morning light.

I wonder if this traditional childhood prayer has its roots in the thoughts of David.  Where his peaceful sleep here in Psalms 4 and back in chapter 3 represent confidence, trust, and faith in his Lord.  Say the prayer while thinking of being in the middle of a civil war and family feud where the people are losing their grasp on all that God has done for them.  ...  How's your faith?  How well do you let God have your problems?