The kid is terrified of the dark and can’t get to sleep. “It’s your turn to sit with him until he falls asleep,” she says to her husband. So the father slips into the room, holds his hand and tells him to go to sleep. “I’m here with you; now go to sleep.” Shortly afterwards the child falls fast asleep and the dad quietly gets up and leaves the room. When the child wakes up, his dad is gone.

She’s very ill. Only one visitor at a time is allowed and only for five minutes. The family is taking turns sitting with her. The disease has taken its toll. The hand is very thin, the breathing is shallow and the lips are very dry. It’s getting late. There are no visitors now but you are very tired. You’ve been at the hospital all day but she doesn’t want you to leave. You say: “It’s okay. Just relax. Go to sleep. I’m right here.” Aided by her night medications and extreme weakness, she falls asleep. Ever so quietly, you tip-toe out of the room and go home to get your own rest. She’s left alone.

Do you think the Lord slips out of the room when you fall asleep? Are you afraid that you’ll be left alone in the darkness of your experience? No! He doesn’t slip out of the room. He won’t leave you alone. Attentively and fully alert He sits through the dark, quiet and often lonely hours of the night. He doesn’t grab a pillow and half sleep while He sits beside you. He doesn’t ask for a cot to be rolled in beside your bed so He can get some rest too.

Psalm 139 is one of the most beautiful Psalms. David is fully aware of the Lord’s omnipotence (He can do all things!), omniscience (He knows all things!), and His omnipresence (He’s in all places!). Even before birth – from conception to the development of the fetus to birth – God is fully aware of every single detail – every strand of your DNA. He knows your genetic code. He knew how you were intricately woven together before you were even born. Long before biomedical scientists knew the human genome consisted of 24 chromosomes with 3 billion DNA base pairs and 20,000+ genes (1), David wrote about such details in Psalm 139. And if God knows those details, you can be sure He knows every other detail of your situation today.

It seems that while David was attempting to count all the wonders of God and God’s wonderful kindness to him personally he fell asleep.

What a way to fall asleep. Rather than counting sheep jumping over a fence (an old method for conquering insomnia); rather than using the calculator of your mind to add up your debts or troubles before you sleep, try counting the blessings of the Lord and the wonders of God.

Dear Child of God, you can go to sleep. You can relax. You can rest. The Lord won’t slip out of the room. You will NOT wake up all alone. You’ll still be with Him when you wake up. He’ll still be right there. Others may slip away from you and leave you alone. But He is ever near. Appreciate once again today this truth: “I will never leave you or forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5 “When I wake up, Thou art still with me.”

(1) Wikipedia – Human Genome