He gives sleep to His loved ones…

Psalm 127:2
It is vain for you to rise up early, to stay up late, eating the bread of toil; for he gives sleep to his loved ones. (WEB)

Psalm 127 starts off with the well known verse that says that unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless it is the Lord who watches over a city, the guards are wasting their time. (My paraphrase 🙂 The first verse of this psalm speaks of the vanity of human effort. Unless it is the Lord who is doing the building and the watching, our efforts are in vain.

In verse 2 King Solomon writes of the vanity of working in our own strength. Getting up early, staying up late, eating the bread of our toil. I don’t believe he is saying that hard work is wrong, but rather that work rooted in independence and self-sufficiency is a waste of time.

The reason I chose today’s Scripture verse, is the last part of verse 2…for he gives sleep to his loved ones. For anyone who has ever had trouble sleeping, this is a beautiful promise! Our Father promises to give us rest simply because He loves us! Not because we earn it or deserve it, but for love’s sake.

My prayer today is that we would all experience the rest that comes from God alone in our waking hours and in our time of sleep. May we be aware that our Father’s heart for us is to come into a Sabbath rest as promised in Hebrews 4:9-11. A rest where we cease from our own works and enter into the rest of God Himself.

May we all see the vanity in our own self-effort and striving and yield to the peace of God that He promises (Romans 8:6). May we all say ‘yes’ to Jesus’ invitation to take His yoke upon us.

Matthew 11:28-30
28 “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (WEB)