Sleepless Nights

 Psalm 36, 39, 77 & 78

There are lots of psalms with lots of themes.

Psalms that talk about protection, about the fleeting and fragile nature of life.

And there are lots of verses about laying awake at night. About tossing and turning and soaking one’s pillow with tears.  About being pursued.  About injustice.  

Those nights when you can’t switch your mind off.  You know the ones I’m talking about.  The psalmist had them too.  I don’t think anyone is immune or exempt.  A reminder that we’re not that different from each other.   Over all these eons and ages.  

There is always something to learn in everything that comes across our path.  In the day and in the night.   So often in the night we are alone with our thoughts and plans, and our hopes and our dreams.  If this were not so, I don’t think there would be as many songs written about these moments.  

I guess lifting our thoughts and our hearts and minds out of the throes of anguish will be different for each one of us, just as the source of our troubles is different and varied. 

I wonder why the Bible reading plan groups these psalms together, since there isn’t always a discernible theme.  But deep in the NIV notes there is an interesting description of the words “heart” and “soul”, and summaries about Israel and God’s faithfulness. I love to follow these “wormholes” and see where we end up. 

The "heart" says a note in Ps 4:7 is the centre of the human spirit from which spring emotions, thoughts, motivations, courage and action – the ‘wellspring’ of life.  

The “soul” is not distinct from the physical, nor is the psalmists ‘inner being’ distinct from his ‘outer being’, but the soul is his very self, as a living, conscious, personal being.  Literally the soul and the bones.  

Heart and soul words for long days and long nights. 

The psalmist recounts both his regrets and Israel’s missteps and on that note recounts God’s Grace and faithfulness.   When we toss and turn, we can either dwell on our regrets and failings or recount God’s faithfulness in leading us through. Cultivating Hope or cultivating despair. But dawn always comes.   Always.  

I’m thankful that these pieces of life are moments.  

That our walk is not one long arduous trudge.  

Valleys but also mountains. 

Deep muddy paths, but also the meadows.  

Lush and green.

And quiet waters.