12th March 2025
Meditation Verse: Psalm 63 “I meditate on You in the watches of the night.”
As I get older, sleep comes less easily, and I often have a time of wakefulness in the night. In fact as a young person, I was determined to finish my day with prayer in bed but to my shame I often fell asleep before finishing! I’ve known for a long time that it is better to slow down my thoughts than fret about upcoming events, having said that, some of my best ideas flit in and out of my head in the middle of the night – if only I’d written them down! This verse makes me think about 1 Samuel chapter 3:
“8 A third time the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. 9 So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
“10 The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”
Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.
11 And the Lord said to Samuel: “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it tingle.”
I believe we can hear from God in the middle of the night but perhaps if you are struggling with sleep, slow down your breathing and think of the meditation verse quietly and I’m sure sleep will happen.
Here’s a link to a song I was reminded of this week by a good friend: