The Lion Under My Bed

 

...my mouth will praise You

            with joyful lips,

when I remember You

             upon my bed,

and meditate on You

   in the watches of the night,

for You have been my help,

and in the shadow of Your wings

       I will sing for joy.

My soul clings to You;

Your right hand upholds me.

                  Psalm 63. 5-8

(The psalms are not just

             a sweet little book of poetry,

    but real life cries in the night.

This psalm of David was written

         and sung outloud

when he was overwhelmed

    by deep trouble

    and hiding in the wilderness.

But because David walked with God

         in green pastures,

he knew how to cling to Him

    in the miry bogs

             and enemy territory.

When we awake and cannot sleep,

         what is our default?

Worry, anxiety and stress?

Or retaliating with praise, prayer

   and meditating on the Almighty?

He has been our help.

He is still our help.

The lion we fear under our bed

     will not consume us.

Because the lion under our bed

   is the Lion of Judah we trust,

   who protects us forevermore.)

O LORD,

Help us to respond to fear

   with a chronicle of

            Your faithfulness,

with Your promises,

         and Your Presence.

You sing mightily over us,

    "Be not afraid.

     I am with you."

Please empower us,

  even in the shadows of the night,

to take You at Your Word.

You are our strength

   in whom we can trust.