Life Assurance
In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for You alone, O LORD, make me to dwell in safety. Psalm 4:8
Make Me To Dwell – The Greek poet Theognis (500 BC) understood precisely the true condition of men when he said, “Not to be born is the best of all things for those who live on earth, and not to gaze on the radiance of the keen-burning sun. Once born, however, it is best to pass with all possible speed through Hades’ gates and to lie beneath a great heap of earth.” Men without God have no security in this world. Any evil may befall them. And since the world is full of hostile forces, how much better it would be to not be born at all? In the Bible, Job recognizes the same fatal predicament. So does Ecclesiastes. The only real solution to life without God is either abortion or suicide. Unless God draws the safety net around you, you live in the world of Theognis. Good luck. You’ll need it.
David, on the other hand, sleeps securely. David says that God alone causes him to sleep in safety. David is absolutely right. Notice that the verb is in the passive tense. David does not create security for himself. He does not rely on his fortress, his bodyguards, his wealth, his power or even, in our day, his life insurance policy. He knows that his efforts to create security are ultimately useless. The Bible is very realistic about this world. You can count on nothing absolutely except God. So, David says, God makes him dwell in safety. It is God who is the active agent here. David is merely the beneficiary.
The verb yashav is about sitting. David draws a picture of comfortably and securely sitting in the presence of the Lord, with the full confidence that God is on guard. This is not a temporary condition, as though God is granting a brief R&R from the battlefield of the world. David realizes that only God is able to provide the security that lasts throughout life. God writes the only life assurance policy worth having. Every other agent is merely a representative of the Theognis Insurance Company.
When we understand (at last) the implications of God’s holiness, we are able to enter into a rest that only He can provide. We can stop paying the premiums for Theognis insurance, knowing that God’s benevolence is the only true security. Does that mean that life will suddenly become a gently path through the rose garden? Not at all. What it means is that no matter what the path, my assurance has been issued by the Lord and it will not be revoked by any enemy of His.
John Morgan, multi-millionaire lawyer, once said that he goes to sleep every night worrying that he will lose his fortune. He owns a Theognis policy, and he realizes that in the end it offers no security at all. You and I, on the other hand, can sleep securely, without the fortune, because God makes us dwell in His protective presence.
Is that how you rest?
