Sleep in Peace.
What’s your formula for good sleep? Good sleep is one of the foundational bricks of a healthy life and a prosperous day. So what is your formula for good sleep? It’s good to have enough hydration during the day but not too much close to that bedtime hour. Here are some other suggestions:
don’t eat after 7 PM,
establish a good soothing prep-for-bed routine,
cut out caffeine after 12-noon,
watch the amount of screen time (computer, smart phone and TV)
and have enough Magnesium in your diet.
You can rummage through the internet and find a cornucopia of sleep enhancers. Here is Daniel‘s formula for a good night's sleep: a pride of ravenous lions, a cold dungeon floor, and a dominant reliance on the Eternal Loving God of the Universe.
“Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. The king declared to Daniel, ‘May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!’ 17 And a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. 18 Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no diversions were brought to him, and sleep fled from him. 19 Then, at break of day, the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions. 20 As he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish. The king declared to Daniel, ‘O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?’ 21 Then Daniel said to the king, ‘O king, live forever! 22 My God sent his angel and shut the lions' mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him’” (Daniel 6:16-22).
From all practical stand points and observations of this text it looks like Daniel had a good night. God sent his angel to clasp the mouths of the lions. But the one with the key to the royal palace had a sleepless night. The king had all the privileges of his position and still had a sleepless night. Daniel was fine.
Daniel knew the secret of Psalm 4:8, “I will lie down and sleep in peace for you alone, Oh LORD, make me dwell in safety.” What is the secret to peaceful sleep? We can come up with plenty of earthly things that will help and aid our sleep. And these are necessary and even important; I’m not overlooking them or diminishing them. But I am hoping to draw attention to the fact that none of these other components can make much even a dent on peaceful sleep if our number one priority is not in place. We need to be reassured of the presence of our faithful God. What is his role in our life? He needs to be number one.
Daniel considered the LORD God Almighty to be more important than the king's edict. Daniel considered the LORD more important than all the favor and approval of those around him. Daniel knew that fear of men proves to be a snare (from the book of Proverbs) but the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.
Daniel's life and faith was built on a foundational awe and respect for God the LORD. Daniel had discovered God’s faithfulness many times before and was willing to put his whole self on the line for God.
It’s one thing to say God is the most important thing in your life; it’s another factor to live by it even when your life hangs in the balance. Daniel held on tight to the LORD! Daniel met the Almighty God and experienced His delivery.
My prayer for each one of us is this: may we meet the Almighty God through the study of his Word, through our daily dive into the Bible challenge, through worship in the sanctuary, through our heartfelt prayers to God as he speaks to us in his Word, through the participation in His live-giving Body and Blood, offered to us in the Lord’s Supper.
Daniel got it. Daniel lived it. God honored Daniel and God has promised to honor us - did you know that the LORD Himself has shut the mouth of an even more powerful lion? The text hints at this with these words: “a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet” (Daniel 6:17). Do those words sound at least vaguely familiar?
There was a certain stone that was brought and laid on the mouth of a den called the grave. The governor sealed the stone with his own signet. That den - of death - could not hold Jesus. And by His death God has shut the mouth of the lion called death. It no longer has mastery over us. Thank God for this deliverance for Daniel! Thank Jesus for this eternal deliverance from the powerful jaws of death; death no longer has mastery over us! Alleluia!