The beauty of a good night of sleep

The veteran columnist the late Marjorie Proops once listed her favourite piece of advice as ‘Sleep on it’.
Rev David ClarkeRev David Clarke
Rev David Clarke

Some people, sadly, find sleep elusive.

Insomnia is one of the most pressing problems of our age, accentuated by fears about Covid, economy pressures and the threat of international terrorism.

Add to that individual fears about personal health or family tensions.

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Small wonder the amount spent on the production, promotion and sale of tranquillisers is a staggering total.

Yet sleep, ‘a gentle thing, beloved from pole to pole’, as Coleridge put it, is essential for our physical and emotional health.

Without sleep we would have neither the strength nor sanity to make our decisions and perform our daily work.

Tyrants disorientate their victims by denying them sleep for days and nights on end.

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Sleep is God’s way of taking us out of our harsh and abrasive world, and admitting us to a world of sweet oblivion and pleasant dreams. It does indeed, ‘knit the ravell’d sleeve of care’.

While the Bible points out the blessings of honest toil, it also emphasises the danger of overwork, and the need for rest.

The Psalmist observed, ‘In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat’ (Psalm 127;2) but the verse continues, ‘for he gives to his beloved in sleep’ (Revised Standard Version).

Another version runs; ‘God’s gifts come to his loved ones, as they sleep’

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In and after sleep many issues resolve themselves and assume their true perspective.

While we sleep, the earth continues to revolve, the stars pursue their courses, tides ebb and flow, seeds germinate and crops ripen.

The old world rolls on, because the God who created it neither slumbers nor sleeps’(Psalm 121;4).

And you must have noticed how if in an evening there is a name you cannot recall, or a letter you scarcely know how to write, and a problem which appears insoluble...

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Yet in the morning the elusive name comes without effort, the letter almost writes itself, and how to address the problem becomes clear.

The hours of sleep have helped to resolve the issues.

It was in his sleep that Jacob found comfort.

Far from home and fleeing from the wrath of the brother he had cheated, he dreamt of a ladder reaching up to heaven, with angels ascending and descending’(Genesis 28; 12).

Confidence in the love and care of God is the secret of a good night’s sleep.

When King David was in flight from his rebellious son Absalom, with many erstwhile friends turning against him, he did not despair.

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In a Psalm from that period, he declared, ‘I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety’ (Psalm 4;8).

His words were echoed by one of Scotland’s great Covenanting preachers; ‘I sleep upon the pillow of His omnipotence, and I am content’.

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