Good afternoon, all! We have entered Holy Week, and we are nearing the end of our Lenten journey. May this final week be especially reflective and renewing for you. Today’s Lenten devotional comes to us from Coleman Maxwell. Coleman serves TCU as a campus minister for Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), and we are grateful to have him. Coleman is a genuinely warm, kind, and engaging person. He has wonderful energy, and he is always extending a welcoming hand to those around him. I trust you will enjoy today’s devotional!
Psalm 3:5-6
I lie down and sleep; I wake again because the Lord sustains me.
I will not be afraid of thousands of people who have taken their stand against me on every side.
Reflection
This specific Psalm (chapter three) from David is sobering and comforting at the same time. David’s posture toward the Lord amid a gruesome circumstance is humbling to read. The quick context of this specific chapter is about David fleeing from his son, Absalom. For further context on David’s escape from Absalom, please read 2 Samuel 15-18. This will provide a broader scope of what’s happening, contextually. For the sake of time and efficiency, I want to draw a distinct circle around David’s posture amid adversity in Psalm 3:5-6.
David is communicating a monumental truth in verses five and six. To lie down and to sleep are tangible ways to describe a state of security. Only a person who feels secure will be able to sleep undisturbed by troubling thoughts or circumstances. David was confident that he would wake again because it is the Lord himself who sustained David. David’s security wasn’t found in any material possession or a circumstance. Instead, his security was rooted in his faith in God.
David had a great sense of peace from God despite his difficulties. Fleeing from his own son, who wanted to inflict pain on him was a tragic difficulty in his life. Our circumstances will overwhelm us at various times, but we are called to look to the same source of peace that David did. The peace that comes from God alone. God is so good and so gracious to sustain us. That is exclusive and divine power, exuded by God alone.
Today, while it is called today, will you allow the truth that God is able to sustain you and provide you with peace to influence your posture toward him? Will you submit your life to God today, knowing that he provides a peace that surpasses all earthly understanding?
Let us pray.
Lord, it’s your boy. I am humbled at the reality that you have the divine power to simply sustain your people. You are not threatened by our earthly circumstances. The same power that you exuded when you said, “let there be light,” and light was created, is the same power you exude when you sustain us and provide us with peace, a peace that was provided through Jesus’ accomplished work on the cross. Please guide us and show us how to find our peace in you as we navigate this life, Father. Amen.
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