Resting in the promises of God.

Q: What does the Bible say about God's sovereignty?

The Bible emphasizes God's sovereignty as fundamental to trusting in His provision and purpose in our lives. The sovereignty of God is a key theme throughout Scripture, demonstrating that ultimate control over all events lies in His hands. Psalm 127:1-2 articulates this clearly, stating that unless the Lord builds the house, those who labor do so in vain. This encourages believers to acknowledge God's wisdom and power, both in their endeavors and in their daily lives. By recognizing His sovereignty, Christians can find comfort and peace, knowing that even their labors and worries are under His divine authority and care.

Q: How do we know that God gives His beloved sleep?

Scripture assures us that God grants His beloved restful sleep, a peace that arises from trusting in Him. The phrase 'He gives his beloved sleep' found in Psalm 127:2 illustrates God's promise of rest to His people, both physically and spiritually. In times of anxiety and trouble, believers can find solace knowing that God is watching over them, providing true rest. This sleep signifies a divine peace amidst life's challenges, unlike the restless state of those who do not trust God. Furthermore, Jesus exemplified this restful state during a storm, sleeping soundly as His disciples feared for their lives, showing us the importance of resting in the sovereignty of the Father.

Q: Why is faith important for Christians in times of trouble?

Faith enables Christians to rest in God's promises and find peace during turbulent times. Faith plays a crucial role in a believer's life, especially during trials and tribulations. It provides assurance that God is in control and that He can be trusted to fulfill His promises. The psalmist in Psalm 4:8 reflects this by declaring that true peace and safety come from the Lord. By taking our burdens to Him in prayer, we can lay down our anxieties and trust that He will provide. This act of faith not only allows for physical rest but also nurtures spiritual strength, reminding us that God sustains us through every storm.

seeking once again the help of almighty God, guidance by his spirit. I would like you to turn with me to Psalms, Psalm 127 and the text you will find in verse 2. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows, for so he giveth his beloved sleep. Verse 1 says Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it. Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. Speaking of the sovereignty of God, even in our labours. So the psalmist is calling us to trust in the Lord, to acknowledge his sovereignty, his wisdom, his ability, but also to labour in the providential things of life. The watchman, he watches out in the city, but unless the Lord keeps it, he's watching in vain.

Think of a modern day example, we have an alarm in this building. We, as we leave, we put the alarm on. We know really that no thief is really going to be deterred by an alarm. Our trust is really in the Lord. It is the Lord that keeps the building. It is the Lord that keeps our homes while we are away from them. It's the Lord that keeps our cars safe. It's the Lord that keeps us healthy. It is the Lord that provides for us.

We get up in the morning, we go to work, we labour, we do what is set before us and we come home. Even if we get up extra early and we come home extra late and we labour throughout the whole day, it is God that has given us the strength, the ability, the determination, the skills to accomplish what tasks are set before us. And so the psalmist is seeking to set before us that what I've been pressing into our minds over the past few weeks, really, the greatness of God, the sovereignty of God. And it is God that causes his people, that even in the midst of trouble, even in the midst of anxiety and difficulty and fear, even to have sleep.

Now, we know that everybody sleeps. It is part of our makeup. We have to sleep. If we are deprived of sleep for so long, it can cause us health problems. It can even cause death. And we know that even the people of the world talk about a peaceful, nice night's sleep or a good night's sleep. And so the psalmist is setting before us something else, another type of sleep that the Lord's people are able to experience. and it is a sleep that is given by God, a sleep that is given to enable them to rest in him and his promises even when they are passing through difficult and trying situations.

And so as I was considering this text, really I suppose my thought process was Ted. Although I failed to pray for Ted and for, not for Ted, for Ted's family, but Ted has passed away. And the scripture tells us that for a believer, they enter into sleep. And as I was thinking about Ted and how he was there in his home and his anxiety and his desire to go home and for things to be back to normal, and now then for the believer, it is a sleep.

His body is asleep, waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I suppose this thought, this text then, entered into my mind. He gives his beloved sleep. Whether we are alive, he gives us that sleep, that ability to sleep and to rest in him and to trust in him in times of trouble. But then he gives that special sleep when we die. We are taken to be with him forever and ever. And our bodies are at rest, as it were, at rest from their labours. our works do follow.

So as I was thinking of this sleeping there are three people that came into my mind that slept. One of them is Jacob that we have read together but there's often a psalm, sorry not a psalm, one of the statements in the Ecclesiastes that comes to my mind regarding sleep. You know when you are doing manual labour it is always lovely to get into bed after you've been working outside, whether you've been on a long walk or whether you've been physically working, at the end of a hard day, there's something really nice about getting into bed. Your body just sinks into the mattress and within a few moments your eyes are shut and you're gone. and it's morning and you wake up and you say well that wasn't that a lovely sleep I feel really rested after my day's labours.

In Ecclesiastes chapter 5 from verse 11 it says when goods increase they are increased that eat them and what good is there to the owners thereof saving the beholding them with their eyes The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much. But the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep." Now how true that is. A rich man may not have to go and labor in the garden. He may not have to go and labor for his physical work. His money may work for him.

We hear of those people who are investors. They have their big lump sum of money. They move it from place to place. And their money makes money. But then when they go to sleep at night, their sleep is taken from them because of the worry of their money. They're worrying about whether it was a bad investment. They're worried about whether the robber is going to come in and steal their money. They're worried about the about the hackers hacking into their bank accounts and swindling them of all of their money. And so their abundance, the abundance that they have, causes them to lose sleep.

But the man who labours for his food, the man who has to go out and labour day by day, Sleep to him is sweet. He's got his day's wages. He's been able to buy his day's food. He gets into bed and he goes to sleep. It says whether he's eaten little or much, such is the tiredness of the body. He's not concerned about anything else but about sleeping.

Think of Jacob as he has deceived his brother. He's now being sent by his mother to her family. His mother deceives old Isaac into coming up with this plan to send him away so that he goes to marry one of her brother's daughters. And so he's running away from his brother really.

And as he's running away he comes to a certain place and he finds it's the evening and he has to or he has that desire to sleep. He came to Beersheba and went towards Haran and he lighted upon a certain place and tarried there all night because the sun was set. And he took the stones of that place and put them for his pillows and lay down in that place to sleep." Now we see he is running from his brother.

No doubt he is tired. It is a natural thing to do. The labouring man, he needs to sleep. The wanderer, he needs to sleep. And so he lays down in that place. to sleep. He gets some stones for his pillows. We can say that those pillows are as hard as his heart. that is in a hard, a spiritually hard place.

Jacob, the deceiver, has deceived his brother. He's tricked his old father. He's sent away. He believes that in a few days time, he's going to come back and everything's going to be sorted. But 20 odd years later is when he returns. But the Lord is watching over him, even though he comes to this place to sleep and he dreams a dream and the Lord appears to him. Maybe he was hoping for a better future. Maybe he saw things at home that were a bit of a mess, that his brother wanted to kill him, he's upset his dad, his mum's worried about him.

Maybe he thinks that, you know, by running away, I'm going to have a better future. And he can lay down at night with that thought in his head, you know, everything's going to be okay. You know, I'm going to go to this place and I'm going to get a wife and I'm going to sort it all out. My wife, my life's going to be sorted. And he goes to bed with these thoughts of the future, everything that he's going to do. And he rests there in that.

The Lord had other plans. The Lord brings a dream into his mind and he has a dream. The Lord woke him up. You can say he was in a spiritual sleep, his heart as hard as the pillows, but with the plans that he is thinking of, but the Lord woke him up and blessed him.

He's changed. We see that he's changed because on his way home, we don't read that he he falls to sleep. In chapter 32, he does something different. You see, on his way there, he has to find a hard pillow. But on his way back, 20 odd years later, he wrestles with God in prayer. Verse 21, 24. And Jacob was left alone. Sorry, so 21.

So went the present over before him as he sent the various presents to appease his brother. He sent them before him and himself lodged that night in the company. And he rose up that night and took his two wives and his two women servants and his eleven sons and passed over the four jabbok. And he took them and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had.

And Jacob was left alone, and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint as he wrestled with him. And he said, let me go, for the day breaketh. and he said, I will not let thee go except thou bless me.

We see there and as he goes on his name is changed and he touches the hollow of his thigh and he goes off and he blesses him there but we see the difference. On his way there he's finding a place to sleep, he's not seeking the Lord, he's resting in his future plans, the things that he's going to do, the things that he believes is going to happen to him and he falls asleep in that in that peace that he has created for himself, yet his peace is changed. God gives him a dream and blesses him and changes the course of his life and on his way home he doesn't crave for the sleep that he once wanted, now he wrestles with God in prayer. the Lord blessed him there and changed his name. And so Jacob found a place to sleep, a spiritual sleep representing the hardness of his heart, but then the Lord changed him.

But then there is Jonah. Jonah fell asleep. know that Jonah was called by God to go to Nineveh and to preach against it but he turned and he ran away in the opposite direction and he found a ship going to Tarshish and he paid the fare in chapter one and went down into it and to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. But the Lord sent a great wind into the sea and there was a mighty tempest in the sea so that the ship was like to be broken up. And the mariners were afraid and cried every man unto his God and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gunned down into the sides of the ship and he lay and was fast asleep. so here we have Jonah running away from God. He specifically says that he that Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

That was his reasons for for running. God had said go this way and he says I'm going the other way and he's fleeing from the from the presence of the Lord. but he is awakened by the captain of the ship that says, arise, O sleeper. and call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon thee that we perish not.

He is woken up out of his sleep. He's in a storm of his own making, yet he is fast asleep. Everybody else is awake. Everybody else is crying unto their God. Everybody else is casting the wares of the ship into the sea to lighten the load, yet the man who caused the storm is fast asleep.

He's resting in false pretenses about God. He's resting in false thoughts about God. He's assuming that God is unaware of his location. He's assuming that he can run away from the true and living God. He goes to Tarshish so that he could run away from the presence of the Lord and he goes to sleep with that resting upon his mind, I'm running from God.

You'd think a Jew. would be fully aware of the all presence, that God is omnipresent. There's nowhere that you can go from him. And even if he buries himself down in the depths of the boat, God is there. Even if he gets all the way to where he wants to go, the Lord would still be there.

And so he's resting in a false understanding of who God is. And it's like he's laying that down as his pillow to rest on. He lays his head on that pillow. God doesn't know where I am. I'm running away from God. And he goes to sleep with those thoughts upon his mind.

You see, God had called him to preach, to tell Nineveh to repent, but he was in such a spiritually weak place. He was having such hostile thoughts towards the people of Nineveh that he wanted to run away from God. He knew that God was merciful and gracious. they didn't want the Ninevites to experience that mercy and that grace. You think of how many millions or billions of people today are sleeping on the same pillow as Jonah. running away from God, having false pretenses as to who he is or that he doesn't even exist.

They go to bed at night not realising that they're sleeping upon a pillow that is right on the edge of eternity. They sleep on a precipice that, should God allow it, that they would fall right into hell itself. have a false understanding of God and they go to sleep at night without a care in the world that this God holds their life in his hands. They sleep in their sin. As Jonah slept in the storm that was a consequence of his sin, so they sleep in their sin in the kingdom of darkness.

What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise, call upon thy God. If so, be that God will think upon us that we perish not. Are you sleeping tonight like Jacob? laying a pillow, a hard pillow down to sleep, running away, thinking that things are going to be better if you would just run away. You go to bed at night dreaming about the future and all that is panning out before you. You've forgotten about God. The hardness of the pillow shows the hardness of your heart.

What about Jonah? Jonah knew about God. Jonah knew what God wanted him to do but he ran in the opposite direction and his understanding of God was warped. He believed that God wouldn't see him, wouldn't be able to find him, wouldn't be able to get him back to do what he wanted him to do. We know that the Lord raised up that great fish that caused Jonah to be spewed out upon the seashore and Jonah had to go and do what the Lord had told him to do.

But then there's the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ when he was asleep in the hinder part of the ship in the gospel according to Mark and chapter 4. in verse 36. And when they had sent away the multitudes, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. And there arose a great storm of wind and the waves beat into the ship so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow.

And they awake him and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? Now here I think is the perfect explanation of the psalm. It is vain for you to rise up early and to sit up late and to eat the bread of sorrows for so he giveth his beloved sleep. The Lord Jesus Christ was able to rest in the sovereignty of God. he was able to fall asleep knowing that the Heavenly Father had all things under control, that Christ still had a work to do, that he's able to rest in the will of the Father.

In Psalm chapter 3, from verse four, it says, I cried unto the Lord with my voice and he heard me out of his holy hill. I lay me down and slept. I awaked for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people that have set themselves against me.

And so the psalmist here cries unto the Lord with his voice. He then, after he has prayed, after he has presented his situation to the Lord, he then lays down to sleep. He takes his burden to the Lord and he leaves it there. How often it is, isn't it, we may kneel down at our bedside and we may present our case to the Lord. We may offer that prayer before we go to bed, asking for the Lord's help and asking for him to give us sleep because of the stressful day that we have had.

And we climb into bed and we find we climb into bed with all of our problems, they're still there. We can't sleep. because we're trawling over and over and over everything. We're filled with anxiety, we're filled with fear about tomorrow. And yet we have just come to the throne of grace and we've committed everything to the Lord, just like the psalmist.

I cried to the Lord with my voice and he heard me. I laid me down and I slept and he awaked. He woke in the morning seeing that the Lord had sustained him. Then he says, I won't be afraid. Why? Because he won't be afraid because he's prayed to God, asking God to deal with the situation and to help him in the situation that he is in. He presented his case to the Lord. And so he won't be afraid of what will happen because he knows that the Lord is in control of all of these things. Psalm 4. Verse 8, I will both lay me down in peace and sleep, for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety. What did we read? Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. It is the Lord that keeps us safe and preserves us.

And with that knowledge, that should give us a peace, that should take away the anxiety, take away the fear, take away the concern, knowing that we will dwell in safety. It doesn't mean that we go out of our way to put ourselves into harm's danger. to harm's way, that we walk into the worst place of the city with our wallets hanging out, realising that we have to be sensible and thoughtful and use wisdom. But if the Lord had called somebody to do labour in the worst place of the city. And that is where the Lord wants that person to go.

Then they will be protected and preserved while they labour for the Lord there. And they can go to sleep at night knowing that the Lord is in control, knowing that the Lord is watching over them, knowing that the Lord is keeping them. And they can sleep because he gives his beloved sleep. And so Christ is able to rest while his apostles are filled with anxiety. They're crying out to the Lord, Lord, why don't you care that you'll perish? Yet the Lord Jesus Christ in the same storm is fast asleep.

Free from any anxiety, free from any worry, free from any fear. And isn't it the anxiety and the fear that drives away our sleep? And we are told, don't be anxious about anything, but by prayer and supplication, let your requests be made known unto God. Don't worry about tomorrow. Don't be anxious about tomorrow. Why? Because tomorrow may never come. We're worrying and we destroy today because of the concerns of tomorrow and tomorrow may not even arrive.

He gives his beloved sleep and so it's faith. Faith trusts in God. Faith washes away fear and anxiety and concern. Faith Some of you may have a cat. Now a cat just jumps up onto your lap and curls up and goes to sleep. He doesn't worry where his dinner's coming from. He doesn't worry about whether he's going to catch a mouse in the evening. He just curls up and goes to sleep. Faith curls up and goes to sleep in the lap of a loving Heavenly Father. resting in his sovereignty, resting in his almighty power, resting in his ability, in his faithfulness, in his love, resting in his promises.

I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. But did he say to Jacob, and behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places, whither thou goest, and I will bring thee again unto this land, for I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken unto thee of. The same God, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It's the same God who we trust in. The same God who gives the same promises to his people. I will never leave you nor forsake you.

And so it is faith that curls up on the lap of a loving Heavenly Father and enables us to sleep, to rest in His promises. But then there is that ultimate sleep, that last sleep, when our eyes shall close in death if Jesus Christ doesn't come again We see with Stephen in Acts chapter 7 and verse 59, And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God and saying, Lord, Jesus received my spirit. And he kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. Jacob fell asleep, Jonah fell asleep, the Lord Jesus Christ fell asleep, and every one of us falls asleep, but one day we will fall asleep eternally, and it is only through the Lord Jesus Christ that we can be like Stephen. that we can view Christ Jesus at the right hand of the Father and we can fall asleep in death.

And it is a beloved sleep because it's a sleep that has had every sting, every anxiety, every care removed from it by the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The believer is the only one that is able to fall asleep in peace because of the perfect work of the Lord Jesus Christ. so the psalmist he sees yes there is that labouring to be done, there is that security work to be done, there is that those times to get up early and to labour for provisions but ultimately he says God is in control. If we do all of these things without the knowledge of God, then it's vain, it's futile.

And then he says it's for he gives his beloved sleep. He is the one that gives us that true sleep where we can go to sleep without any trouble, without any concern, because we rest or we curl up, faith curls up on the lap of this Heavenly Father. May the Lord help us then to sleep sweetly tonight as we rest in the promises of Almighty God. Amen.

We sing in conclusion from Hymns for Worship, number 127. Pass me not, O gracious Saviour, hear my humble cry, while on others thou art calling, do not pass me by. 127 from Hymns for Worship. ♪ Hear my humble cry ♪ ♪ While others have a cruel way ♪ ♪ Hear my humble cry ♪ ♪ Savior, Savior, hear my humble cry ♪ All the lovers that were calling, did not cross me by. Let me add a third of my heart ♪ Find a sweet relief ♪ ♪ Kneeling there in deep attrition ♪ ♪ Thou my help may be ♪ ♪ Savior, Savior ♪ ♪ Hear my humble cry ♪ Do not pass me by. When passing out in Thy merit, I would seek Thy face. Heal my wounded, broken spirit.

Save me by Thy grace. do not Dear Lord and Heavenly Father, we do thank Thee, Lord, for the gift of sleep and we pray, Lord, that Thou grant us each a sweet sleep this night. We pray for those who do struggle with sleeping, Lord. We pray for those who struggle with many thoughts in their minds, Lord. We pray for that peace to rest upon them this evening. and we pray for those who struggle with old age and the ailments that that brings Lord during sleep we pray that that bless them this night with a true peaceful rest and we thank the Lord for that eternal rest that we can have in the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank thee that he gives his beloved people a sleep, that we close our eyes in death without having to fear that divine judgment, that condemnation to hell. We pray then Lord that thou bless us now and dismiss us with thy blessing. And now with the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father, the fellowship and communion of the Holy Spirit, to be with us each now and for evermore. Amen.

Resting in the promises of God.

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about God's sovereignty?

How do we know that God gives His beloved sleep?

Why is faith important for Christians in times of trouble?

Sermon Transcript

About James Gudgeon

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Resting in the promises of God.

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about God's sovereignty?

How do we know that God gives His beloved sleep?

Why is faith important for Christians in times of trouble?

Sermon Transcript

About James Gudgeon

Comments

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