Cradle me in midnight mercies
Fill me with Your day starlight
Adorn me with thanksgiving
Strengthen me with might
Guide me with Your holy kindness
Into yet another day
Lead me on to glory, Jesus
In Your everlasting way
Through valleys, through darkest night
You guard me, speed my enemy to flight
Be the lifter of my head in sorrow
Mend my broken heart today
and heal up my tomorrow
Pillow me with Your Presence
Comfort me in Your holy rest
Surround me with your angels’ songs
Sleep safe in Your shelter of my Father’s arms
Mandisa
written along with Patsy Clairmont and Ron Rawls
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Have you listened to this beautiful lullaby yet? If not, please do. Go right ahead…we’ll be waiting right here for you.
So beautiful…so calming…just as a lullaby should do! A lullaby, by definition, is a song which quiets; and in particular, quiets babies. This song does just that for me! And why? For one, the tune—the melody—is written in such a way that it evokes peaceful feelings. And the instruments that were chosen to play this peaceful tune…the cello, the piano, violins…all communicate to our sense of hearing in a gentle way. Along with the instrument of Mandisa’s beautiful voice! All of a God-inspired design. But mostly I think it is the words that are sung that communicate Truth that calms and settles our minds and hearts. These are encouraging words, for sure, but not in a compelling or powerful manner. Rather, they encourage in a comforting way that causes one to feel safe and sheltered.
These words bring reminders to me of some of the phrases about sleep and peace that are written in the Book of Psalms.
In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for You, Lord,
alone make me dwell in safety and confident trust.
Psalm 4:8
By day the Lord commands His steadfast love,
and at night his song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.
Psalm 42:8
In the Scriptures we are told, time after time, of the ways in which God guards and protects and blesses us. I love the promises given to us in Psalm 91. Here are just three of them:
Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place
—the Most High, who is my Refuge—no evil
shall be allowed to befall you {#1},
no plague come near your tent {#2}.
For He will command His angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways {#3}.
Psalms 91:9-11
God’s heart is to care for us now…while we still live in this ever-changing world, on this earth that is diminishing and daily being destroyed by the ways of man. And He accomplishes this in ways that show us how perfectly He will care for us throughout eternity! He wants us to be assured that He can be trusted to provide all we need…and that we, ourselves, cannot do this successfully on our own.
It is vain for you to rise up early, to retire late,
To eat the bread of painful labors;
for He gives to His beloved <blessings> even in his sleep.
Psalm 127:2
So learn of His promises, fill your heart and mind with the Truth , and meditate on God and His faithfulness to provide. Praise Him and thank Him and bless Him!
Because Your loving-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You.
So will I bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.
My whole being shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness;
and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips
When I remember You upon my bed and meditate on You in the night watches.
For You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings will I rejoice.
Psalms 63:3-7
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Perhaps tonight when you lay your head down, you will remember the words of this beautiful song, and will sing “pillow me with Your Presence…comfort me in Your holy rest.” May you “sleep safe in the shelter of your Father’s arms.”
God bless you and keep you…and give you peace (Numbers 6:24-25).
