An Early Morning Meditation (#68)
Scriptural context is vital to the understanding of every passage. Awake much earlier than usual this morning, I was reading in the psalms when I encountered this verse: “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” (Psalm 127:2).
Well, that seemed to be appropriate to my situation, so based on this clear word, I considered for a moment whether I should set things aside and return to my bed. Then I remembered that context is vital to the full understanding of Scripture. We haven’t understood a verse or passage until we have understood it in its complete context.
In this case, the early part of Psalm 127 reveals what is the illegitimate reason for being sleepless. We ought not to lose sleep out of fear, anxiety and worry, when we could (and should) be trusting in the Lord and enjoying His peace (Psalm 3).
Thankfully for us, the psalmist elsewhere reveals that it is sometimes appropriate to eschew sleep. Two legitimate reasons to get up early are: to praise God’s greatness (Psalm 57:8-11; 108:2-5) and to seek after Him that we might see His power and His glory (Psalm 63).
What’s been keeping you awake lately?
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[It was my daughter's refusal to sleep that made me unwillingly sleepless last night. In this affliction, the very appropriate context of Psalm 127:2 has again provided comfort, because the verse that follows the phrase "he giveth his beloved sleep" is: "Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows in the hand of a mighty man; so are the children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed..." The book of the Psalms truly does have a passage appropriate for any and every situation.]
