~ written by Connie Dunmyer
Do you ever struggle to find sleep? Do problems keep you awake? Some 8% of Americans use prescriptions to sleep. Half of Americans use over-the-counter remedies. And last year alone, 9 million Americans misused sedatives.
"I tried counting sheep to fall asleep... but one of them started talking about my problems."
A joke to be sure . . . but often our sleeplessness is no laughing matter. Asaph also understood how life’s struggles can keep us awake. His Psalm 77 could have been written by me, and perhaps you, too. Please take a moment to read it.
I relate to Asaph's words so well, beginning with his deep emotions – “I cried out to God for help – to hear me!” Then it continues with such word-pictures of how it feels in these moments:
- distress,
- cannot be comforted,
- groaning,
- fainting spirit,
- inability to sleep.
And then this climax of emotions:
7 “Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show his favor again? 8 Has his unfailing love vanished forever? Has his promise failed for all time? 9 Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has he in anger withheld his compassion?”
Wow! Been there, done that! A very honest prayer from a child to the Father.
But – Don’t stop there. Don't miss the transition.
10 Then I thought, “To this I will appeal: the years of the right hand of the Most High.”
Asaph makes a mental decision of the will, in the midst of these deep emotions, to make his appeal to the God of action, to the God of mercy. And in so doing, he takes his focus OFF the problem and puts his focus ON the amazing power and love of the only One Who can and WANTS to help.
The right hand of God is considered the hand for action and mercy. Also, not coincidentally, scripture says that JESUS, sits at the right hand of God.
Hebrews 12:2 – “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (see also Colossians 3:1 & Acts 7:55-56)
Verse 10 was written long before Messiah came to earth. But even then, just as now, THIS IS TO WHOM WE “APPEAL”!! We appeal to Jesus – the Name above all Names and the only One Who can meet or solve any of our human needs.
Brandon Lake’s “Hard Fought Hallelujah” sings of this type of sleepless-night-fainting-spirit prayer.
“I've wrestled with the darkness. But I'm tryin' to reach for the light.
The struggle keeps me honest and it breaks down the walls of my pride.
I'll bring my hard-fought, heartfelt, been-through-hell hallelujah”
Imagine yourself. It’s late at night – when problems and/or pain always seem worse. Our minds won’t allow sleep. We are crying before the Lord for the umpteenth time. What’s a body to do? Asaph’s plan: remember, contemplate, meditate, focus on all that “the right hand of God” has already done in times past. God’s miracles performed. God’s blessings and provisions. Asaph put his focus on the power of God over things out of human-control, even nature. This change of focus, this meditation, became PRAISE. And praise, as we’ve discussed before, is where God lives. There’s an old hymn that says “Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your blessings, see what God has done…”
Margaret Clarkson in “Grace Grows Best in Winter” says this:
“By accepting the situation as part of the hedge placed about us by our all-knowing, all-loving Father and trusting Him to uphold us whether we sleep or not, we are putting ourselves in the best possible position for sleep to overtake us. What better way can there be than to rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him? We are not alone in our weary vigils, for the One who keeps us neither slumbers nor sleeps.”
So let's try an experiment - you and me. The next time we get overwhelmed, when God feels so far away that we're sure He has forgotten us – let's:
- Begin by appealing to the right hand of God.
- SWITCH from meditating on problems to meditating on all the past times God proved Himself.
- Include “counting blessings” (rather than sheep).
- And like Asaph, let's praise God for His sovereignty and power over all things and people.
Let's keep doing this as long as necessary until we’ve touched heaven or fallen asleep. It can happen. It will happen.