Psalms for the Night: Praying Before You Sleep
Five psalms to quiet the heart at the end of the day and entrust the night to God.
The night is a tender time. The day’s worries can crowd in, and sleep can be elusive. The Psalms give us language to end the day with God, handing Him what we cannot resolve.
Psalm 4 is an evening prayer: "I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety." It entrusts the night to the Keeper.
Psalm 63 remembers God on the bed and meditates in the night watches. Psalm 91 trusts the shadow of the Almighty against terrors by night. Psalm 121 rests in the Keeper who neither slumbers nor sleeps. Psalm 131 quiets and stills the soul like a weaned child with its mother.
Praying a psalm before sleep is a way of letting God carry the night. We do not have to stay awake to keep things together; the Keeper is awake while we rest.
Related Psalms
Psalm 4
“Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.”
An evening prayer calling on God in distress and counseling quiet trust.
Read morePsalm 63
“O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;”
Thirst for God in the wilderness; His lovingkindness is better than life.
Read more