Have you ever considered the gift that sleep is? “Sleep, sleep, my child; I give thee sleep.” Spurgeon teaches that such is the blessing which the Lord grants to His beloved. From Psalm 127:2, he conveys that the gift of sleep is a tangibly sweet blessing of God which ought to be enjoyed and appreciated, not disregarded as an unnecessary luxury. He explains that it is fruitless to strain oneself by staying awake late or rising early, for one truly needs God’s blessed sleep for the rejuvenation of their beings. Taking rest is how the Lord has created us to function, and it should be received as a gift for which we remain constantly grateful.
In talking of this blessed sleep, Spurgeon remarks that it is made so as the beloved of God has a clear conscience, is content in the Lord, and does not worry about the future. These are gifts which God grants in order to supply rest to His people. He further says that the unbeliever does not fully experience this sleep, since it is rather a sleep which is given to the saved, God’s beloved. “But a quiet conscience is the sweetest music that can lull the soul to sleep. The demon of restlessness does not come to that man’s bed who has a quiet conscience — a conscience right with God […] ‘So he giveth his beloved sleep.’” Such true rest can only be found in Christ.
Excerpt:
It is God alone, who alike seals up the sea boy’s eyes upon the giddy mast, and gives the monarch rest: for with all appliances and means to boot, he could not rest without the aid of God. It is God who steeps the mind in lethe, and bids us slumber, that our bodies may be refreshed, so that for to-morrow’s toil we may rise recruited and strengthened. O my friends, how thankful should we be for sleep. Sleep is the best physician that I know of. Sleep hath healed more pains of wearied bones than the most eminent physicians upon earth. It is the best medicine; the choicest thing of all the names which are written in all the lists of pharmacy. There is nothing like to sleep! What a mercy it is that it belongs alike to all! God does not make sleep the boon of the rich man, he does not give it merely to the noble, or the rich, so that they can keep it as a peculiar luxury for themselves; but he bestows it upon all. Yea, if there be a difference, the sleep of the labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much. He who toils, sleeps all the sounder for his toil. While luxurious effeminacy cannot rest, tossing itself from side to side upon a bed of eider down, the hard-working labourer, with his strong and powerful limbs, worn out and tired, throws himself upon his hard couch and sleeps: and waking, thanks God that he has been refreshed. Ye know not, my friends, how much ye owe to God, that he gives you rest at night. If ye had sleepless nights, ye would then value the blessing.
Read the rest of the sermon here.