protection for the coming night, we may then lie down in
3. If we have renewed our repentance for sin and made a fresh application of the blood of Christ to cleanse our consciences, we may then lie down in peace.
Nothing disrupts peace like sin—it is the intruder that troubles the soul. But when sin is forgiven and dealt with, no evil can disturb us. Even the inhabitant who is unwell will not say, "I am sick," because the people who dwell there will have their iniquities forgiven, Isaiah 33:24. The pardon of sin is sufficient to outweigh all our sorrows and silence all our complaints.
For instance, a man with a paralysed body still has every reason to be at peace and even to rejoice if Christ says to him, "Your sins are forgiven," and, "I am your salvation."
4. If we have placed ourselves under God's divine protection for the coming night, we may then lie down in peace.
If, through faith and prayer, we have run to the name of the Lord as our strong tower and taken shelter under the shadow of his wings, making him our refuge and habitation, then we may speak peace to ourselves, for God's word speaks peace to us.
When David said, Psalm 57:1, "In the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge," he may have been referring to the cherubim, between which God was said to dwell. However, it is equally likely that he was drawing from the imagery of Christ, who compared himself to a hen gathering her chicks under her wings. This picture is echoed in Psalm 91:4: "He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust." Just as the chicks under the hen's