THREE ANGELS BROADCASTING NETWORK DEVOTIONAL
Peaceful Sleep.

By Bobby Davis January 5th, 2026

“I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” Psalm 4:8

For several years now, I’ve used an app on my phone that tracks my sleep. As an added bonus, it also tracks how long it takes for me to get to sleep. In case you’re curious, during the past seven days, I fell asleep in 3.8 minutes on average—ranging from less than a minute, to a really bad night, where it took me 13! However, my sleep wasn’t always that way. I am fully acquainted with insomnia, and I’ll be the first to recognize that there are many contributing psychological, physiological, and even environmental factors that can cause problems.​

So what can we do? Going to bed earlier, avoiding brain stimulation before bedtime, and eating our evening meal early enough so our stomachs can rest all make for good sleep hygiene. But there’s another factor I overlooked for years, and a quick trip through the Bible tells me I’m not the only one.​

The Persian king, Darius, could not sleep after he signed an extreme law that played to his vanity—and condemned his friend and trusted advisor, Daniel, to the lion’s den. Another Persian king, Ahasuerus, spent a sleepless night listening to someone read back his deeds after allowing Haman to enact a law that would cause every Jew in his kingdom to be put to death. And then there was David, who wrote, “I lie awake, and am like a sparrow alone on the housetop,”​ in Psalm 102, as he worried about King Saul’s threat to end his life.

I’ve learned by taking stock of what I’ve done well and what I’ve done poorly, I can put things to rest at the end of the day and sleep in peace. First, I look for the missed opportunities I had, and the times when my selfishness caused me to sin against God and my fellow men. Confessing my sins to Him, I ask for His forgiveness, and then purpose in my heart to make amends quickly to those I have harmed. However, an inventory should not be entirely written in red ink, so I look for the instances where, guided by my Heavenly Father, I was able to be of service to Him, comforting, listening, encouraging, and helping His children that day.​

Too simple, you say? Try it. Make peace with God before you sleep, and whatever you do, be sure the anger you have felt that day doesn’t turn into a resentment. The “root of bitterness” really does grow deep overnight, so “Do not let the sun go down on your wrath.” Ephesians 4:26.

Looking at ourselves with neither fear nor favor can clear away those things that keep us up at night, so we can sleep in perfect peace, knowing our Father is watching over us during our defenseless hours.