Psalm 119:55

Psalm 119:55

Waking in the night

What is the psalmist saying here? Is he inferring that he once spent all day trying to remember the name of the Lord and then, in the middle of the night, it came to him? Of course not. No Israelite could forget the name of the Lord, it was etched into their memories even though they were not allowed to say it! The name of YHWH was forbidden, it was too sacred to be uttered in casual, or even serious, conversation. I wonder if this was what was in the psalmist’s mind? In the dark hours he awoke, and the sacred name of the Lord was the first thing he thought about. What comfort to know that the Lord was with him, that the presence of Almighty God was around him, even in the middle of the night. 

The other possibility is that when we awake and the world is silent and still in darkness, it is possible for our minds to wander off down a thousand different avenues. In a semi-conscious state, it’s not always possible to control our thoughts and our befuddled brains can take us in both frightening and unhealthy directions. How lovely it is to awake and immediately encounter the name of the Lord in our thoughts, and instead of breaking God’s laws we revel in their purity and allow our minds to take us down pleasant and profitable paths. I believe that this is what the psalmist is telling us, he knew full well the distractions and diversions of the human mind, how lovely to be able to say that when he was most vulnerable, the name of the Lord was his strength and his delight. If the name of the Lord occupies our waking hours and He is in our minds before we rest, isn’t there a good chance that He will still be in our thoughts if we are wakened prematurely? 

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