God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” There was an evening, and there was a morning: one day.” GENESIS 1:5 (CSB)

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Psalm 4:8  I will both lie down and sleep in peace,
for you alone, LORD, make me live in safety.

Evening before morning was God’s creation order. A day begins with rest rather than work. We work from a place of rest rather than resting from our work. We can lie down and sleep in peace. Our Father, Maker of heaven and earth, watches over us. A bump in the night recently reminded me of this verse. I in turn reminded God of it. (He remembered.)

Fast forward to Revelation 21:25: “Its gates will never close by day because it will never be night there.” No more night. The end of all things is not darkness, but endless, everlasting, eternal light. “The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb,” (verse 23). That day of days will break eternal, bright, and fair. 

Psalm 5:3  In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice;
in the morning I plead my case to you and watch expectantly.

Sometime in the past, I decided it would be a good idea to have my last thoughts each evening and my first each morning directed toward our Father in heaven. I would pray myself to sleep and arise with words of thanksgiving, praise, and commitment. I commend this life-enriching habit.

Psalm 5:8  LORD, lead me in your righteousness because of my adversaries;
make your way straight before me.

Days are filled with adversaries desiring to knock us off God’s path or divert us from our walk with him. Steven Pressfield talks about The Resistance in his book The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles. There are also distractions of all kinds disguised as opportunities. Let us confess in this safe space that there are likewise sinful and selfish desires lurking everywhere we turn.

We need God’s direction all along the pathway of our lives. “Make your way straight before me,” is always a good prayer. It is one our Father delights to answer. He even provides a memorable psalm to teach us how to trust him in all things at all times along this pathway (Psalm 23).

These verses dress us for our days and nights. They fit us for whatever is before us. They prepare us to know and experience God all day, every day, until that day we see him face to face and rest in eternal wakefulness.

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I will know and experience God as I sleep, wake, and live in his protecting, providing, persevering presence. 

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Our Father, evening and morning and all along the way, I will go with you forever onward toward everlasting Day. Amen.