In a Night of Anxiety
A few days ago I changed the batteries in all the smoke detectors in my home. I did that because it is wise to keep new and fresh batteries in those protective devices. I also did it because I want to sleep—and it is a well-known fact that if a battery in a smoke detector fails, it will only do so at 2 a.m. And I don’t like going to my garage for my ladder, climbing that ladder, and disconnecting a battery from a squawking fire detector in the middle of the night.
Just as fire alarms are prone to going off in the middle of the night, so anxious thoughts commonly arise in the middle of the night. You and I know that from experience. After a difficult day, we might be prone when awakened in the night to return to thoughts of the day and what could have or should have been done—and soon we find that both our physical and spiritual hearts are racing with tension and even despair. The Bible also attests to the timing of that temptation:
I am weary with my sighing;
Every night I make my bed swim,
I dissolve my couch with my tears. (Psalm 6:6)¹
O my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer;
And by night, but I have no rest. (Psalm 22:2)
In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord;
In the night my hand was stretched out without weariness;
My soul refused to be comforted. (Psalm 77:2)
How might we equip ourselves to battle our fears and anxious thoughts that arise in the middle of the night? The psalmists also give wise and pragmatic counsel to help calm our nighttime fears.
In a Night of Anxiety, Meditate
Nighttime—whether anxious or not—is a good time to feed our hearts on Scripture and reminders of the nature and character of God. Consider the practices of the psalmists:
But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night. (Psalm 1:2)
I will bless the LORD who has counseled me;
Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night. (Psalm 16:7)
When I remember You on my bed,
I meditate on You in the night watches. (Psalm 63:6)
The psalmists, even in times of rest and contentment, used the night as a time to meditate on the Lord’s nature and Word. Even more, when we are afflicted by anxiousness, it is wise to meditate on God’s Word (our hearts are always meditating on something; we want our meditation to be motivated by and reflect God’s truth).
When tempted at night with fears, I might open my Bible to a psalm that affirms the greatness of God (the Psalms of Ascent, Psalms 120-134, are a good place to start), and use a verse or two—or even just a phrase—as focal point of meditation to calm my heart and deepen my contentment in His trustworthiness.
If you are in a season where you have been repeatedly awakened at night, you might also select a verse or two for meditation as you are falling asleep, and keep your Bible (or the Bible app on your phone) open to those verses so that if/when you awaken at night you can easily refresh your mind on those verses.
In a Night of Anxiety, Pray
When one psalmist despaired, he turned to the Lord in prayer and found comfort. Specifically, he affirmed the attributes and nature of God that revealed His trustworthiness in anxious moments:
I will say to the Lord, ‘My Refuge and my fortress,
My God in whom I trust!’…
You will not be afraid of the terror by night,
Or of the arrow that flies by day. (Psalm 91:2, 5)
The nature of anxiety is that our minds are captivated by our thoughts of doom—and they invariably run (RUN!!) in a circular, downward pathway. And it is seemingly vain to attempt to stop those runaway thoughts—until they are supplanted by a righteous replacement. Instead of meditating on the difficult circumstance or the difficult people of our circumstances, the psalmist gave attention to the Lord. His prayers were not consumed with selfish desires and imprecatory condemnations of his enemies, but soul-satisfying reflections on the good and trustworthy nature of God. When we are fearful, we are wise to likewise fill our prayers with meditations on the Lord’s goodness.
Part of the prayer at night might also include self-examination and confession:
You have tried my heart;
You have visited me by night;
You have tested me and You find nothing;
I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress. (Psalm 17:3)
The examination (“tried” and “tested”) mentioned by the psalmist is a testing of self-examination akin to Psalm 139:23-24. The psalmist looks inwardly to see if there is some sin that might be provoking anxious sleeplessness. When sin is exposed, confessed, and forgiven, it gives rest to the heart, as David testifies (Psalm 32:4-6). It may be that the conscience is more readily suppressed in the day but works overtime at night, given unrest to the soul. Full confession will not only restore our fellowship to the Lord, but may also restore rest to our hearts—and then our bodies, through sleep.
In a Night of Anxiety, Have Others Pray
Prayer in communion with other believers is not just part of our corporate worship, it is part of our lives (cf. Acts 2:42). While the psalmists don’t appear to speak of gathering for corporate prayer in the middle of the night (and while I have never called anyone at 2 a.m. to have them pray with me), we know the value of the prayers of others. We know that sometimes when our own hearts are stuck in ungodly or unwise thinking and praying, it can be a blessing to have others pray for us, not only to solicit God’s power on our behalf, but also to direct our hearts in wise meditations.
So if we are not going to call others to pray for us in the middle of the night, it might be helpful to hear their prayers in another way—through books of godly prayers. I accumulate these books and keep them next to my bed (on my Kindle app on my phone, actually), and when I am awakened, I will often use those prayers to direct my soul into godly contemplations.
There are many such books of prayers, but a few I have found helpful are:
Cloud of Witnesses (coming soon)
In a Night of Anxiety, Sing
Several times the psalmist speaks of using song to direct and comfort his heart. And we know that David also used song in his ministry to Saul (1 Samuel 16:23). Consider these examples from the psalmists:
The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime;
And His song will be with me in the night,
A prayer to the God of my life. (Psalm 42:8)
I will remember my song in the night;
I will meditate with my heart,
And my spirit ponders: (Psalm 77:6)
In moments of anxiety, biblical songs can redirect our hearts to think and meditate on biblical truth. And the cadence and rhythm of the music can slow our minds to compel us to meditate more thoughtfully than we might without lyrical music.
So on a phone music app, consider creating a playlist of music that affirms the trustworthy nature of God. This will redirect our nighttime anxious thinking so that when awakened in the night, we can put in our earbuds and hear biblical truth ministered to us. Or we might memorize some hymns that particularly help us meditate on God’s nature of grace, care, and comfort.
Like the faulty battery in a smoke detector, we may not be able to predict when anxious thoughts will arise in the night, but God has given us gracious provisions to lead us through those fearful moments and cultivate rest in Him.
¹ All Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, 1995 edition.