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Series

How to Get a Good Night’s Sleep

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

(Psalm 4:8)

“I will both lie down in peace, and sleep.”

Our first reaction to these words may be, “Well, of course David slept in peace. He was the king of Israel; powerful, popular, wealthy. He lived in a palace. People referred to him as David the Giant Killer. He had no real worries.” However, when David wrote Psalm 4, he was not living in a palace or even in Jerusalem. Instead, he was fleeing for his life from his own son Absalom. Yet, amid such hardship and heartache, David was still able to sleep in peace. How? Psalm 4 provides the answer.Read More »How to Get a Good Night’s Sleep

Come, Ye Faithful, Raise the Strain TLH 204, WS 726, LSB 487

Because of editing deadlines, I am writing this Easter piece for the Spokesman today, though Easter itself lies many weeks in the future. Looking out my office window, I see nothing but snow, the thermometer stands at -9° F, and most schools in the state are closed for the next two days. It’s the end of January, and all anyone is talking about right now is winter. Can there be an Easter hymn somewhere in all this?

One line in particular came to mind from the second verse of a very old hymn by John of Damascus. It dates from the eighth century: All the winter of our sins, / Long and dark, is flying from His light. . . .” So there it is, Easter springing from the depths of a polar vortex!Read More »Come, Ye Faithful, Raise the Strain TLH 204, WS 726, LSB 487