Keep Watch

For those who work, or watch, or weep

Sleep is the prayer the body prays.
Wendell Berry

Ernest Hemingway once said, “I love sleep. My life has a tendency to fall apart when I’m awake.” I don’t know if he was making a joke or a confession, but I can relate. Maybe you can too.

When we’re lucky enough to get it, sleep is a kind of nightly Sabbath. It reminds us that we’re not as in control as we think, not of the world or our lives. We have limits. We run out of energy. We get stretched too thin. And eventually, no matter what’s left on the to-do list, we have to close our eyes. Thankfully, God continues to watch over us. The psalmist says, “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.”

Christians have always welcomed the evening hour for prayer, disengaging themselves from the day's worries and sinking into the quiet promise of God’s grace. One of my favorite nighttime prayers comes from the service of Compline, an age-old service of evening prayers:

Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night,
and give your angels charge over those who sleep.
Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering,
pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love’s sake. Amen.

You might not think of sleep as an act of faith, but it is. To close your eyes is to entrust whatever the day held—unfinished conversations, lingering worries, all the things you couldn’t fix—to God’s care. However you’re sleeping right now, and whatever the day ahead holds—success or sorrow, exhaustion or peace—tonight, you can let go. God watches, weeps, and works for his beloved children, no matter what time it is.

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