Sleep

Blessed Creator,

You have promised your loved ones sleep;
Please give me the restoring rest that's needed for tomorrow's toil;
If dreams be mine,
   let them not be tinged with evil.
Let your Spirit make my time of repose
   a blessed temple of his holy presence.

May my frequent lying down make me familiar with death,
   the bed I approach remind me of the grave,
   the eyes I now close picture to me their final closing
Keep me always ready and waiting for admittance to your presence.
Weaken my attachment to earthly things.
May I hold life loosely in my hand,
   knowing that I receive it on condition of its surrender;
As pain and suffering reveal my changing health,
   may I not shrink from a death that introduces me to the freshness of eternal youth.
I retire this night in full assurance of one day
   awaking with you.
All glory for this precious hope,
   for the gospel of grace,
   for your unspeakable gift of Jesus,
   for the fellowship of the Trinity.
Please do not withhold your mercies in the night season;
   your hand never wearies,
   your power needs no repose,
   your eye never sleeps.

Help me when I helpless lie,
   when my conscience accuses me of sin,
   when my mind is harassed by foreboding thoughts,
   when my eyes are held awake by personal anxieties.

Show yourself to me as the God of all grace, love and power;
   you have a balm for every wound,
      a solace for all anguish,
      a remedy for every pain,
      a peace for all trouble.
Permit me to commit myself to you
   awake or asleep.