The Comfort

Michael W. Smith wrote a book for his grandchildren, and it has an accompanying album with it. The book is called “Nighty Night and Goodnight.”

In it, little Ben can’t go to sleep, so his stuffed animals give him suggestions on how to do it. Eventually, they play and sing a lullaby. It goes like this:

Lay down, sweet child, and go to sleep.
The Lord be with you and give you His peace.
Lay down, sweet child, and go to sleep.
The Lord be with you tonight.

Of course, the lullaby helped little Ben to go to sleep, but that magic never worked with our children.

And Son #2 hated the song.

Every time we would start to sing it, he cried. Tears streamed down his face as he screamed for us to stop.

I’ve felt that way about a few Michael W. Smith songs, but this one was pretty good.

But Son #2 despised it. We tried a few times to explain the song and get him to like it but to no avail.

Fast forward a few months, and we were traveling in our vehicle from a neighboring town, listening to Sirius XM Enlighten, when we heard the melody of a different song coming from the back seat.

We turned off the radio and focused our attention on Son #2’s sweet voice.

We heard:
Ay dow, ee dile, an doe to seep
Da Layord be you and div you peach
Ay dow, ee dile, an doe to seep
Da Layord be you a nigh.

He sang it the entire thirty-minute ride home.

We were amazed. He had always acted scared of the song before and never heard it very much because we’re not into the habit of forcing our children to listen to scary songs, whether the fear is rational or not. We make them eat their vegetables but not listen to lullabies.

We listened and smiled, and one of us cried. It was sudden and unexpected.

We could hear the sincerity and desire in his voice to have the Lord be with him tonight.

That’s my prayer for you, too. If you know the Lord, you have no reason to fear or be dismayed by whatever you’re facing.

The Lord may want to say to you tonight,
Lay down, sweet child, and go to sleep. I’ll be with you and give you peace.

The Lord be with you tonight!

to those who need comfort and rest,
– Caleb