Turning Down the Bed

“The LORD will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness.” (Ps 41:3 AV)

Many commentators mention that this psalm is most likely written by David during a time of physical illness.  There is none mentioned in scripture.  There is no mention of a battle wound either.  The only time we see David on a sickbed is when he is very old and in need of a nurse.  I have to admit, it kind of reads that way.  However, if we remain in context, the languishing is caused by the presence of overwhelming enemies.  In verse four, David seeks a healing of the soul.  Not the body.  He confesses his own sin and then seeks health for his soul.  Regardless of physical, spiritual, or emotional illness, it is God that will make the bed of sickness.  But what does that mean?

To ‘make’ all his bed means to overturn.  We have a phrase.  When fixing a bed for someone, we would call it turning down the bed or turning down the sheets.  The one preparing the bed for another would often make the bed perfectly and whole and then turn down the sheets from one corner to the center.  In doing a bit of research, turning down the bed is an unnecessary task done today.  In days gone by, the servants of a wealthy household would turn down the sheets for their employers.  The custom still exists today.  In some exclusive hotels, the service is offered.  But the turning down of a bed had a more practical application.  In days before central heating, it was not uncommon to supplement heat in a bed by the use of an bed pan or coal pan.  They would take an all-metal pan with a metal lid, place embers from the fireplace within, and slide the pan under the mattress.  Turning down the bed meant a source of heat was placed under the bed.  That way, the owner of the bed would know that a source of heat was placed under the bed if the sheets were turned down so a pan could be slid underneath.  Thus, turning down the bed, or making the bed, meant placing a source of comfort for the one who would sleep there.

What David is showing is that in times of deep distress, God adds comfort so that we might recover.  In particular, when nighttime becomes a time of languishing, God will make up the bed and add comfort for our rest.  Nighttime is not an easy time.  The mind races.  The heart is anxious.  Activity for the day is all done.  There is nothing more that can occupy our thoughts.  So the nighttime is a perfect time to languish.  When someone is in the hospital recovering from illness or surgery, it is the nighttime in which they most frequently struggle.  It is nighttime when moaning and crying out are loudest.  In the daytime, when the light comes through the windows, the mind can be occupied by the sights and sounds of the room.  But once the lights go out, all the patient has to occupy himself with is the pain or discomfort he feels.  This is why God must make up the bed.  He must be our comfort in the stillness of the twilight hours.  When the crickets are louder than conversation, or the shadows distort reality, it is the warmth of God’s presence, manifested by a turned-down bed that medicates the heart.