A Prayer Before Sleep, A Prayer Before Death
by John Donne
I find help in reading and praying the prayers of brothers and sisters in Christ who have come before me. Their thoughts and words often express my own better than I could myself. This prayer by John Donne is one of those. Read the 4th Psalm as well. This prayer harmonizes nicely with that Psalm…
O Lord, enable me, according to your command, to commune with my own heart upon my bed, and be still; to provide a bed for all my former sins while I lie upon this bed, and a grave for my sins before I come to my grave; and when I have deposited them in the wounds of your Son, to rest in that assurance, that my conscience is discharged from further anxiety, and my soul from further danger, and my memory from further calumny. Do this, O Lord, for his sake, who did and suffered so much, that you might, as well in your justice as in your mercy, do it for me, your Son, our Savior, Christ Jesus. Amen.
Note: Calumny means slander or an accusation against someone. Donne seems to be asking that when he lies on his bed or approaches his death that he won’t have incriminating and condemning thoughts about his past because he has been set free from them by the knowledge that his sins have been put to bed and buried in the sacrifice of Christ for him.