Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.
—Luke 23:46
“Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep.” This bedtime prayer has gurgled from the lisping lips of millions of children since it first appeared in 1737 in Thomas Fleet’s New England Primer.
Some commentators allege that David’s words in Psalm 31:5, “Into your hands I commit my spirit,” were taught to children as a bedtime prayer.
We recognize them as Jesus’ last words from the cross. He was saying his goodnight prayer—his last before dying.
At a time presently unknown to you, you will have a day of “lasts.” You will see your last sunrise, eat your last meal, speak your last word, and say your last prayer.
And then, having committed your spirit into God’s hands, you will awaken to an eternal day that will have no “lasts.”
There will be a last day here,
opening the door to an eternal day there.