Late Night Thanks

Psalm 119:57-64 

Heth

 ⁵⁷ You are my portion, O LORD;
       I have promised to obey your words. 
 ⁵⁸ I have sought your face with all my heart;
       be gracious to me according to your promise.
 ⁵⁹ I have considered my ways
       and have turned my steps to your statutes.
 ⁶⁰ I will hasten and not delay
       to obey your commands.
 ⁶¹ Though the wicked bind me with ropes,
       I will not forget your law.
 ⁶² At midnight I rise to give you thanks
       for your righteous laws.
 ⁶³ I am a friend to all who fear you,
       to all who follow your precepts.
 ⁶⁴ The earth is filled with your love, O LORD;
       teach me your decrees.

What do you think about when you wake up in the middle of the night?

As you may have guessed from the introduction, the verse I am focusing on in this section is verse 62. Here the psalmist states that he rises at midnight to thank God for his "righteous laws". I don't know about you, but when I wake up in the middle of the night, I generally am not thanking God for His laws. Recently, the main reason I wake up is that I am either too hot or too cold (our home is somewhat lacking in insulation, so the temperature can vary quite a bit), so I am thinking about how to warm up or cool down. I don't give thanks to God, but I probably should do that more often.

I say "more often" because recently I have made an effort to be more thankful. My wife and I pray together at night before we go to sleep, and about a week ago I decided that these prayers should be prayers of thanks. I can't speak for my wife, but I can say that this experiment is already paying off for me. I find myself more at peace when I go to sleep. Am I at the same point that the psalmist is? No, but hopefully if I continue to develop a thankful spirit, I will be.