Help us to lie down in peace

Are there particular prayers in the Shabbat service that you find comforting or moving, even out of the context of the service?

My favorite has always been hashkivenu:

Help us to lie down in peace, Lord, our God, and awaken us to life again, our King. Spread over us Your shelter of peace, guide us with Your good counsel. Save us because of Your mercy. Shield us from enemies and pestilence, from starvation, sword and sorrow. Remove the evil forces that surround us, shelter us in the shadow of Your wings. You, O God, guard us and deliver us. You are a gracious and merciful King. Guard our coming and our going, grant us life and peace, now and always. Spread over us the shelter of Your peace. Praised are You, Lord who spreads a shelter of peace over us, over all the people Israel and over Jerusalem.

It’s not a prayer for which I’ve ever known a melody, though there are of course scores out there. I grew up with the congregation reciting it in English in unison, and for the past decade it’s been a silent reading at the services I attend. The sung liturgy is what draws me to the service, but hashkivenu is the heart of the service for me.

I see it as a wish for peace in several forms, not just a peace that is the absence of conflict. Other prayers ask for justice and for the defeat of our enemies, but this one asks for a shield rather than a sword, peace rather than victory. We ask for life and peace, because without peace there is no meaningful life. I’ve thought about inscribing it on a mantel or a bed canopy, to give the prayer some real form and indulge my literalist tendencies.