3 In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait in expectation.—The words of the King David from Psalm 5:3
How quickly do you roll out of bed in the morning? Some people burst forth once the alarm sounds. They bound out of bed and, in high gear, start their days like a rocket blast. Other people hit the snooze button on their alarm clocks, roll over with a grouchy grumble, and wait for the alarm clock to sound again. Maybe your arising fits somewhere in between those two extremes.
When I joined the fire department back in 1965, my years of bursting out of bed to start my morning paid a dividend. When the motor on the siren atop the fire house began turn, I was out of bed in a flash and began to mentally recite: “Pants, then boots! Pants, then boots!” You see, one time—it really only takes one time—I put my boots on first and then tried to put my pants on over the boots. Didn’t work!
Sometimes I could make it the 100 feet to the fire house before the siren had cycled up and down one time. Only the chief, who lived twenty feet door-to-door from the fire house, could beat my arrival time.
I don’t burst out of bed anymore. In fact, I don’t do anything very fast anymore. But I’ve never lost my appreciation for people who can start their morning at full tilt.
The Scripture passage at the beginning of this blog post comes from the pen of one who spent countless hours as a young man out in the Judean hills tending sheep. Alone in the quiet of the morning’s first light, King David learned his lesson well as a shepherd boy. He became accustomed to meeting with God at the break of day. As the dew settled on the grass, in those moments just before the sun becomes fully visible above the horizon, King David learned to speak to God out of the depths of his heart.
There truly is something very special about the quiet of the early morning. As you wait in silence, with your Bible open to whatever passage you’re reading that day, you can almost sense the very Presence of God enter your room. In that quiet moment, it’s not hard to imagine God sitting down with you, folding His hands on His lap, and giving you the broadest smile, as He waits to hear what you would like to say to Him. Yes, there truly is something very special about the quiet of the early morning.
Bishop Ralph Cushman wrote a poem that aptly expresses the sentiment I’m attempting to share with you this day:
I met God in the morning
When the day was at its best,
And His Presence came like sunrise,
Like a glory in my breast.
All day long the Presence lingered,
All day long He stayed with me,
And we sailed in perfect calmness
O'er a very troubled sea.
Other ships were blown and battered,
Other ships were sore distressed,
But the winds that seemed to drive them,
Brought to me a peace and rest.
Then I thought of other mornings,
With a keen remorse of mind,
When I too had loosed the moorings,
With His Presence left behind.
So, I think I know the secret,
Learned from many a troubled way:
You must seek God in the morning
If you want Him through the day!
I know that it might be hard for you to modify your early morning routine. But if it doesn’t include spending a few moments alone in quiet, reading your Bible and talking to God in prayer, then I respectfully and humbly urge you to try it for at least seven days. If you don’t sense some genuine benefit from this discipline, then you may return to your normal pattern. And if you try it for 50 days, I guarantee it will become a habit for you. As time passes, you will gain more and more joy and peace from starting your day with the God who loves you so very much.
Will you pray with me?
Thank You, God, for loving us. Thank You for sending Jesus to be our Savior. Thank You for sending us Your Holy Spirit to dwell within us.
Precious Father, we praise You that you met King David in the morning and offered Him your lovingly sympathetic ear. In the same way, we thank You for Your willingness to meet with us at the start of our days. We thank You for the joy and peace You give to us when we begin our days in Your Word and in talking with You in prayer.
Thank You for Your mercy and for Your grace. We know that we do not merit Your favor. Yet, in Christ, You grant to us a place in Your Kingdom as dearly loved sons and daughters of the Most High. Thank You for Your undergirding in our times of trial. And, thank You for hearing our prayer in and through the precious Name of Your Son, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
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