In the Morning

I woke up this morning with this song in my head - 

"Lord in the morning, Thou shalt hear my voice ascending high; to Thee will I direct my prayer, to Thee lift up mine eye."

As I lay there, various thoughts went through my head:

1. In the early morning when I wake up, I hear the birds singing, and it seems to me they're singing praises to God. 
2. God has been speaking to me about the importance of JOY in my life (one of the fruits of the Spirit) and I would do well to emulate the birds in this regard!
3. Waking up with a song of praise is a VERY good way to start a day!
4. There is something very special about EARLY MORNING for meeting with God.

I knew Psalms 5:3 was the verse I would be journaling about this morning, since the song is based in this verse:

"My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up." (KJV)

As I thought about this, I looked to see what other passages there were about the morning.  Several really stood out to me (emphasis mine):

• Exodus 16:12 - ". . . in the morning you will be filled with bread." (NIV)  While this is not really the context of this verse, it none-the-less seemed this morning like God was promising me something here - not just about physical bread, but more importantly about spiritual bread.  Thank you, God, for Your promise that I will be filled with that spiritual bread every morning!
• Psalm 30:5 - "Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning." (NKJV) Another beautiful promise - how sad if I'm not awake to experience this!
• Psalm 59:16 - "But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble." (NIV) Yes, Lord, I want to always wake up with a song of praise in my heart!
• Psalm 92:1,2 - "It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night," (NIV)  This seems like a great prescription for living!  As I wake up in the morning, praise God for His love; In the evening, review the day and praise Him for His faithfulness in seeing me through it.
• Psalm 143:8 - "In the morning let me hear of your gracious love, for in you I trust. Cause me to know the way I should take, because I have set my hope on you." (ISV)  I am SO VERY grateful that God loves me enough to guide me.  I certainly can't see the future to know which way is best.  I'm so grateful that He can!
• Matthew 14:25 - "About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water." (NLT) It does seem to me that there is something very special about the early morning hours. It's a great time to encounter Jesus!
• Mark 1:35 - "In the morning, while it was still very dark, Jesus got up and went to a deserted place and prayed there." (ISV)  Jesus, our example, got up very early to spend time with God.  When I wake up in the wee hours, this is a good way for me to spend my time, too! 

Father, thank you for the early morning!  Thank you for your love, your guidance, your power and protection.  Thank you for your many promises, and for the spiritual food you give me each day!  I love you, Father.

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Bird stamp is a small stamp from HOTP.  For details about how I did the artwork on this page, please see this post.