Psalm 5 - The Expectant Life

“In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice; In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.” Psalm 5:3

There lies great power in mornings. Every morning births yet another span of 24 hours and each one of those hours will follow the precedent set by the morning they follow. Yes, the morning routine prevails over the entire day, and it is because of this, we find so much mentioned in God’s Word about the importance of the morning. We see Jesus rise early, while it is still dark, to have prayer and quiet time with the Father in the morning (Mark 1:35). You can also find at least 39 other verses in scripture that mention the importance of rising early and properly utilizing God’s gift of mornings. Nineteenth century English preacher Charles Spurgeon was quoted, “An hour in the morning is worth two in the evening, while the dew is on the grass, let grace drop upon the soul.” The importance of mornings has even saturated secular culture with this little-known quote from Benjamin Franklin, “Early morning hath gold in its mouth.” So God, as well as the wise of this world, are delivering a message about our mornings and how important they are. The question is, are you mining the gold from your mornings?

King David offers up yet another beautiful plea in Psalm 5. And within it we see just a glimpse of his morning routine, his morning approach to God, his morning prayer, and his reaction to that morning time with the Lord throughout his day. After arising from a peaceful night’s slumber, the very first thing on David’s mind was the Lord. Before David flipped on the news and consumed the negativity of world, before David went to Facebook to be fed, before David breakfasted on text messages, Instagram, and Twitter, He went to be quiet and hear from the Lord. Before David was fed by the world, he was first fed from the Lord.

At youth camp, while serving in Maui, Hawaii, we had a little saying with the students that would help them in breaking the addiction to grab their cell phones as soon as they awoke…”before you go to your phone, go to the throne.” You see, much of the world today is in a vicious, unsatisfying morning routine. They stay up late, get up late, and then rush off to start the day with nary a thought of starting it properly. But the child of God is called to a different morning. That is, proper quiet time to pray, study God’s Word, and process the message the Holy Spirit has for you. You see, God wants to prepare you for the day He has made for you...if you will allow Him.

Yes, God has a very specific plan for your day, but do you know what it is? Do you know how He expects you to approach it and how He prefers you to react to the situations He has placed within it? If you don’t start your day listening to His wise counsel, you are shooting at a target in the dark. Beyond David’s morning time with the Lord, it’s valuable to see how he followed up on his morning throughout the day. You see, he didn’t just scan a motivational Bible meme and then charge right into his day unaffected. He poured out his heart unto the Lord in the morning and then eagerly watched for the Lord to work on those prayers throughout his day. The different translations of the ending of Psalm 5:3 are: he “eagerly watches”, he “looks up”, he “waits expectantly”, and he “watches for” the Lord’s answer. What a beautiful picture of David going to the wellspring of the Lord to start his day and then constantly going back to that well throughout the day for the continued refreshment of the Lord's provision, wisdom, and guidance.

I pray that today your morning routine starts with the Lord. That as you rise in the morning, the first thing on your mind is praising, worshipping, and spending time with your Lord, Savior, and Creator. That the start of your day revolves around the One that created you, your mind, and yes, your today. And that as you seek His will for your day and cast your cares upon Him, that you will continue to look to Him throughout your day. That in confidence in your Savior, you will expectantly look unto the Heavens, knowing that your prayers are heard, He is at work, and He is involved in every aspect of your life. For a life that starts every day with Jesus, is starting the day right indeed.

Blessings ~ Dan

“Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.” Psalm 143:8

“Fill us each morning with your constant love, so that we may sing and be glad all our life.” Psalm 90:14

Ex-convento de San Francisco, c. 1538, Atlixco, Mexico