In The Morning Will I Direct My Prayer Unto Thee, And Will Look Up

 

Dennis Edwards

Today we are looking at Psalm 5, another prayer song by David.

Psalm 5:1-2 “Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray.”

We see David pleading with God to hear his cry. We often pray in the same manner and with the same intent.

Psalm 5:3 “My voice shall You hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee, and will look up.”

When we first get up in the morning our first and foremost reaction should be to call upon the Lord. We are not strong enough or wise enough to make it in our own strength and wisdom. We need the supernatural intervention of God in our lives to find our way through the wilderness of confusion that we face daily: the myriad of decisions, of questions, of thoughts, of emotions, of problems, of directions, whatever they may be.

King Solomon wrote that he immersed himself in the pursuit of wisdom, and gave his heart to know madness and folly, and to enjoy pleasure and mirth. He followed his desires to the full. What was his conclusion? “Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man” (Ecclesiastes 12:13b).

When we awake each morning, we should remind ourselves of our dependence on God and His presence and blessing in our lives. Jesus said, “Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5), but with Me, “All things are possible to him that believes” (Mark 9:23). He tells us, “You can do all things through Me, because I will strengthen you” (Philippians 4:13), “for as your days, so shall your strength be” (Deuteronomy 33:25). But the key to His power and strength, and wisdom, and joy, and peace in our lives is our coming unto Him.

Jesus said, “Come unto Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me for I am meek and lowly of heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). If we want His help to make our burden light, we’ve got to come to Him. We’ve got to cry out to Him first thing in the morning with our first breath.

In Psalm 63 we see David with a similar thought and prayer.

Psalm 63:1-2 “O God, You are My God; early will I seek You: my soul thirsts for You, my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; to see Your power and Your glory, so as I have seen You in the sanctuary.”

David continues.

Psalm 63:3-6 “Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You. Thus, will I bless You while I live: I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips: when I remember You upon my bed, and meditate on You in the night watches.”

David meditates and cries out to God upon his bed in the morning and in the night watches. He is totally dependent upon God to sustain him and help him in his journey through life. We should be, too.

Psalm 63:7-8 “Because You have been my help, therefore in the shadow of Your wings will I rejoice. My soul follows hard after You: Your right hand upholds me.”

David follows hard after the Lord. Joshua, on his deathbed, admonished the Israelites to “cleave unto the Lord your God” (Joshua 23:8). Elijah challenges them with, “How long will you halt between two opinions? If the Lord be God follow Him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word” (1 Kings 18:21). Why didn’t the people answer? It was because they were double minded and wanted to serve two gods at the same time. They wanted to serve the gods of the culture, while paying lips service to the true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Let us not follow their bad example lest we reap their rewards.

Psalm 5:4-6 “For You are not a God that has pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with You. The foolish shall not stand in Your sight: You hate all workers of iniquity. You shall destroy them that speak lies: the Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man.

A day of judgment is coming for all of us, but especially for the wicked who have rejected God.

Psalm 5:7 “But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy: and in Your fear will I worship toward Your holy temple.”

David sees he is dependent on the Lord’s mercy. He walks in the fear of the Lord continually.

Psalm 5:8 “Lead me, O Lord, in Your righteousness because of my enemies; make Your way straight before my face.”

David knows he has no righteousness of his own. It is only God’s grace upon him that gives him righteousness. He pleads to God to show him the way wherein he should walk, to make it plain to him.

Psalm 5:9 “For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue.”

How much like today’s world of Facebook and X where we see so much flattery and so much division, so much hatred and anger, indeed, so much wickedness.

Psalm 5:10 “Destroy them, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions; for they have rebelled against You.”

It seems today that much of the world has rebelled against God, and all that is called Godly. Much of the world has embraced that which is contrary to God’s desires and thoughts.

Psalm 5:11 “But let all those that put their trust in You rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them: let them also that love Your name be joyful in You.”

God repeatedly calls for us to rejoice in Him, to praise Him, to love Him, to be happy in Him. It God’s joy in our lives that gives us the strength we need for the tasks before us. It’s by maintaining thankfulness throughout our lives that we can find strength to endure life’s difficulties and hardships and avoid the pitfall of bitterness.

Psalm 5:12 “For You, Lord, will bless the righteous; with favour will You compass him as with a shield.”

David ends by reminding us, that if we follow hard after God, and walk in His path, He will be with us and bless us, and be a shield to protect us from evil. That is our desire, Lord. Keep us from the evil.