In the Sweetness of the Morning

A compilation

A moment in the morning,
Ere the cares of day begin,
Ere the heart's wide door is open,
For the world to enter in,
Oh, then alone with Jesus,
In the silence of the morning,
In heavenly, sweet communion,
Let your joyful day be born.—Author unknown



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 us a peace and rest.

Then I thought of other mornings,
With a keen remorse of mind,
When I too had loosed the moorings,
With the Presence left behind.

So I think I know the secret,
Learned from many a troubled way:
You must seek Him in the morning
If you want Him through the day!—Ralph Spaulding Cushman



“Come up in the morning … and present thyself unto me in the top of the mount.”—Exodus 34:2.

The morning is the time fixed for my meeting the Lord. The very word morning is as a cluster of rich grapes. Let us crush them, and drink the sacred wine. In the morning! Then God means me to be at my best in strength and hope. I have not to climb in my weakness. In the night I have buried yesterday's fatigue, and in the morning take a new lease of energy. Blessed is the day whose morning is sanctified! Successful is the day whose first victory was won in prayer! Holy is the day whose dawn finds thee on the top of the mount!—Mrs. Charles E. Cowman1



My Father, I am coming. Nothing on the mean plain shall keep me away from the holy heights. At Thy bidding I come, so Thou wilt meet me. Morning on the mount! It will make me strong and glad all the rest of the day so well begun.—Joseph Parker



Still, still with Thee, when purple morning breaketh,
When the bird waketh, and the shadows flee;
Fairer than morning, lovelier than daylight,
Dawns the sweet consciousness, I am with Thee.

Alone with Thee, amid the mystic shadows,
The solemn hush of nature newly born;
Alone with Thee in breathless adoration,
In the calm dew and freshness of the morn.

As in the dawning o'er the waveless ocean,
The image of the morning-star doth rest,
So in this stillness, Thou beholdest only
Thine image in the waters of my breast.

When sinks the soul, subdued by toil, to slumber,
Its closing eyes look up to Thee in prayer;
Sweet the repose, beneath Thy wings o'er shadowing,
But sweeter still to wake and find Thee there.—Harriet Beecher Stowe



My mother's habit was every day, immediately after breakfast, to withdraw for an hour to her own room, and to spend that hour in reading the Bible, in meditation and prayer. From that hour, as from a pure fountain, she drew the strength and sweetness which enabled her to fulfill all her duties, and to remain unruffled by the worries and pettinesses which are so often the trial of narrow neighborhoods. As I think of her life, and all it had to bear, I see the absolute triumph of Christian grace in the lovely ideal of a Christian lady. I never saw her temper disturbed; I never heard her speak one word of anger, of calumny, or of idle gossip; I never observed in her any sign of a single sentiment unbecoming to a soul which had drunk of the river of the water of life, and which had fed upon manna in the barren wilderness.—Frederic William Farrar



Give God the blossom of the day. Do not put Him off with faded leaves.—Mrs. Charles E. Cowman2



In the early morning hours,
'Twixt the night and day,
While from earth the darkness passes
Silently away;

Then 'tis sweet to talk with Jesus
In thy chamber still
For the coming day and duties
Ask to know His will.

Then He'll lead the way before you,
Mountains laying low;
Making desert places blossom,
Sweet'ning Marah's flow.

Would you know this life of triumph,
Victory all the way?
Then put God in the beginning
Of each coming day.—Mrs. Charles E. Cowman3



My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.—Psalm 5:3



I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble.—Psalm 59:16



O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is.—Psalm 63:1



And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.—Mark 1:35



I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.—Proverbs 8:17

Compiled by Philip Martin. Published on Anchor April 2012.

1 Streams in the Desert.
2 Streams in the Desert.
3 Streams in the Desert.