Listen to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you I pray.
O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I plead my case to you, and watch.
—Ps. 5:1-3
In his commentary on Psalm 5, Matthew Henry wrote (over three centuries ago):
Morning prayer is our duty; we are the fittest for prayer when we are in the most fresh, and lively, and composed frame, got clear of the slumbers of the night, revived by them, and not yet filled with the business of the day. We have then most need of prayer, considering the dangers and temptations of the day to which we are exposed, and against which we are concerned; by faith and prayer, to fetch in fresh supplies of grace.I think it's possible that different people might be fittest to pray at different times of day. There are plenty of evening people in the world who might pray at night as others pray upon rising. But I am a morning person, and I cannot deny that I am one who should take Psalm 5:3 particularly literally. Maybe that's why this hymn by Christian Knorr von Rosenroth seems particularly meaningful to me:
Jesus, sun of righteousness,
brightest beam of love divine,
with the early morning rays
do thou on our darkness shine,
and dispel with purest light
all our night!
As on drooping herb and flower
falls the soft refreshing dew,
let thy Spirit's grace and power
all our weary souls renew;
sbowers of blessing over all
softly fall!
Like the sun's reviving ray,
may thy love, with tender glow,
all our coldness melt away,
warm and cheer us forth to go,
gladly serve thee and obey
all the day!
O our only hope and guide,
never leave us nor forsake:
keep us ever at thy side,
till the eternal morning break,
moving on to Zion hill
homeward still!
Lead us all our days and years
in thy straight and narrow way;
lead us through the vale of tears
to the land of perfect day,
where thy people, fully blest,
Safely rest!
—trans. Jane Borthwick
Our Father...
Crossposted to Opossum Screed
