Aches and Praise Five Hundred & Eighty One

Posted on 2022-10-28 in English |

October 28, 2022
 
 
Dear friends,  
 
A few weeks ago, I began sharing insights from “Mastering Life Before It’s Too Late” by Robert J. Morgan. He examines ten Biblical strategies for a lifetime of purpose. The first three are: “Listen to a Twelve-Year-Old,” “Redeem the Time,” and “Clear the Decks.” The fourth pattern – “Maximize the Morning” – includes references to hymns and the Scriptures. Morgan writes: “In olden times, church hymnals were divided into topical segments and several pages were often devoted to ‘morning hymns.’ For example, the Doxology, one of our oldest English hymns, was written in 1674 as the chorus or refrain to a morning hymn written by Thomas Ken, who was an educational leader at Winchester College. At the time, hymn singing was frowned upon in churches but often used in private devotions. Ken wanted his scholars to start each day with an attitude of praise, so he wrote a personal hymn for them:
 

Awake, my soul, and with the sun                                                                                                     

The daily stage of duty run;                                                                                                                   

Shake off dull sloth, and joyful rise,                                                                                                      

To pay thy morning sacrifice.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Direct, control, suggest this day,                                                                                                           

All I design, or do, or say,                                                                                                              

That all my powers, with all their might,                                                                                     

In Thy sole glory may unite.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;                                                                                           

Praise Him, all creatures here below;                                                                                    

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;                                                                                                

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
 

The most important thing about our day is beginning it with a spirit of doxology … The heroes of the Bible certainly knew this. In the Sinai wilderness, the Israelites went out and gathered manna for nourishment each morning (Exodus 16:21). When the tabernacle was set up, Aaron was told to burn fragrant incense on the altar every morning when he tended the lamps (Exodus 30:7). The priests were to begin each day with the morning sacrifices (Leviticus 6:12).”

Morgan cites King David (1 Chronicles 23:30), Job (Job 1:5), Moses (Psalm 90:14), Ezekiel (Ezekiel 12:8), as well as Psalm 5:3, 59:16, 88:13, and 143:8. He writes: “The greatest event in history occurred as the sun was rising over Jerusalem and a faithful band of women trekked to the garden tomb, which they found empty. It was a great day in the morning, the greatest day that ever was.”

In recent weeks, I have been making more of an effort to go to bed earlier at night so that I could rise earlier in the morning than I had been. Since my youth, I have considered myself more of a “night person” than a “morning person,” but lately I am enjoying getting up early and asking the Lord to direct my steps.

Have a wonderful day as you walk with the Lord!

Scripture for the weekend: “Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, for in You do I trust; cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my soul to You.” Psalm 143:8 (NKJV)

Thought for the weekend: “If you would redeem the time, begin the moment your eyes open in the morning. Let no idle, foolish, hurtful thoughts be harbored for an instant, but begin at once to pray and praise God and to meditate on His glories, His goodness and faithfulness and truth, and your heart will soon burn within you and bubble over with joy. Bounce out of your bed at once and get the start of your work and push it, else it will get the start and push you. For if you in the morning throw the minutes away, you can’t pick them up in the course of the day.” – Samuel Logan Brengle

 

By His grace,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
Steve

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