Now, let’s consider morning and learn from God’s Word:
Genesis 19:17, “Now
Abraham rose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood
before the Lord.”
Genesis 20:8, “So
Abimelech arose early in the morning and called all his servants and told all
these things in their hearing; and the men were greatly frightened.”
Genesis 21:14, “So
Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave
them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulder, and gave her the boy, and sent her
away.”
Genesis 22:3, “So
Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his
young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering,
and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.”
Mornings are for not
only for action to begin but also obedience. This obedience did not start slow
but early and big! Officials were summoned, journeys began, oaths taken/made,
action on things God laid on their hearts and minds in the night and/or through
dreams, lots more emotion and depth is communicated in the morning scenes; a
going forth. There are numerous more references that continue this theme.
Exodus 34:1-4, “Now
the Lord said to Moses, ‘Cut out for yourself two stone tablets like the former
ones, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets
which you shattered. So be ready by morning, and come up in the morning to
Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to Me on the top of the mountain. No
man is to come up with you, nor let any man be seen anywhere on the mountain;
even the flocks and the herds may not graze in front of that mountain.’ So he
cut out two stone tablets like the former ones, and Moses rose up early in the
morning and went up to Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and he took
two stone tablets in his hand.”
I love the picture of
being prepared for the next day – what is the important task for tomorrow that
I can do something for today? Set out the breakfast dishes? Get the coffee
ready to start? Put the clothes in the washer so it is ready to start? Think
ahead to meals, etc…
Psalm 5:3, “In the
morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice; in the morning I will order my prayer
to You and eagerly watch.”
Psalm 88:13, “But I, O
Lord, have cried out to You for help, and in the morning my prayer comes before
You.”
Psalm 90:14, “O
satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness, that we may sing for joy
and be glad all our days.”
Psalm 143:8, “Let me
hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, for I trust in You; Teach me the way
in which I should walk, for to You I lift up my soul.”
Isaiah 33:2, “O Lord,
be gracious to us; we have waited for You. Be their strength every morning, our
salvation also in time of distress.”
Isaiah 50:4, “The Lord
God has given me the tongue of disciples. That I may know how to sustain the
weary one with a word, He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens my ear to
listen as a disciple.”
Mark 1:35, “In the
early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went
away to a secluded place, and was praying there.”
Luke 21:38, “And all
the people would get up early in the morning to come to Him in the temple to
listen to Him.”
Morning is for
spiritual nourishment. As I was reading over all of these and many, many more
references to this idea – it reminded me of my word for this year which has
been slow. Slowing our schedule, slowing my heart, etc. One of the things God
has shown me through studying slow in His Word is an acronym surrender, listen,
obey, worship – this is really what morning is as described in these above
verses. We surrender our day to Him, listen to His Word and obey it and worship
Him in it. It is a relying on His strength, a feeding on His Word, living it
out before my children as a sacrifice of praise {worship} to Him. There is a
quiet beauty about the early morning, a peace that hovers delicately – it is a
time for strengthening, studying, prayer, etc…
We could go on and on studying references and practical
application for morning and evening and even the in-betweens. Evening is
mentioned 142 times in the Bible {not counting night or sunset} and morning 218
times. If you are interested in digging in more – you can look for a list of
references that these words are mentioned in a concordance or on line at a
Bible study site such as crosswalk.com or biblegateway.com.
