If we’re not careful, it can be all too easy to give no thought to how we start our day. Some men and women rise from bed essentially in a daze and stumble into action, directed by instinct and entrenched habits. Those wishing to be more thoughtful may take special care with a routine to launch off with purpose and energy. Some will even prepare the night before to make the morning as smooth as possible.
Such practical considerations are certainly “of some value” (1 Tim. 4:8). But how much more important is it to begin the day on a strong footing spiritually! In Psalm 5:1–3, David demonstrates the importance of beginning the day not by leaping into action or following a routine but, first and foremost, by approaching God:
Give ear to my words, O LORD;
consider my groaning.
Give attention to the sound of my cry,
my King and my God,
for to you do I pray.
O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice;
in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.
Five observations on this short text will help us as we consider how to begin each day on the right spiritual footing.
Coming to God Directly
First, we see that David does not hem and haw about his approach to God: “Give ear to my words …. Give attention to the sound of my cry.” He’s not roundabout in stating his needs but rather appeals to God directly.
David says later in the psalm, “Evil may not dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand before your eyes” (vv. 4–5). How then, we may ask, are we to come directly before God’s throne? Objectively, we understand that we are sinners, unfit for the presence of a holy God. And subjectively, the morning often brings with it all of the doubts and disasters of the previous day.
David was no stranger to self-doubt and failure. Yet he understood a vital truth: “I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house” (v. 7). God’s generous love has made a way into His presence through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus on the cross. Jesus takes our sin, and we are clothed in His righteousness through faith. David, in the time before Christ, approached God on this same ground—knowing God’s mercy without yet knowing the exact reason for it.
In the mercy of Christ, according to God’ steadfast love, we may come to Him directly and immediately with our hopes and our concerns, with no need for saints, priests, or paraphernalia. When the weight of sin holds us back, we may remember that He is faithful to forgive confessed sin (1 John 1:9). On Christ’s account, God the Father forgives us and eagerly hears our prayers (Matt. 7:11; Luke 11:13).
Coming to God Humbly
As David comes directly and confidently, he also comes humbly. Notice how he addresses the Father: “O LORD … my King and my God.” David himself was a king, but he comes and says to God, “You’re my King.”
The apostle Peter tells us in 1 Peter 5:6, “Humble yourselves … under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.” Such an approach differs greatly from the self-help theories of our contemporary world, which advise us, “Lift yourself up. Sell yourself. Improve yourself. Be yourself.” We ought to waken up in the morning and remember that we cannot put our feet over the bed unless God makes it possible for our feet to work.
As long as we are pumping ourselves up to take on the challenges of the day, they will eventually come to overwhelm us. But when we begin to accept that God is the one in control, those problems will begin to shrink in our mind’s eye.
Coming to God Personally
David also comes personally: He comes not to a king or a god but to “my King and my God.” God is not some far-away stranger, the way the king of England is to most of his subjects. No, this is the God who has searched and known him, who knit him together in the womb (Ps. 139:1, 13). God knows us personally, and we may speak to Him personally.
It’s one thing to know that we can come to the Creator with our problems. It’s another to know that we can come to Him on intimate terms, as we would come to a father—not as we would approach the DMV window! We can remind ourselves, in the baritones of the Johnny Cash song,
I talk to Jesus every day,
And He’s interested in every word I say;
No secretary ever tells me He’s been called away.
I talk to Jesus every day.1
That’s not mysticism. That’s not emotionalism. That’s genuine, biblical, real Christian experience. We can talk to Jesus all the time, and He speaks to us through His Word. We can talk to Him at our mirror in the morning, talk to Him in our bed at night, talk to Him getting dressed, talk to Him in the car. He is our faithful friend, and, with our Father, He will hear us.
Coming to God Consistently
Fourthly, we see that David approaches God consistently: “O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.” The notion is that David is coming to God morning by morning. His pattern isn’t bursts of enthusiasm followed by chronic inertia, the way some people launch into fitness programs at the beginning of a new year. It is consistent, habitual dependence on God: “I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord.”2
Some advocates for exercise will tell you all movement is good movement. In the same way—indeed, even more so—all prayer is good prayer; all Bible is good Bible. In other words, it is better to come to God briefly, if one can do so consistently, than it is to wake up once at four in the morning, read half of Genesis in a burst of enthusiasm, and then to go weeks without again bringing your heart before your Lord and King.
Coming to God Expectantly
Finally, David approaches God expectantly: “In the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.” He keeps his eyes peeled for the answer to His prayer.
Many teachers and books will tell you that prayer is about therapeutically “getting it all out”—that the real outcome is that, having prayed, you’ll simply feel better about everything. Whether God hears prayers or does anything about them doesn’t seem to come into the calculation.
That is not how David prayed! David not only made his requests to God; he also watched to see what God would do. That doesn’t mean he sat beside his bed, looking around him for the answer until it came. But he didn’t go about his life as if the conversation were over, nor did he face his problems as if the only help he had was a listening ear.
“Everything to God in Prayer”
The classic hymn reminds us,
What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!
Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
Oh, what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer.3
David turned to God because God listened to him and offered real help. The same privilege and power is offered to us in Jesus Christ. In Him, we may come to the Father directly, humbly, personally, consistently, and expectantly—and we will find Him eager and willing to equip us for the tasks He sets us to.
This article was adapted from the sermon “How to Start Your Day Solidly” by Alistair Begg.
