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Wake up, my heart! Wake up, O lyre and harp! I will wake the dawn with my song. I will thank you, Lord, among all the people. I will sing your praises among the nations. For your unfailing love is as high as the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens. May your glory shine over all the earth. (Psalm 57:8-11 NLT)

Our Heavenly Father waits for us every morning beneath the brilliant colors of the new day.

He longs for us to wake our hearts up just a little earlier than we have to, so that we might, in turn, wake the dawn with a song of praise meant just for Him.

He longs for us to cherish time alone with Him as much as He does.

But, no matter how good our intentions are, with all the demands of life, it's tough for us to pry our eyes open at the crack of dawn.

Perhaps we can learn something from the Psalmist who wrote this passage.

He began waking his own heart with thanksgiving and praise.

He reminded himself that God's unfailing love is as high as the heavens even when ours falls flat.

He sang about the faithfulness of God that reaches to the clouds when ours would much rather stay hidden beneath the blankets of our bed.

He remembered that his Heavenly Father's glory, much like the sun, rises up and shines over all the earth for all the world to see.

Praise wakes our hearts.

When we remember everything our Heavenly Father does for us and how much we depend on Him, it seems such a small token of gratitude to meet Him in the morning light and give Him a few moments of our time before the world around us whisks away the rest of our day.

Though we may imagine that we are gifting Him with a small token of thanksgiving, we will be the ones who are abundantly blessed by the experience.

May our hearts be woken this morning with praise.