13

For you, a thousand years are as a passing day, as brief as a few night hours. You sweep people away like dreams that disappear. They are like grass that springs up in the morning. In the morning it blooms and flourishes, but by evening it is dry and withered. (Psalm 90:4-6 NLT)

Like a dream that disappears in the light of day, our life is brief.

Our days are even shorter.

In the earliest hours the brand new day stretches out before us with endless possibilities, and, like

Morning Glories, we bloom and flourish in the light of it.

But, often, as the day wears on, our hopes fade into reality and we become dry and withered.

We sometimes see the same pattern in the whole of life.

We start our walk with Christ in a blaze of glory, but as we journey through the realities of our life, our faith withers and our passion fades.

It's because one spectacular encounter with God isn't meant to sustain us for our whole life, or even for a whole day.

We aren't meant to meet Christ once and then go on with our lives.

Just as we aren't meant to meet our Heavenly Father in the morning light to bloom in His presence and then tackle the day in our own strength.

We are meant to hold His hand.

To lean on Him.

To let Him nourish us throughout our days, and our lives, with the living water that flows from His presence and keeps us passionate and alive in our faith.

We are meant to bloom throughout our days and throughout our lives.

May we bloom and flourish today and always.

12

Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives. (Psalm 90:14 NLT)

The prophet Zephaniah wrote that the Lord is with us.
No matter how far we may have strayed from Him.
He is a mighty warrior who saves us.
No matter how lost in the darkness of the this world we are.
He takes great delight in us.
No matter flawed and imperfect we may be.
He quiets us with His love.
No matter how unlovable we may seem to others or even ourselves.
And finally, He rejoices over us with loud singing.
No matter how failed and feeble our attempts to love Him back may be.
There is nothing that satisfies my soul quite like the image of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords singing for joy over me. 
He sings over each one of us.
No matter how broken and pitiful we are, we bring our Heavenly Father joy because He loves us with an unfailing love.
He rejoices over us, even in the midst of all our failures, with loud singing.
May that thought satisfy our souls this morning and inspire us to sing for joy to the end of our lives. 


May we sing for joy today and everyday. 

11

The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy. (Psalm 65:8 NIV)

Jesus promised that we would have trouble in this life.

And He wasn't joking.

Some days are tough.

And then some days are really tough.

But in the midst of all the troubles of life, the whole Earth remains full of wonders.

The magnificent beauty of a rose unfolding in the sunlight.

The joyful sound of birds singing in the breeze.

The sweet smell of freshly fallen rain on the fields behind the house.

There is so much in this life to enjoy.

So many things that are meant to bring us joy in the midst of our troubles.

Our Heavenly Father wants us to enjoy the beauty of the world that He has created for us.

He want us to find joy in the life that He has given us even in the midst of the inherent troubles of this world.

To hear the laughter of a child and remember to laugh along with them.

To smell a freshly brewed cup of coffee and be reminded of all the wonderful conversations had over one.

To stand beneath the beauty of the rising sun and be filled with awe at His magnificence.

He has filled the earth with wonders so that we can be filled with joy when we stop for a moment and enjoy the beauty of this life.

May we each find joy in all the wonders around us today. 

10

But as for me, I will sing about your power. Each morning I will sing with joy about your unfailing love. For you have been my refuge, a place of safety when I am in distress. (Psalm 59:16 NLT)

I'd be willing to bet from the abundance of his writings on morning worship that the Old Testament's

King David was a morning person.

I am not, nor have I ever been, a morning person.

Every single time my alarm goes off in the morning it makes me frown and mutter unkind words under my breath.

I rarely ever wake up in a good mood.

But I have found that there is one thing, in addition to an abundance of coffee, that is guaranteed to change my morning mood.

Singing, like David, about God's power, and His unfailing love for me.

There is nothing in life that brightens my mood like belting out God's praises at the top of my lungs.
Of course, I can't carry a tune in a bucket, so I can't speak to the effect on the mood of those in earshot.

But there is an undeniably powerful spiritual component to music.
It can lift us up and remind us of the good in life, or pull us down and deepen an already dark mood.

Not just in the mornings either.

When we're completely overwhelmed by life and can't even formulate the words to pray, songs of praise will help us to focus our attention on things that are true, honorable, just, pure and lovely every time.

So, even if we're not morning people or talented singers, let's sing with joy this morning.

May we all take the time to lift our voices and our hearts in praise.