Prayer To God in the Morning
Psalm 143:8New
International Version (NIV)
8 Let the morning bring me word of your
unfailing love,
for
I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
for
to you I entrust my life.
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright
©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by
permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
David
presents his prayer, repeatedly crying out to God to answer him and to teach
him to do His will before it is too late. Since a number of the themes are
repeated because of the intensity of David’s feelings, I thought it best not to
work through the psalm verse by verse from first to last, but rather somewhat
thematically, under three main headings.
In
this life threatening crisis, David turned to God. Again, this is not an
automatic response. As we saw from the parable of the sower, rather than turning
to God in trials, many turn away from Him. But the more intense the trial, the
more diligently you need to seek the Lord. But, you need to seek Him in the
right way. David here teaches us four vital lessons about prayer.
A.
Prayer should be heartfelt.
David’s heartfelt cry bleeds through the
entire psalm. It begins (v. 1), “Hear my prayer, O Lord, give ear to my
supplications! Answer me in Your faithfulness, in Your righteousness!” In verse
6 he cries, “I stretch out my hands to You; my soul longs for You, as a parched
land.” He continues, “answer me” (v. 7), “let me hear Your lovingkindness in
the morning” (v. 8), “deliver me” (v. 9), and, “cut off my enemies and destroy
all those who afflict my soul” (v. 12). He’s a desperate man, crying out for deliverance
before his enemies kill him.
While we may rarely be in such
life-threatening situations, David’s prayer teaches us that we will not pray as
we ought unless we recognize our weakness and need and, therefore, our total
dependence on God. Many unbelievers go to their graves without the Lord because
they are oblivious to the peril of judgment by a holy, all-knowing God, who
will judge them by His perfect standard. In fact, the greatest dangers are
often those that we do not perceive. As you know, people die of carbon monoxide
poisoning because they cannot smell or see that deadly gas. Satan lulls many
into breathing the deadly gas of good works. They think, “I’m a pretty good
person. I’ve never deliberately hurt or killed anyone. I’m not a child molester.
So I should be good enough for heaven.”
Even as believers, we often do not realize
our own inadequacy, and so we do not depend on the Lord in prayer. We assume
that we can handle things on our own, unless we get into a huge problem. So the
Lord sends overwhelming trials so that we will not trust in ourselves, but in
God, through heartfelt prayer.
B. Prayer should be humble.
David asks God to answer in His faithfulness
and righteousness. I understand him to mean, “Answer me according to Your
faithful promises to your people and in accordance with Your way of exonerating
the righteous and punishing the wicked.” But no sooner are the words out of his
mouth than he is caught up short. He realizes, “But I’m not completely
innocent, either.” His prayer would have brought judgment on himself! So he
quickly adds (v. 2), “And do not enter into judgment with Your servant, for in
Your sight no man living is righteous.”
As you know, there are several psalms where
David pleads with God on the basis of his own innocence (Ps. 7:3-5, 8; 18:20).
Willem VanGemeren (Expositor’s Bible Commentary, ed. by Frank Gaebelein
[Zondervan], 5:852) explains, “Both expressions are valid, depending on the
context in which one finds himself. The confession of innocence is appropriate
when one is insulted and persecuted for righteousness’s sake, and the
confession of guilt is proper when confronted with one’s own frailties.”
Here, David is painfully aware of his own
sins. So he asks God not to bring him to the bar of His absolute righteousness.
Rather, he appeals to God’s lovingkindness (v. 8), which is His loyal covenant
love. He asks the Lord in His lovingkindness to cut off and destroy his enemies
(v. 12). As I pointed out in our study of Psalm 136, there is obviously a special love that God has for
His chosen people. David asks God (v. 11), “For the sake of Your name, revive
me.” In other words, he appeals to the attributes of God (His name) and to His
covenant love for His people. That’s why we pray “in Jesus’ name,” which means,
“on the basis of all that He is and His covenant promises to us.” We don’t pray
on the basis of our merits or good deeds.
C. Prayer should be believing.
David affirms his trust in the Lord (v. 8).
He bases his prayer, as we have seen, on God’s faithfulness and righteousness.
He can always be trusted to be faithful and righteous. There is faith behind
David’s confession, “You are my God” (v. 10). David strengthened his faith by
meditating on all of God’s doings and work from days of old (v. 5). If we come
to God in prayer, we must come in faith that He is able to answer us (Mark 11:22-24; Heb. 11:6; James 1:5-6). Prayer must
be heartfelt, humble, and believing.
D. Prayer should be obedient to God’s will.
That is, it must flow from a heart that is
ready to do God’s will. We cannot pray and expect God to answer if we are
unwilling to follow Him completely. If we’re just using prayer to get out of
our crisis, and then we put God back on the shelf and go back to acting as lord
of our own lives, we are really practicing idolatry. Idolaters try to use their
god to get what they want. Followers of the living and true God submit to Him
even through trials.
Also, whenever you’re in a trial caused by a
sinful person who is trying to get you, it is easy to react against their sin
by sinning yourself. He angrily threatens you, so you yell back threats at him.
He cheated you, so you connive to cheat him. He lied about you, so you lie
about him. So it is especially important that you be on guard against this.
With a teachable heart, pray that you will know and be obedient to God’s will
in the trial.
Thus David here prays that he might know and
do God’s will. He asks (v. 8), “Teach me the way in which I should walk.” Then
he goes a step further and asks (v. 10a), “Teach me to do Your will.” He’s
asking not just that he will know God’s way or will, but also that he will know
how to do it.” He doesn’t want to be just a hearer of the word, but also a doer
(James 1:22). He adds (v.
10b), “Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.” This is similar to the
request in the Lord’s Prayer (Matt. 6:13a), “do not lead us into temptation.”
Derek Kidner (p. 476) points out that David’s
three requests for guidance (vv. 8-10) each has its own nuance. The first
(“Teach me the way in which I should walk,” 8b) has an individual flavor,
showing that each of us is uniquely placed and called. The second (“Teach me to
do Your will,” 10a), “settles the priorities, making the goal not
self-fulfillment but pleasing God and finishing His work.” The third (“Let Your
good Spirit lead me on level ground,” 10b), “speaks with the humility of one
who knows his need of shepherding, not merely of having the right way pointed
out to him.” The request for level ground “implies the admission that one is
prone to stumble, not only to stray.”
Thus David teaches us that our prayers in
times of crisis must be heartfelt, humble, believing, and obedient. But, we
also need the right aim in prayer.
Let’s think: Why do we need this repeated
lesson on prayer? We need it because we all face trials, some of which are
overwhelming. We need it because false teachers appeal to our flesh, promising
us instant health and wealth if we will only believe. We need it so that we can
learn how to pray in a time of trials: with heartfelt, humble, believing, and
obedient prayer. We need it so that we aim in our prayers not only to get
relief from our trials, but also to grow to know God better. Don’t waste your
trial! Let it drive you to God in prayer.
From : https://bible.org/seriespage/psalm-143-another-lesson-prayer
Psalms 143:8
Cause me to hear Thy lovingkindness in the morning.
How to have a good day
There are days
and days. There are days of darkness such as this psalm illustrates.
Many think that David sung this psalm when he fled from Absalom.
I. It was a dark day for David.
1. It
was a day of hard environment. “The enemy hath persecuted my soul.”
Think of David fugitive, and climbing, in sackcloth, the slopes of the
Mount of Olives. There are days when everything seems to go against us.
2. It
was a day for David of clean discouragement. “He hath smitten my life
down to the ground.” Have you not been in such a discouraged day?
3. It was a day of despair. When hope has gone out and despair has come in, your hands hang and your step stops.
4. This
was a day for David when memory made contrast (verse 5). The only
comfort for the soul in such plight is the memory of better days. That
is a very bad, enervating mood when one, instead of looking forward, is
perpetually looking backward. Oh, the brave apostles Though prisoner in
Rome, “forgetting the things which are behind.”
II. How to get out of such a dark day and mood into a good day.
1. By prayer. “Cause me to hear.” The soul addresses God; turns resolutely Godward.
2. By
beginning the day with a sense of God. “Cause me to hear Thy
lovingkindness in the morning.” Count your mercies and begin the day by
doing it. There is a way of looking at disadvantage in the light of
advantage. Mr. Edison, partially deaf since childhood, was told by a
specialist an operation would help him. He answered, “Give up an
advantage that enables me to think on undisturbed by noise or
conversation? No, indeed.”
3. By constancy in trust. “For in Thee do I trust.” Trust, and keep on trusting anyway.
4. By
determining to do, and at all hazards to do the right. “Cause me to
know the way wherein I should walk.” Notice that--the praying and the
walking; the search for the right and the resolve to do it. Darkness
shall surely flee from such a soul. Such turning of dark days into good
ones makes--character! (Homiletic Review.)
“In the morning”
I. The morning comes after the night.
1. The
night of mourning. “Our light affliction,” etc. This is higher and
sweeter than the motto on the sundial, “I count only the sunbeams.” The
child of God will count, to his wealth and joy, the darkness also. The
night is glorified in the morning “lovingkindness,” as night-formed dew
is in the morning sun.
2. The night of conflict. The morning of victory will come.
3. The night of weary waiting. There is a morning of fruition and satisfaction.
4. The night of sin. Oh the morning of fresh and wondrous purity!
II. The morning comes before the day. God’s
lovingkindness brings morning--the harbinger of a long day. Always,
only morning; pointing on to a day whose “sun shall go no more down.” A
day of joy. “Everlasting joy shall be upon their head.” A day of work.
When men have a journey to make, or work to do, they start in the
morning. So let us seek God’s morning lovingkindness.
1. In the morning of every day. Let me hear Thy lovingkindness in the morning, that this whole day may be blessed and fruitful.
2. In the morning of life (Proverbs 8:17).
3. In the morning (at the beginning) of every new undertaking. Begin with prayer for God’s lovingkindness and blessing.
4. In the morning of this year. It is still pure and sweet. Let its future hours be devoted to God. (Homiletic Magazine.)
Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk.--
The way wherein we should go
The text may be said to
comprise every other prayer. If God gives His servant “to know the way
wherein he should walk,” and strength to walk in it, peace, and order,
and liberty, and joy will soon come. Life is difficult. It is difficult
every day; on some days, and at some times, unusually so. Are there not
continual circumstances and trials and duties of ordinary life which, in
one way or another, make life a continual difficulty? Think of the
number of things that are to be
believed, that are to be renounced, that are to be examined, that are to
be distinguished in themselves and from other things, that are to be
tentatively dealt with, that are to be done, that are to be left undone,
that are to be waited for, that are to be suffered. All these are
included in the “way wherein we should walk.” Take some of them in
succession.
I. Opinions
and beliefs. There can be no living way for a man that does not involve
these. A man is more than a growing tree or a grazing animal. Even
those who speak slightingly of opinions, and lay stress rather on what
they call spirit, and instinct, and practical action, when they
rigorously analyze their own thought in this matter, are obliged to
confess that in one form or another, separated from other things, or
solvent in them, opinion and belief must be comprehended in spirit, even
in instinct, in a measure, and certainly in practical action. But how
hard it is now to form opinions and settle beliefs! Harder perhaps than
it has ever been before, not only because we have more than the common
amount of scepticism in the world, but because (as I verily believe) men
are in some ways more sincere and more earnest than they have ever been
before. They cannot so easily subscribe creeds, composed of many, and
some of them hard enough propositions. What, then, are we to do? From
this hour any one of us, if we will, may be of “them that believe to the
saving of the soul.” How? By bringing the whole case fully and
earnestly before God. “Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk,
for I lift up my soul unto Thee.” There, and there only, you have the
whole case; the meeting, and, in a measure, the settling of the
difficulty. If we come really to Him,
we have solved the difficulty, we have come into the new and living
way, and God will make that way more and more plain before our face;
whereas if we abide among the
exterior things--examining, considering, comparing, putting this opinion
against that, and working the whole matter simply as a high
intellectual problem, without ever making the last and highest
appeal--we have no certainty of a good and true issue.
II. Conduct.
Even those who know the way they should go, so far as it consists of
beliefs, convictions, principles, find it still in their practice to be a
way of continual difficulty. It is easy to say, “Act on principle.” Of
course we must act on principle, but on what principle? What is the
right principle for the case? Or what is the proper combination of
principles? And how are they to apply?
1. It
will sometimes be that all is dark as to what is about to happen in the
immediate future, and yet action must be taken at a certain time; and,
in order to be well taken, preparation must be made for it now. And that
darkness, perhaps, cannot be made any less by our intellectual
activities, or by our moral impatience. We may knock at the doors of the
future with all our importunity, but they will not open a moment before
the time. What can we do? We can pray. We can use this text, and get
the benefits it carries, “Cause me to know the way wherein I should go,
for I lift my soul to Thee.”
2. Or
the case is exceedingly perplexed and intricate. It lies all open
before us. There is nothing more to reveal, and yet we cannot understand
it. Our way, “the way wherein we should go,” lies right through the
heart of those perplexed and ravelled things, and our “going” is sure to
alter them somewhat, perhaps much. What shall be the ruling principle
of our action? Shall we go quickly or slowly? And shall prudence or
firmness have the reins? Who can tell
us? And in this pause what can we do? We can ask Him who knows the way
that is all unknown to us to “cause us to know it,” so that, as we tread
it step by step, and make it thus our actual way, it may prove to be
indeed the way of righteousness and peace.
3. Or
the case, in its two sides, is perfectly balanced. There is nothing to
choose between them. We may cast the weight of our action on this side
or on that with equally good conscience. And yet, out of the choice we
make, a very different class of results will spring; and other things
will come in then, and issues never contemplated as possible will arise.
So that there is a right side, a “way in which we should go,” even when
no human wisdom could give any sufficient reason why the one side
should be taken rather than the other: How shall we find it? How, but by
coming to Him who knows all ways that human feet are to tread. He has
His eye on that best way, that perfect
way, that Christlike way, which my feet ought to mark, and if I come to
Him to ask about it, it may be that, while I am yet speaking, the light
of revelation will illumine it, the finger of Providence will point to
it, and the voice that has directed so many pilgrims will say to me
also, “This is the way, walk ye in it.” (A. Raleigh, D. D.)
God’s pathway for the soul of man
The psalms of the
rebellion differ from the psalms of the persecution under Saul, in that a
strain of penitence mingles with the narrative of misfortune and
suffering. That an ambitious young man should have so easily overthrown a
strong government was itself suggestive. Absalom’s success could not be
really accounted for by his good looks, or by his popular manners, or
by his splendid retinue, or by the widespread discontent of the tribe of
Judah with David’s domestic policy, The truth was that the old respect
for him had been largely undermined by his conduct; and under a system
of personal government, respect for the ruler is essential to social
safety. David’s own conscience ratified the tacit verdict which his
people had passed upon him; and when he fled across the Jordan, while
Absalom took possession of his palace and his throne, he recognized the
hand, not of his undutiful son, but of his Lord and Judge. And thus, in
the last of those seven psalms, which have for so many ages nourished
and expressed Christian repentance, David mingles with his pathetic
review of his reverses a loyal prayer for mercy and guidance.
I. “the
way that I shall walk in.” David was thinking, no doubt, of some path
across the mountains of Gilead, by which he might hope to make good his
escape in that hour of danger. But that was not all. David would be
thinking also of other “ways.” For the soul of man is perpetually
moving, in whatever direction, through the wilds of moral and
intellectual space: and the various directions which its thought,
feeling, and action take, are variously characterized in Scripture. On
the one hand we read of “the way of understanding, the way of
righteousness, the way of truth,” “the way of God’s testimonies,” “the
way of wisdom,” “the way of life,” “the way of good men,” “the way
everlasting,” “the right way,” “the way of the Lord,” “the way of
peace”; and on the other we are told of “the way of the froward,” “the
way of evil men, the way of man’s heart,” “the way that is not good,”
“the way that seemeth right unto a man, while the end thereof are the
ways of death.” And so particular types of human life, “the way of
David,” “the way of Asa,” “the way of Jehoshaphat,” contrast with “the
way of Cain,” “the way of Jeroboam,” “the way of the house of Ahab,”
“the way of Manasseh.” And thus the expression comes to mean a certain
moral and mental temper, or a body, or System of doctrines, or precepts,
whether false or true, which claim to be, and are treated as forming
the path to a higher or to a lower world. Above all, we must not forget
that the spiritual sense of this expression has received a consecration
which can never for long be absent from Christian thought. We know who
has said, “I am the Way.”
II. This
petition for guidance, like all serious prayer, implies a faith, a
faith which at once dictates and shapes it. The lex credendi is also the
lex supplicandi. Two truths, at least, prompt and govern the prayer.
1. The
first is, that one path enables each man to correspond with the true
ideal of his life. “The way that I should walk in.” One path only is
perfectly loyal to the highest truth that has been placed within each
man’s reach. Only one path, and not many, enables each man to make the
most of his faculties and of his opportunities, to develop most
harmoniously his intelligence, his affections, his will, his character;
to satisfy most adequately the just claims that others may make on him;
to satisfy the demands of Him to whom the gift of existence itself is
due.
2. And
the second implied and governing truth is this--that there is one
Being, at any rate, who sees and can tell each one of us what this his
path should be. A clear sight of the track along which each of His
responsible creatures should walk with the view of making the best of
the gift of life, is the least that can be ascribed to an Intelligence
that knows no bounds, and to a Will by whose good pleasure we each and
all exist. A willingness to show each one of us what He thus sees to be
the best for each may be reverently taken for granted in Him who is not
only and chiefly Power and Intelligence, but also, and especially
Goodness.
III. How does God answer this prayer?
1. First
of all, and generally by the language of events, by that importunity of
circumstances which, in different degrees, accompanies every human
life. It matters not that the environment of every life can be traced to
antecedents, and these to other antecedents that have preceded them
till the long evolutionary process is lost sight of in the distant haze.
It matters not because, first, we know that a point must at last be
reached where no material antecedent is discoverable, and where bare
existence can only be accounted for by the fiat of a Creative Will; and
secondly, because the relation of each antecedent to that which precedes
and follows it, the direction and law of this long evolutionary
sequence--if so we must provisionally term it--itself implies, no less
than its first impact implies, a presiding and guiding Mind.
2. But
independently of that which belongs to single lives, there are certain
broad characteristics of the pathway which God has traced for the soul
of man. Man’s will, as well as his understanding, needs the guidance of
truth. Man’s character needs the discipline of sacrifice. And He who
said, “He that followeth Me walketh not in darkness,” said also, “Let a
man take up his cross and follow Me.” What then are the characteristics
of this truth which can furnish true guidance to the soul of man, and
which thus is the answer to the prayer of the psalmist?
The guiding hand
There is no need more imperatively felt by the Christian than that of Divine guidance.
1. We
must admit that God has an ideal or plan for each one of us in life. We
also know how weak and unwise we are, and that light is needed outside
of ourselves. Now we know that the Bible is a historic revelation. What
was written aforetime was given for our learning. So by looking back
over the history of the Church we are helped in the discovery of God’s
will.
2. Three
special methods were used in ancient times to reveal the will of God.
Dreams, the Urim and Thummim, and prophetic teaching.
3. The
important thing is not the agency through which God reveals His will,
but the fact that in some way He will lead them who trust in Him.
Therefore the psalmist says, “Cause
me to know the way wherein I should walk, for I lift up my soul unto
Thee.” The lesson is one of faith in God’s guiding hand. This mode of
Divine direction is wholly unlike the method seen among heathen and
superstitious people. It is spiritual, exalted and progressive. A moral
discipline is needed, a heart in sympathy with God. The spirit of truth
guides us into all truth. If we are willing to do the will of God we
shall know the way.
4. The
spirit of prayerfulness should be cultivated. It is on the knees that
we learn the lesson of trust. It is there we are brought face to face
with God. Let us, therefore, always lift our soul unto God, and, above
all, seek the aid of His Holy Spirit.
The example of Christ is a guide; the advice of His true disciples is
helpful; our own common sense is to be used, but above all, the
direction of the Holy Spirit is to be sought and followed. He will keep
us from perverting the truth we hear to our own ruin.
5. Finally,
if after honestly following what light you have, the issue is not what
you supposed or wished, rest patiently in God till He clears the
darkness. If you have erred, make it sure “that He has forgiven, and
then cheerfully go forward, saying, “My times are in Thy hand,” knowing
that all things are working together for good to them that love God and
are sincerely doing His will. (A. Foster, D. D.)
Knowledge and love of spiritual guide
The
relation resulting from the intercourse of an Alpine traveller with his
guide, writes Dr. Parkhurst, is not exactly like anything else. The one
whom you had employed in this service would henceforth stand to you
quite apart from other men. The peculiar quality that is in your
intimacy has not resulted merely from your walking so long together; nor
has it come because of your fellowship with one another in peril, or
perhaps even in suffering. You learn to know your guide by obeying him,
and you learn to love him by committing yourself to him and trusting
him. Something about our Divine Guide, Jesus Christ, you can learn from
the Scriptures; something, too, you can gather from the testimony of
other men. But if you want to know Him you have got to obey Him, and if
you want to love Him you must first trust Him. (Christian Endeavour Times.)
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Bibliography
Exell,
Joseph S. "Commentary on "Psalms 143:8". The Biblical Illustrator.
"http://www.studylight.org/commentaries/tbi/view.cgi?bk=ps&ch=143".
1905-1909. New York.
Each
morning let me learn more about your love because I trust you. I come to you in
prayer, asking for your guidance. Show me what I should do. I
put my life in your hands!
Dian Vivian
