Cause me to hear Your loving kindness in the morning
Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning,
For in You do I trust;
Cause me to know the way in which I should walk,
For I lift up my soul to You (Psalm 143:8).
When I was a boy, I loved breakfast time. Every morning, my mother sent me to the bakery at the corner of our street to buy six freshly baked breadcakes. I can still feel their warmth as I carried them home. When I returned, mum would butter the cakes and give us one each. It was a breakfast I never tired of, and it sustained me all morning, especially if my sisters didn’t feel hungry and I got two!! I have always liked the start of the day, not just because of breakfast! I no longer live in a house full of lively children and the happy chaos which can mark a family home. No, we live quietly now, and over the past months I have come to appreciate more and more the tranquillity of the start of each new day.
In Psalm143, David, despite the troubles he was facing, teaches us the importance of starting the day in the presence of God. Our inclination can often be to speak to God or to discuss what He has said. David begins the day, not working out what he was going to do and how he was going to do it, but by asking God to “cause” him to hear. He was asking to be prepared to listen. Sometimes we have already decided what we will do. We simply want God to bless our decisions. David was in crisis. It seemed time for him to take action to protect himself and build defences. But he appeals to God to “cause” or to “make” him hear.
I never liked long-distance running at school, but I enjoyed sprinting. It was over much quicker! I was once chosen to run in a sprint relay race for my school at a district event, and I was to run last. As we got ready, my sports teacher took me to one side and said, “Gordon I want you to run as fast as you can and don’t look at the other runners – just look straight ahead.” I obeyed my teacher to the letter, and as I crossed the line, I didn’t know where the other runners were until the steward told me we had won the race. Throughout our lives, there are times not to speak but to carefully listen and obey. We must never lose the wonder of the privilege of coming into the presence of God to listen. Jesus told Martha “one thing is necessary” and Mary had chosen “the good portion” (Luke 10:42, ESV).
But what was David listening for? “Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning.” God did not first teach David to know what to do. He taught Him about Himself, His lovingkindness. Our faith in God grows in proportion to our confidence in God’s love for us. This enables us to trust Him: “For in You do I trust.” And in turn, God causes us “to know the way in which I should walk”. David was brought into a place where he lifted up his soul to God. If you read the whole Psalm, you will see David, like we often do, looking around at the real and present dangers which fill our souls with spiritual panic. David learned and had to relearn the importance of God making him “to lie down” (Psalm 23:2), “to be still” (Psalm 46:10) and “to hear”. May God calm our hearts and spirits each day and cause us to hear His “lovingkindness in the morning” so that we can walk with Him throughout the day. This morning is an excellent time to start.
