In the Morning...Joy Comes in the Morning

“In the morning… Joy comes in the morning…” These words greet me from Elizabeth Von Trapp  awakening me with song through my IPOD alarm. Morning sun light streams through the last leaves on the trees outside my second story window.  I hear the laughter of children crossing the street to school.  My dog barks his morning reminder that he is ready to go outside and greet the children.

I am not naturally a morning person.  My work keeps me with clients till 7 or 8 PM two or three nights each week. Last night was one of those late work nights.  Then my laptop seems to call me to write, or blog, or twitter, or e-mail, while my husband watches the news.  I will often get a second wind about 11 PM.  If I am not mindful … I suddenly look at the clock on my computer screen and find that I have worked into the small hours of the next day. Those are my excuses…., or habits … to be learned, or re-learned. So today, with my coffee in hand I sit down to search the psalms for references to morning.

I find the words of my morning’s alarm song in Psalm 30:5…


”For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime.  [1] Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. 
[1]Or and in his favor is life”  Psalm 30:5 (Show me Psalm 30)   “but Joy comes in the morning”

I also remember Genesis beginning with God creating morning and evening. Gen. 1:5-8   God gives a rhythm of light and dark for our days.  Genesis continues with stories of Abraham “early in the morning.” 
”And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord.” Genesis 19:27 (Show me Genesis 19)

I understand this because Abraham raised sheep.  Growing up on a sheep ranch, I learned that sheep move as soon as the sun comes up.  So the shepherd must be with the sheep before the sun rises.  Otherwise sheep scatter, searching for water and fresh feed.  Each ewe goes off in her own direction.  So Abraham would go out early.

The question occurs to me… “Is God there, like a shepherd? Is God waiting for me, lest I wander off in my own direction like an old ewe, and end up lost in a bog somewhere?”  “Do God’s perspectives in the morning protect my day, just as the shepherd protects the sheep from danger?”

Then in Psalm 5:3 David says “O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you[1] and watch.” 
[1]Or I direct my prayer to you. ..   Psalm 5:3  (Show me Psalm 5)  I ask myself "How and when do I direct my prayer in the morning?"

And again in Psalm 59 I find the call to turn to God in the morning….


”But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress.” Psalm 59:16 (Show me Psalm 59)

And in Psalm 130 I hear “my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning” Psalm 130:6 (Show me Psalm 130)


And finally ”Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.” Psalm 143:8 (Show me Psalm 143)

All of this reminds me of the balance of life called for in the Rule of Benedict.  Rising to greet God with Psalms beginning with Psalm 66:1

”Shout for joy to God, all the earth;
 sing the glory of his name;
give to him glorious praise!” and on Sunday with Hymns of Ambrosia (RB 12 and 13) ……

I may not have a precise answer to all my questions.  I still need to be mindful of the time every night.  But today I celebrate this daily new beginning with “joy in the morning.”

Note:  Bible quotes are from the EVS Bible web site.  

If you prefer an alternative version here is the Oremus Bible Browser Link