Monday 9th November

Psalm 5 vs 1 - 3 & 11 - 12    

"1 Listen to my words, Lord, consider my lament. 2 Hear my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. 3 In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.   11 ...... let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you.12 Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favour as with a shield.”
 
How do you start each new day, with a coffee, with the news, Radio Ulster beckoning you from the world of slumber, a shower, a yawn, the pillow over your head..... please,  just 5 more minutes ? At times we’ve done all of these things but for the psalm writer David one of the first things of the day and the most important of all is prayer. His appeal for help, for God to hear his voice is made in the confident expectation of receiving help.
 
Perhaps at some point you’ve spent an anxious night of restless sleep anticipating a new day and a particular challenge that awaits, a job interview, a visit to hospital, or family crisis about to erupt. At such times it’s not hard to persuade any of us to pray, it’s usually one of the first things we want to do, but that should of course be our regular habit. When we read the whole of the psalm we discover that David was concerned that his enemies were attacking his reputation and character; it was just another run of the mill day as king, but his help was in God.
 
For our part most days we don’t know what challenges and opportunities await us but whether good or bad, a challenge or a joy, the one who is our refuge, who blesses us with grace every day even in our trials and tests is our Saviour Jesus. Our best practice is to build into our daily routine, hard as it may be in busy lives, times for worship and prayer and to make them part of the rhythm of the day. Then when we go to him in crisis, we go to one who is known to us and trusted as our King and our God.