Worship: Hope

Mornings

Mornings are matters of perception. We perceive the sun is moving but really it takes no effort at all for the sun to rise in the east. All it has to do is stay where God put it and burn until its allotted fuel runs out and chances are that will never happen.

Mornings for us, however, require effort. We are the ones who have to move. We move stiff muscles and crooked necks and rub our eyes which remain only half open. We stumble through our morning routine only half-conscious until the hot shower water baptizes us to a new life. Before long we might be singing, much to the annoyance of those nearby. We moved alright.

Some things are certain.

“As sure as the turnin’ of the earth,” mumbled John Wayne as the bitter Ethen Edwards in John Ford’s “The Searchers,” We’ll find her.” He was searching for his niece lost in a raid by hostile Indians. His fatalistic measure of time was not the seeming motion of the sun, but the sure and certain turning of the earth.

And it is certain; we can be sure of many mornings to come. As sure as the turning of the earth they will come but the one uncertainty that remains is how many we will enjoy. How many will bring us pain we can’t rub away? How many mornings remain until our allotted fuel runs out as our inner fires cool to cold ashes?

Of course, we don’t know the answer.

So we have this one, this morning, another gift from God. We can make this one count.

• We can be who God has called us to be.
• We can do what God has called us to do.
• We can plant seed where no one has sown before.
• We can water the good seed others have planted.
• Who knows? Before the night falls we could even bring in a harvest for the Lord Jesus!

Mornings are the product of the night, the inevitable consequence of darkness is the rising of the light. There may have been tears in the night, but there is joy in the morning. If there was fear in the darkness, it turns to faith in the morning sun.

One of these many mornings will begin the day of our translation. This mortal will put on immortality. This fading, corruptible body will be made new and better, impervious to the wear of time and the tear of circumstance, made like His glorified body. On that day we will see Jesus and those who left us on mornings past—a grand reunion that day will bring!

Mornings are full of promise—as sure as the turning of the earth.

Scriptures:
Psalm 30 NKJV
I will extol You, O Lord, for You have lifted me up, And have not let my foes rejoice over me. O Lord my God, I cried out to You, And You healed me. O Lord, You brought my soul up from the grave; You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. Sing praise to the Lord , you saints of His, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name. For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning. Now in my prosperity I said, “I shall never be moved.” Lord, by Your favor You have made my mountain stand strong; You hid Your face, and I was troubled. I cried out to You, O Lord; And to the Lord I made supplication: “What profit is there in my blood, When I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your truth? Hear, O Lord, and have mercy on me; Lord , be my helper!” You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.

2 Peter 1:19 NIV
…we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

Psalm 90:14-17 NIV
Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us for as many years as we have seen trouble. May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendor to their children. May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us — yes, establish the work of our hands.

Psalm 59:16-17 NIV
But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble. O my Strength, I sing praise to you; you, O God, are my fortress, my loving God.

Psalm 5:1-3 NIV
Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my sighing. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. In the morning, O Lord , you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.

Lamentations 3:22-23 NIV
Because of the Lord ‘s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

1 Corinthians 15:51-55 NKJV
Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed — in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O Death, where is your sting? O Grave, where is your victory?”

Song of the Blessed Morning
The Eastern Gate
Composer: Isaiah G. Martin 1905

1.I will meet you in the morning,
Just inside the Eastern Gate;
Then be ready, faithful pilgrim,
Lest for you it be too late.

Refrain:
I will meet you, I will meet you
Just inside the Eastern Gate over there;
I will meet you, I will meet you
I will meet you in the morning over there.

2.If you hasten off to glory,
Linger near the Eastern Gate,
For I’m coming in the morning;
So you’ll not have long to wait.

Refrain

3.Keep your lamps all trimmed and burning;
For the Bridegroom watch and wait;
He’ll be with us at the meeting
Just inside the Eastern Gate.

Refrain

4.Oh, the joys of that glad meeting
With the saints who for us wait!
What a blessed, happy meeting
Just in side the Eastern Gate!

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2016 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved