Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Ps. 143:8
Dear Lord Jesus, I understand that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. What we consume early determines the rhythms and pace of the rest of the day. This is especially true on the mornings when meager sleep segues into a way-too-busy day, and I choose to break the evening fast with too much caffeine and sugar. As they say, “Up like a rocket, down like a rocket.”
But on a far, far more profound level, what we put into my minds and hearts as the day begins affects a whole lot more than our energy level and how soon we’ll need a “power nap.”
So out of equal measures of delight and desperation, I make the psalmist’s cry my own: “Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love” (Ps. 143:8). That’s what we need more than anything else—a fresh feasting on your steadfast love. Because…
Only your love is better than life, Jesus. Only your love meets the deepest needs of my whole being and satisfies my most intense longings. Only your love is unwavering, Jesus, for all other loves are filled with conditions and contingencies, vain allurements and empty promises. Only your love is unfailing, for all other loves are fickle and finite, unpredictable and unsustainable.
Only your love can expose and replace my idols, by capturing and transforming my heart. Only your love can break my self-indulgent chains and set me free to love well. Only your love can heal the greatest heart-wounds I carry and make me a healing presence in a world of sorrow. Only your love can move me from navel-gazing obsessions to kingdom living generosity. And I can think of a lot more “only’s,” Jesus, when it come to your love.
So this morning and every morning—afternoons and evenings too—Jesus, preach the gospel to our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Blast us with your irrepressible, inexhaustible mercy and grace. So overwhelm us with your fished work for us, and ongoing affection towards us, that we are compelled to live and love for your glory. So very Amen we pray, in your merciful and grace-full name.
