I Will Awake the Dawn

Scripture: Psalm 108:2 – “Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn.” (NRSVue)

In a world that is always lurching dangerously to extremes, it is important to recognize balance in your life. One area where we must seek balance is our sense of what we can control and what we cannot. As the Serenity Prayer puts it, “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

There are many things we cannot change. We cannot control the weather. Issues with our wellbeing and our families’ wellbeing cannot always be anticipated. When troubles arise, we cannot always fix them no matter how hard we try or how hard we pray. These are the times when we need serenity, and a surrender to the grace and loving kindness of the Lord.

But there are other things we do have some control over. God did not make us to just go through life without power or choice. God created us to love and serve and do great things. As people of balance, we need courage and foresight as well as faith and prayer.

Psalm 108 is a hymn about war, and the frustrations that God is not delivering the victory over Israel’s enemies that has been promised. It is a prayer for God to be with the people, and despite being bellicose, has that sense of serenity in it. But it also is a call to action, for rousing one’s heart to hope. At the beginning it says, “Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn.” Notice how it does not say, “I will awake with the dawn,” but “I will awake with dawn.” It is a call to action, to dare to do impossible things.

Many ancient peoples performed morning rituals, lighting fires and saying prayers to will the sun back into the sky so that light and life could spread over the world. They saw themselves as working with the divine to bring order into the cosmos. I see Psalm 108 as echoing these old traditions.

The sun rises in the morning whether we want it to or not, but God has given us a gift of power every morning. There is something we can do to make our days richer and more successful. That is to feel the power and grace of God within us each morning. It is good to pray these words, “I will awake the dawn,” for it means that we are meeting the new day with a sense of control that does not depend on our own strength or value but works with God to accomplish great things.

There is much to accept in life with serenity, but there is much we can accomplish with God. Seize the day and awake the dawn. God has much for you today.

Prayer: Lord, I will awake the dawn. I will accept your grace to move and do and love to further your will in my life. Amen.