There is a paper weight on my desk which is one of the many I gave to graduating seniors in the youth group where I was Minister of Music and Youth many years ago. Engraved on the paper weight is "Keep Looking Up" - Psalm 5:3. I had done intensive discipleship with this particular group of youth and wanted to leave them with something that would remind them of the importance of their daily personal worship time with the Lord. "My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; In the morning I will direct it to you, And I will look up" (Ps. 5:3) It is believed that this Psalm grew out of David's time in the wilderness when he was fleeing from Absalom. If so, we can learn some lessons from it. No disruption of schedule, danger, or discomfort should keep us from our time of morning worship and fellowship with the Lord.
If we were invited to enjoy a private visit with a governor, president of a country, Billy Graham or some other dignitary, we would certainly prepare for it. However, many times we believers rush into our morning devotional time as if no preparation is needed. We find David completely open with the Lord about his inward pain, approaching the Lord with a broken heart...knowing that the Lord knew his heart. Not only was David faithful in his morning prayers but also very orderly and systematic. The word "direct" indicates that David had everything arranged and in order. The word also has a connotation of a soldier presenting himself to his commander to receive his orders. "I will look up" gives us the idea of waiting with expectation before the Lord.
Even though David was in the wilderness, he came before the Lord with the same kind of awe that the priests and Levites showed in the tabernacle. In the worship of our God, both personal and corporate with the body, there is no place for flippancy or cleverness. We as believers must always approach worship realizing that for us to enter the presence of God to worship and pray cost Jesus His very life. For us to treat this privilege lightly is to cheapen His great sacrifice.
This great daily privilege of worship and prayer for every believer fuels the worship of the body as we gather regularly to worship Him. Can we even begin to imagine how our worship as the church would be if every believer took this great privilege seriously every day? Keep Looking Up! mjm
