“Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.” – Psalm 143:8
“I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.” – Proverbs 8:17
“And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” – Jeremiah 29:13
I used to fill my head with a lot of garbage. When I was in my twenties and living alone in an apartment on Buffalo’s West Side, every day started the same. Before I had even rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, the TV would be on, blaring with the vital “news” offered by a network morning show. It was the soundtrack of my morning. It seemed harmless enough. As a matter of fact, it seemed perfectly normal, and on some days even necessary.
Over my first cup of coffee, I would absorb the reports of violence and all the meaningless speculation, fear, worry and criticism, along with a side of celebrity gossip, the latest fashion trends, and an overall value system that is the opposite of everything in God’s Word. It made me feel informed. It made me feel relevant and current and cool. And it made me forget God. By the time I headed out the door, there was hardly a thought of God in my head, and my days – and even more so, my nights – reflected it. I moved through them in a fog of self-sufficiency and self-centeredness, only acknowledging my need for God in moments of panic and problems.
Where am I going with all of this? I’m wondering – wondering how much pain I could have avoided, how much value I could have added, and how much joy I could have known during those years if my morning soundtrack had been one that turned my heart towards God (Psalm 5:3, 55:17, 57:8, 92:2, 130:6, Lamentations 3:22-23, Isaiah 26:9).
In I Samuel 24, David is on the run. He and his ragtag followers are barely surviving in the wilderness of Engedi, and Saul is relentlessly pursuing them (I Samuel 23:13-14). Now, David is hiding with his men in the dark recesses of a cave, and King Saul has just walked in, totally unaware of their presence. Saul has ducked into the shadows of the cave to relieve himself. This king who is completely mad, completely violent and evil and out of control, and completely in the wrong, is now completely vulnerable, and David’s men are urging him to seize the moment.
But despite the overwhelming temptation, David managed to restrain himself. He settles for cutting off a small piece of Saul’s robe with his sword. With all of his men whispering in his ears and his own fear, anger, and indignation pounding in his head, somehow David heard the still, small voice of God, and I think it had a lot to do with his morning soundtrack.
Psalm 63 gives us a glimpse of that soundtrack. In the midst of his fugitive years, David talks about finding God early in the morning, longing for Him, depending on Him, and praising Him. I love the resolve in Verse 8, “My soul followeth hard after thee…”, and again I have to wonder, am I that determined to incorporate God into every moment of every day – the early morning, the night watches, and everything in-between?
Throughout my life, any times of victory, peace, contentment (even in trials) have been punctuated with the soundtrack of God’s Word (Proverbs 16:3, 22:37, John 15:5, Romans 8:5, Philippians 4:8, I Thessalonians 5:16-18). And without exception, the ugliest and most regrettable moments of my life have played out against a soundtrack of the world’s music and the world’s mentality.
God is not distant. He is not hard to find or hard to hear, and He is certainly not irrelevant. We are the ones who fill our heads with garbage and clutter the soundtrack with things that are out of tune with God (Psalm 118:24, Isaiah 31:1, 55:6, Galatians 2:20, Ephesians 5:8, 19-20). The conversations that you choose to have and to hear. The music and media that you absorb. The thoughts you entertain and the company you keep. These are the things that determine how much of God’s still, small voice gets through.
Play a soundtrack that points to God. Throughout each day, fill your head with things that fill your heart with Him, and long to hear Him say, “Well done.”
YOUR PRESCRIPTION
Take an inventory of the things you’re taking in. Fill your daily soundtrack with things that keep you in tune with God and get rid of the garbage. God will bless you for it.
Leave a Reply