Morning Song
Even my doctor knows I’m a morning person! As an early bird, I’m usually up before
sunrise, and there’s nothing more exhilarating than watching a new day gradually emerge.
Alone, I’ve watched the first light of dawn from an empty beach, even before the surfers
arrive, so gentle, peaceful, still in pre-dawn light.
I’ve watched the early morning reflections of dawn in a perfectly still river, reflecting the
ultra-violet spectrum of pink, mauve and violet.
I’ve walked through farmlands shrouded in fog, enveloping the landscape with a quiet
softness, gentleness, and silence.
With a mate, I’ve watched sunrise from a high mountain vantage point in the Carnarvon’s,
or Scenic Rim, crisp, chilly and vibrant, as light slowly fills the dark valleys below.
Yes, and I’ve also watched dawn ever so slowly penetrate the night-light of a hospital
ward, after a long night vigil.
So I ask myself, Why do I like such a time? Strangely, I find myself singing my favourite
morning songs, and the songs provide the answer! Here’s just a few.
The light of God is resting upon the encircling hills
Pledge of a new day coming, hope for our wearied ills.
Another long night has passed, and a completely new day is emerging.
The dawn is a sign of hope, as nature re-awakens to a new round of life…
Long though the night, and dreary, the day reveals Thy power,
O God of Heaven we thank Thee, our strong and mighty tower!
(T. H. Scambler, The Call for God resounding)
Brightest and best of the sons of the morning,
Dawn on our darkness, and lend us Thine aid…
This is a Christmas hymn, not often sung, but usually heard as a solo by a boy treble.
As a beautiful Nativity hymn, it focusses on adoration, the highest gift of all.
Richer by far is the heart’s adoration,
Dearer to God are the prayers of the poor.
(Rev Reginald Heber, 1783-1826)
There’s a light upon the mountains, for the day is at the spring,
When our eyes shall see the beauty and the glory of the King;
weary was our heart with waiting, and the night watch seemed so long,
but his triumph-day is breaking, and we hail it with a song!
For this hymnwriter the glory of breaking dawn brings a new vision of the transcendent,
awesome majesty of the King of Kings. So, lift up your hearts!
(Henry Burton, 1840-1930)
Still, still with Thee, when purple morning breaketh,
The bird awaketh, and the shadows flee…
(Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1812-1896)
Ah yes, even the birds herald a new day with their songs! A Lewins honeyeater chatters
away like a typewriter outside my window; a turtle dove calls with a repetitive, mournful
song, while kookaburras laugh their heads off!
The Butcher Bird sings its strident song in perfect pitch, while magpies join in a choir
of carolling, all blending together in chorus… broken by the crack of a whip bird!
But the message of this song is the “sweet consciousness, I am with Thee”. Indeed,
as day begins among “mystic shadows”, it slowly unfolds with ”breathless adoration”
of the new morn. Day after day unfolds with a constant reminder that God is near,
bringing fresh hope and reassurance with each new day, until finally, “at last, in that
bright morning… (when) life’s shadows flee…
fairer than daylight dawning shall rise the glorious thought –
I am with Thee!”
One final, ultimate, eternal dawn! What a beautiful thought!
So, when morning gilds the skies, my heart awaking cries,
May Jesus Christ be praised! (Author unknown)
I can think of no better way to start the day than with praise and thanksgiving!
Somehow, its sets the whole tone for the day ahead with new reassurance of the
Divine Presence with me, fresh opportunities, renewed strength, a present purpose
and a “bright hope for tomorrow” (Great is Thy Faithfulness).