“I Will Awaken the Dawn”

[Psalm 108]

This year, the motto of our Victory Presbyterian Church is:
“Devote yourselves fully to prayer.”
As I reflect on this year's motto, I find myself asking: How can we evaluate whether our Victory Presbyterian Church is truly devoting itself fully to prayer?

There are various ways to assess this.
For example, in terms of numbers, we might consider how many people attend and pray during our once-a-month, overnight Friday-to-Saturday prayer gathering. We could also look at the number of attendees at Wednesday prayer meetings, or the number of people who attend the Saturday early morning prayer meetings.
Of course, the number of people attending these visible prayer gatherings can serve as one way to measure our dedication. However, there is also a need to evaluate the quality of our prayers.
That, of course, is not easy. Each individual must evaluate themselves.

So then, how can we know if the members of our church are truly devoting themselves to prayer?
One way is to look at the content of the prayers we offer to God during our early morning prayer meetings.
Why early morning prayer? Because it is the first moment of the day.
The more people who come before the Lord at the break of day, offering prayers to God filled with thanksgiving and praise, the more we can say that our church is indeed living out this year’s motto: fully devoting itself to prayer.

Waking up at dawn, when one is tired and drowsy, and coming before the Lord to offer the first moments of the day to God with gratitude and praise, is truly difficult.
That’s why some might reasonably ask, “Do we really need early morning prayer?”
However, if one can awaken the dawn and begin the day with thanksgiving and praise to God, then that person can truly be called a “person who awakens the dawn with prayer.”

Then how does a person who awakens the dawn pray?

We can consider it in three ways:

First, a person who awakens the dawn prays to God with thanksgiving and praise.

Look at Psalm 108:3:
“I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.”
In today’s passage, we see David—a person who awakened the dawn in prayer. He began his prayers to God with thanksgiving and praise.
Why did he offer prayers of thanksgiving and praise?
Because David had experienced the greatness of God’s love and faithfulness.
See verse 4:
“For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.”
Then how did David experience God’s love and faithfulness?
He experienced God’s love through the grace of salvation—God’s deliverance (verse 6), and he experienced God’s faithfulness when he heard the Word that God spoke in His holiness (verse 7).

I believe it is a truly precious faith to be able to begin the day by coming before the Lord in the early morning, offering prayer with thanksgiving and praise to God for His lovingkindness and faithfulness.
Even more, if we can live each day in the Lord with hearts of gratitude and praise, that is indeed a most treasured faith.

However, when I look back on my own life over the past week, I must confess that I have not lived such a life fully before God.
What is the reason for this?
As I reflect on it in light of today’s passage, I realize that it is because I have not sufficiently experienced the grace of God’s salvation and His holy Word.
If, in the moments of life, I had experienced God's deliverance and had been listening to His holy Word and living each day by faith, how could I not come before the Lord in the early morning to offer prayer filled with thanksgiving and praise?

I too, like David—the one who awakened the dawn with prayer—want to go before God in the early morning and pray with thanksgiving and praise.
I want to pray, filled with gratitude and awe, praising God for His salvation and for His holy Word.

How about you?
Don’t you also want to pray to God with thanksgiving and praise, like David, as you experience the grace of His salvation and hear His Word?

Second, the one who awakens the dawn with prayer prays for the glory of God.

Look at Psalm 108:5:
“Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.”

The one who awakens the dawn humbles himself before the holy God.
He cannot exalt himself or act proudly before such a holy God.
If someone, like the Pharisee, boasts about himself in prayer before God, that person can by no means be called one who awakens the dawn in prayer.
A prayer that boasts in oneself is not true prayer.

David, the one who appears in today’s passage as one who awakens the dawn, prayed that only the Lord would be exalted.
He desired that the Lord would be lifted high above the heavens and that His glory would be over all the earth.

The reason David prayed this way is because he had experienced the greatness of God’s lovingkindness and faithfulness.
Therefore, while praising the Lord’s greatness from the depths of his heart (v. 1), David prayed that only the Lord would be lifted high.
He prayed that God’s glory would be exalted over all the earth (v. 5).

Third and finally, the one who awakens the dawn with prayer prays for God’s salvation.

Look at Psalm 108:6:
“Save us and help us with your right hand, that those you love may be delivered.”

David prayed with thanksgiving and praise for God’s lovingkindness and faithfulness, and he also prayed for the glory of God.
At the same time, he pleaded for God to save him from his enemies.

Having experienced God’s great lovingkindness through past deliverance, David now also pleads to be rescued in the present.
In this prayer, David acknowledges that human salvation is in vain (v. 12).
So, he turns only to the Lord, who is loving and faithful, and pleads with Him.

In particular, David knew that if God abandoned the people of Israel or did not go out with their armies (v. 11), there would be no way to gain victory over the enemy.
Therefore, he relied solely on the God of salvation and pleaded for His help.

We too must, like David, earnestly seek God by placing our full trust in Him.
When we pray, we must do so in faith, knowing that human salvation is in vain, and rely solely on God for our deliverance.
Especially when we are engaged in spiritual battles, we must firmly believe that God does not abandon us but goes with us (verse 11), and we must pray, asking Him for help so that we may fight our enemies and gain the victory.

There are two blessings given to those who awaken the dawn in prayer:

(1) The first is peace of heart.

Look at Psalm 108:1:
“My heart is steadfast, O God; I will sing and make music with all my soul.”
The one who awakens the dawn in prayer—offering thanks and praise to God and praying for His glory—also prays for salvation and receives peace in their heart.
This inner peace is a grace given by God to those who fully trust in Him and seek Him in prayer.
Look at the latter part of Psalm 112:7:
“… his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.”
In this way, the one who awakens the dawn in prayer has a firm (peaceful) heart because they are fully trusting in God.

(2) The second is courageous action.

Look at Psalm 108:13:
“With God we will gain the victory, and He will trample down our enemies.”
After praying in full trust in God, David acted with courage.
He did not fear his enemies, but moved forward boldly with his army, fully assured of victory.
Why? Because he believed that God would go with him and his army (verse 11).
He also believed that God would grant them victory and lead them to the “fortified city” (verse 10).
Therefore, David acted boldly and courageously.

Dear beloved, let us devote ourselves fully to prayer.
Let us strive to become those who awaken the dawn in prayer, like David, the psalmist.
Let us pray with thanksgiving and praise because of God's greatness, lovingkindness, and faithfulness.
And let us also, like David, pray:
“Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth” (verse 5).
Let us cry out to God to deliver us.
When we do so, God will give both you and me peace of heart (steadfastness) and courage.
With a firm and unshakable heart, let us act courageously for the glory of the Lord.

Desiring to be one who awakens the dawn in prayer, like David,

Pastor James
(With the prayer that as time passes, I will trust more and more in the Lord alone)