Awaken the Dawn
“O God, You are my God; EARLY I will seek You…” Psalm 63:1
A few days ago, I heard this phrase in my spirit – AWAKEN YOUR DAY INSTEAD OF THE DAY AWAKENING YOU. Another way we can say this is, “happen to your day instead of your day happening to you”. These phrases share the same general idea – choosing to live (every day) as an overcomer with a proactive spirit; kinda like “beating your day to the punch”. Nevertheless, this phrase is also very specific – it urges me to awaken early and set the tone for my day.
I believe one of Davids key ingredients was that he cultivated the secret place well. According to his writings, he would praise the Lord seven times a day (Psalm 119:164). Apart from being in constant praise unto Yahweh, David is referring to those times where he intentionally carved out times in his day, where he would stop business as usual and lift his voice and heart to the Lord. Perhaps this means that he would shut the door like Daniel (Daniel 6:10) and enter the worship chamber to seek the Lord in quietness. Perhaps even it was manifested by him running to the temple.
In Psalm 57:8, David says “awake, my glory! Awake, lyre and harp! I will awaken the dawn”. In Psalm 108:1-2, again he declares, “My heart, O God, is steadfast; I will sing and make music with all my soul. Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn”. Twice in these two chapters does the man after Gods heart say that he is going to “awaken the dawn”. He doesn’t just exhort to awaken, but to specifically “awaken the dawn”. So one must ask, what does it mean to awaken the dawn?
Wikipedia defines dawn like this…
Dawn (from an Old English verb dagian “to become day”) is the time that marks the beginning of the twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the presence of weak sunlight, while the Sun itself is still below the horizon. Dawn should not be confused with sunrise, which is the moment when the leading edge of the Sun itself appears above the horizon.
As we see, the dawn is pretty much the beginning of the day, the time right before the sun rises. It’s the time when everything is still tranquil and quiet. In this case, it’s the time before anything gets stirring. For the parents out there, it’s the time before the kids get up. For the businessman, it’s the time before the cell phone begins ringing like a work bell. To be quite frank, it’s that early time in the morning when even the dogs are asleep. This is the dawn.
This is what David is referring to when he says dawn. To awaken the dawn, David is saying that he would awaken himself early – before any of his kingdom got to stirring; he was inferring that he would wake up early to seek the Lord – in prayer, worship, and devotion to God’s word. He would arise early to sing, make melody, worship, pray, read the word, etc… (King James version reads, “Awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early”.) Being over several thousand musicians and singers and a vast army, David understood the implications of running a “large ship”.
David makes a clear statement and says, “I won’t sleep the day away, but I will seize the day”. He will beat the day and meet it with a song and prayer of praise and adoration. David knew that he had a song inside of his heart that was able to overcome and “happen” to his day.
One of the most practical ways to awaken your day is to wake up early every day with the intention to meet with God. Schedule your time with God early in the morning. Set your alarm clock, commit to doing it every day – create a momentum with it. Before you hear any of the “outside noises”, tune in and listen for the voice of your Father. He longs to speak in the dawn. He tells one of his servants, “be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). Awakening early for the motive of seeking God (in prayer, worship, devotion) causes us to have a “head start” on all the proceeding activity of the day. From this place of readiness, we can begin to awaken and happen to our day.
Many of us, if not all, are just too busy not to arise early and embrace the secret place. Friend, I encourage you to begin every day with a time of prayer, meditation on the word, singing in the spirit, declaring of the goodness of God – you know, the basic practices of loving Jesus. If you will begin to awaken the day, I promise you that you will begin to see immediate results. At first it may seem like a mere discipline, but if you will stick with it, you will see it begin to shift into delight. The mundanity will soon turn into power meetings with the Lord, even before the day begins! I have not too many guarantees, but I do believe this principle will stand true through each generation. It did for David, and I know it will for you.
Blessings!
RA
