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[ Silence ] [MUSIC] [ Music ] He woke me up this morning and he gave me a new dawning.

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That's what he's done for me. He put grace in my heart and he gave me a new start. ♪ Once for his love ♪ ♪ For me ♪

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♪ Oh ♪ ♪ He opened ♪ ♪ My eyes ♪ ♪ That I ♪

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♪ Might see ♪ ♪ And he gave ♪ He gave me victory. Oh, he picked me up one day.

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And he started me on my way. ♪ That's what he's done for me ♪ ♪ He rolled the dark clouds away ♪ ♪ So the sun could shine today ♪

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♪ That's what he's done for me ♪ ♪ What He's done for me ♪ ♪ When I was sinking low ♪ ♪ He came with joys, with joys untold ♪

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♪ That's what He's done for me ♪ ♪ Oh, he opened my eyes ♪ ♪ That I might see ♪ ♪ And he gave me, he gave me victory ♪

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♪ Oh, he picked me up one day ♪ One day, and he's starting to be on my way. That's what he's done for me. Oh, he opened my eyes that I might see.

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And he gave me, he gave me victory. ♪ Oh, he picked me up one day ♪ ♪ And he started me on my way ♪ ♪ That's what he's done for me ♪

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- Amen. Amen. Hear this word recorded in Psalm 5, the first three verses. Give ear to my words, O Lord.

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Consider my meditation. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King and my God. for unto thee will I pray. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord.

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In the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up." Meditation in the morning. Morning announces a new day.

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After the clock strikes midnight, morning comes. We wait in the morning for the curtain of darkness

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to be pushed back. We wait to see the break of day. Morning proclaims the chance to make a fresh start. Morning is a new expression of God's grace.

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As a child, I remember hearing senior citizens saying their prayers, "Lord, I thank you for having kept me through the night, "for watching over me while I slumbered and slept."

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We have the gift of the morning time and time again time and time again, but the question is what is the first thing we do when we get up in the morning? How do we begin the day? For how we begin the day determines how the day will go for us.

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Some approach the morning by saying, "Oh, how I hate to get up in the morning." How do we start the day? Is it with a quiet time? Is it with prayer?

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Is it with devotions? Do we begin with meditation? It's a good thing to begin the day with a period of quietness. It's a good thing to begin the day with meditation.

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It's a good thing to begin the day with prayer. Psalm 5 is the musings of a faithful pilgrim of the upward way. It is the murmurings of the soul. It's a morning meditation.

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It occurs at the beginning of the day. It is the pause that refreshes and enlightens. It is a devotional exercise that cleanses and releases the poison that is collected in the system.

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It's wonderful to focus on God in the morning, to begin each morning by practicing the presence of the Lord. Each day ushers in a new gift of time, a new set of challenges, for each day is a new expression of God's grace. So face God the first thing in the morning.

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And in doing so, it is to face what God wills for the day. Lord, whatever I am to experience, give me grace to make the most of it and to use it for the glory of your name. Give me strength to stand the temptations.

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The psalmist says, "Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness." I have enemies to face. I need the assurance of your presence and the manifestation of your power.

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Help me overcome that I am up against. To overcome my enemies. To overcome the contradictions of human existence. To overcome the stubborn and demonic opposition.

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to overcome oppressive conditions that make human existence almost unbearable. It's a good thing to begin every morning with God. The lengthening stalk of wheat reaching toward the light is not attempting to create the sun or even to attract it, it is rising to welcome the sunlight that has already

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quickened it. So even so, when a man prays, he originates nothing. He neither creates God nor his own, of his own initiative, attracts the attention of God, does none of that, but rather he turns to welcome God. In other words, say good morning God. I invite you to come into my life and to lead me this day. Provide

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for me in every way, protect me, I need you. Welcome, welcome God every day. It's a good thing to welcome the Lord every morning, welcome Him into our lives and and to seek his guidance, to say, "Lord, lead me! "Lead me, I need your direction.

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"You know where to go and how to get there. "Lead me, lead me, oh Lord, lead me." It was about 1958, our family took a trip to Mexico City, And I was driving as we entered the downtown section

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of Mexico City, very crowded. Cars were swarming, seemingly zigzagging here and there. And I stopped for a traffic signal. And there was a Mexican man standing there.

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And he knocked on the window and I opened the door. He said, "Do you need a driver?" I said, "Yes, if you can take me where I want to go at a price I can afford to pay." And he said, "Well, move over."

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And so I moved over and he did. He took us to a motel that was nice and modestly priced. And then we employed him to take us around to the sites for the next day. Well, there is in the midst of all of the traffic of our lives, there is someone who's

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standing there who's really waiting for us to just move over and let him steer us, let him guide us through all of the traffic that we have to face and to provide for us in every way. So we need to begin the morning by inviting him.

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No life has so many perplexities. We suffer from the confusions of the twilight. We know not which way to take. The foolish and the wicked seek to entice travelers to walk in their paths.

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A faithful servant must contend against the deceitful and the workers of iniquity. The psalmist points all this out in his hymn. "Oh Lord, oh Lord, make your way straight." The meditation includes soliciting God's help.

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The servant rejects those who are not in harmony with God's will and purpose. The morning meditation involves affirmation. The psalmist is certain that the Lord

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will hear him when he prays. The Lord is addressed as King. The psalmist is servant. The servant knows from previous experience

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that his prayer will be heard. That's why we just keep on praying because God has a history of having heard our prayers. And so we just go back to him time and time again

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Because we believe we serve a prayer-hearing God. So in the morning, in the morning, it's a good thing to just lay ourselves bare before God and say, "Lord, here I am!"

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I come before you as an empty pitcher before a full fountain. So the true believer believes that the wicked will be dealt with. He knows God as King who loves goodness and hates evil.

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He believes that God will deliver him. He believes God will guide him. He believes God will protect him. And that's a good way to begin the day.

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Well, we have here in this psalm a cry for help. The psalmist in his morning meditation Cries for help. Many cry, you know, when the crisis comes.

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Most of us cry then. We find ourselves in trouble, bogged down in the muck and mire, we cry. Crisis is there, so we cry to the Lord, cry.

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But the interesting thing about the psalmist here is that he cries before the crisis comes. Yes, God, Lord, come into my life. Take control, guide me, guard me before anything happens

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because I know that if you direct my life, whatever happens is you're gonna bring me out all right. So he asks God for his help and for his saving power demonstrated in his life.

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He asks for this at the beginning of the day in his morning meditation. He asks for deliverance before he falls in the pit. He knows the Lord has a history of providing help in time of trouble. Psalm 5 is a post-exilic psalm.

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It is a reflection of the experience of the exiles. were slaves in Babylon. They had no temple there. They had left the temple in Jerusalem, the Holy City. But even though the temple is left in Jerusalem and they are exiles in Babylon, they still made the journey to Jerusalem in the Spirit.

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And they prayed morning, noon, and night. They prayed with their faces turned toward Jerusalem. So when we are in great anticipation of the morning, I know many of us have had this feeling,

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You know, you're in great anticipation of the morning. So you go to bed that night in that great anticipation and you wake up all during the night wondering whether or not the time has come.

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Sometimes you wake up two or three times looking at the clock. You know, morning hasn't come soon enough. Sometimes I have gotten up at three o'clock

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thinking it was about six o'clock. You know, when you were in great anticipation of the coming of the morning. And another psalmist there in Psalm 139 cries,

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my soul waiteth, or my soul watches for the Lord more than those that watch for the morning. My soul waits for the Lord more than those

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who watch for the morning. I say, he says again, more than those who watch for the morning. In other words, my soul relies on the Lord

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more than a watchman on the coming of the dawn. So meet God, that's my word. That's what the psalmist demonstrates here by his experience, meet God in the morning.

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In the morning when the gray streaks of dawn began to push back the curtain of the night, in the morning, meet God in the morning before the scorching heat of the noonday sun

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comes to bear upon us during the day. Meet God in the morning while the watchman is still on the wall. Meet God in the morning while

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the grass is fresh from the dew. Meet God in the morning when the rooster crows announcing the gift of another day.

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Meet God in the morning. Meditation in the morning. Wonderful thing to meet God in the morning. I can testify myself that it's a wonderful, glorious thing.

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It's a wonderful happening in your life when you meet God in the morning. I met God one morning when my day was at its best and his presence came like sunrise, like a glory in my breast.

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All day long the presence lingered, all day long he stayed with me and we sailed with perfect calmness, or a very troubled sea. Other ships were blown and battered, other ships were so distressed, but the winds that seemed to drive them brought to us a peace and rest.

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I thought of other mornings with a keen remorse of mind when I too had left the mornings with that presence left behind. So I think I know the secret. from many a troubled way. You must seek Him in the morning if you want Him

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through the day. [Pastor] Today just goes better when you seek Him and you find Him there with you in the morning. It goes better. You have more of the day to enjoy with God. when you start in the morning.

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And I'm so glad that I started with God in the morning. I was just a boy nine years of age when I hooked up with God in the morning and he's been with me all during the day. When you're with God in the morning, he'll be with you all through the day.

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We come now to the hymn of invitation. Invitation to accept Jesus Christ, this God who reveals himself to us through Jesus Christ. Accept him as Lord of your life. I invite you to come become a member of the family of God here at Ebenezer by letter, by Christian

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experience or profession of faith as the candidate for baptism, we invite you to come. Door of the church is open. [MUSIC] [MUSIC]

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If you seek God in the morning, as you journey all through the day, If you ask him to go with you, he'll be with you all the way. You must give him all your trials. At his feet your burden's laid.

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If you seek God in the morning, He'll be with you all through the day. You must give him all your triumphs. At his feet your burdens lay. If you seek God in the morning, He'll be with you all through the day.

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You must give him all your problems. At his feet, your burdens may him. If you seek God in the morning, He'll be with you all through the day. ♪ Oh, you God-made man ♪

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[MUSIC]