Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my sighing. 2 Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. 3 In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation. 4 You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell. 5 The arrogant cannot stand in your presence; you hate all who do wrong. 6 You destroy those who tell lies; bloodthirsty and deceitful men the LORD abhors. 7 But I, by your great mercy, will come into your house; in reverence will I bow down toward your holy temple. 8 Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies--make straight your way before me.

In the previous Psalm we heard the Psalmist say that he could lie down and sleep because he trusted God to hear his call and answer his prayers. In this one we hear him assert with the same assurance he can lay his requests before the LORD in the morning and wait in expectation. In these two Psalms may be the greatest blood pressure medicine ever devised and it is free. The name of this medicine is prayer. We can turn all our troubles over to God and sleep in peace. We can get up the next morning refreshed and give him all our requests for the day and know that he has heard us and will provide our every need. He will give us strength to accomplish his will for the new day. He will give us wisdom to make the right decisions, to do and say the right things. He will give us love in our hearts so that we can overlook wrongs done to us and forgive those who would do them to us.

While prayer is free to us, notice in this Psalm that it is offered in reverence. Without proper respect for God we can
expect nothing. Our service to him must come from a heart of sincere respect. This is what Jesus meant when he told the Samaritan woman that we must worship God in spirit and in truth. It must come from the depths of our heart. Jesus is saying that it is not the place we worship or the rituals we offer or the prayers we may recite but it is the heart and spirit of man given in complete submission to God because he is God. This is the faith that can save us and give us the assurance that the Lord is near so we have no reason to be anxious for anything.

O God, please build in me a heart of gratitude to you for all you have done for me. I know that I am nothing but what you have made me to be. I give you my heart and my being in submission to your will. Please help me to open my heart and my life to the bidding of your Spirit so that your love will be mine. Teach me to share that love with those around me and teach me to forgive those who have done me wrong. I ask a special blessing for those who are sick and especially those who are battling cancer. Give comfort to those who have lost their loved ones. I pray in Jesus’ name.