At Each Sunrise

“At each and every sunrise you will hear my voice as I prepare my sacrifice of prayer to you. Every morning, I lay out the pieces of my life on the altar and wait for your fire to fall upon my heart.” Psalm 5:3

Every morning is an opportunity to engage your heart to the King, our Friend, Jesus. He is faithful to hear our hearts as we prepare our sacrifice of prayer to Him. The word prepare in the Hebrew is ‘arak and it means lighting the altar fire. We understand through this verse who's responsible for the fire in our hearts. It is us. We are to rise every morning with the intention of lighting the fire of connection to Jesus.

Why does it say my sacrifice of prayer? What makes it a sacrifice? We all have things in our hearts that are hard to face sometimes. A childhood memory that still hurts deeply, a failed relationship, a choice you made long ago that still effects your family today, maybe as a parent you failed in an area that you still feel guilty in, lost trust in a relationship you would like to see restored, wounded family relationships, maybe you lost a loved one you still question God about, you feel lost, and hopeless or maybe it’s your job. Every single one of us had something come to our mind as we read through that list we don’t like to talk about. We would rather push it down and just go on with our day, but the goodness of Yahweh will not let us move on.

“Every morning, I lay out the pieces of my life on your altar.” The Bible talks a lot about sunrise. What is so significant about the sun rising? In Lamentations 3, we read, “the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning. The sun rising speaks of new beginnings, promises of a new day, hope, and the renewal of our hearts and minds. Sunrises serve as time markers. Think of them as new starts and the unfolding of Yahweh’s promises of healing and restoration.

These promises hinge on our willingness to lay these pieces of our hearts on the altar. When we light the fire of our hearts and put our sacrifices on the altar, He promises to come and consume them with His everlasting fire. His fire brings healing and restoration. A sure thing is this: as He watches you prepare to face these difficult areas, He pours out grace to help you. You are never alone in catching the sly foxes.

Here are some other promises concerning the sun rising:

Let the sunrise of your love end our dark night. Break through our clouded dawn again! Only you can satisfy our hearts, filling us with songs of joy to the end of our days. Psalm 90:14

Rise up in splendor and be radiant, for your light has dawned, and Yahweh’s glory now streams from you! Isa 60:1

I’ve learned that his anger lasts for a moment, but his loving favor lasts a lifetime! We may weep through the night, but at daybreak it will turn into shouts of ecstatic joy. Psalm 30:5

I encourage you to ask Him to help you bring the sacrifices of your heart and lay them down for His consuming fire of love to burn away. Spend some time in His presence so He may restore hope and joy to you today.