Three psalms to start the day

A psalm is the kind of text that works early. There is no doctrine to assemble, no historical context to rebuild. There is a person talking to God about the day that is starting.

Three of them suit the morning well.

Psalm 5

“In the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.” (v. 3)

The psalmist wakes and speaks. Before any request, he says he will direct his prayer in the morning. It is a text about order: first the conversation, then the rest.

Read verse 3 slowly and stop. The question that remains: what do I put first before the day begins.

Psalm 143

“Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust.” (v. 8)

It is the psalm of someone who woke up tired. He does not pretend to be well: he asks to be heard and asks for direction, because he does not know where to go.

If the morning started heavy, this is the text. It allows you to begin without energy.

Psalm 23

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” (v. 1)

The best known, and still the easiest to read on autopilot. The suggestion is to read one sentence at a time and stop at the one you cannot say sincerely today.

Reading on autopilot is not the problem. The problem is never stopping.

How to use the three

You do not have to read all three on the same day. Pick one, read it twice, write one line. Tomorrow, another.

In Bibliou you type “morning psalm” and receive one of these three, with the sentence ready. Reply “next” for the following one.