Psalms 5:3 “My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.”
Depression, anxiety, fear, and anger are what we experience when we “look” round about us; for, we see those who take “pleasure in wickedness”, people doing “evil” things, “foolish” people making bad decisions, “workers of iniquity”, “them that speak leasing” (lies and deceit), and the “bloody and deceitful man” (Psalm 5:4-6). But, when we “look up” toward our God, we see none of these awful things, for in Him we see perfect righteousness and kindness and love and sure dependability and GREAT POWER! In this context, to “look up” is to “look” toward the blessed “throne of grace” (Hebrews 4:16); for, “The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.” (Psalms 103:19)! The sense is that we “look up” with anticipation of prayerful communion with our Lord Who loves us with such a “great love” (Ephesians 2:4) that He will never forsake us; we might perceive that everyone else has forsaken us, but when we “look up” we are reminded that we have an Almighty “friend that sticketh closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24). When we “look up” we are looking with sure anticipation that the Lord, our “Good Shepherd” (John 10:11,14), is going to do something about those things that are distressing us. He can make the problems just go away, like he calmed the stormy sea (Mark 4:39). He can make our enemies our best friends (Acts 9). He can make a way of escape (I Corinthians 10:13) from our troubles. And, He can strengthen us so that we can endure our tribulations (Isaiah 41:10). So, in the very face of such turmoil, let us earnestly pray like the Psalmist, “My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.”!