“Give ear to my words, O Lord; consider my meditation. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God for unto thee I pray. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.” Psalm 5:1-3

It was the first day of a ten-day challenge to pray for the healing of our land and after my morning prayers and Scripture reading, I set out for my walk around the neighborhood. I missed so many days the week prior, battling with a respiratory infection and a near miss with COVID-19. It seemed like the world turned up-side down and prayer seemed to be the only hope I had. As I rounded the corner and headed to the end of the road before turning around back into the community, I felt the Spirit say, “look up.” When I did, I saw the sun shine falling across treetops in the most beautiful and peaceful shade of pink-orange as if to say, brighter days are ahead.

When I got home, I immediately began to look for a Scripture verse that would match what I saw and came across the passage above. It is described as a prayer of protection and is considered to be a lament psalm. The words resonated with me as I read them. How could words written more than 2,000 years prior so adequately describe the condition of my soul and thoughts? Yet there they were. What David prayed, from the beginning of the Psalm to the end, completely encapsulated where my mind had been and God crowned it with the imagery of daybreak over treetops. Yes, the current events of my day are still quite gray and gloomy, but the sun still rose. The world continued to spin and hope still is to be had, not in what man can do but in what God does daily. In that moment, I knew my prayers were not in vain, my hope is not in vain and I was encouraged to continue on my way. All is not lost and better days are ahead. Just like the rising sun will eventually illuminate the entire woods, so will God’s grace, mercy and light will illuminate all things. What is done in the darkness will be revealed and His justice will prevail. Until such time, I am assured that the God who protected David is watching over my life also. I am assured to just keep looking up, brighter days are ahead.