Psalm 5:1-3
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 will 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.

David had an upward, God-ward focus. In the midst of his struggles, he brought them before God. In his greatest joys, he went before the Lord to rejoice. In every circumstance of his life, David seemed to want God’s viewpoint and guidance and to share every part of his life with his God. So that means he spent a lot of time with God. He prayed a lot and he knew that God would hear him and respond.

It can be our tendency in the highs and lows of life to look around us—at what we have or don’t have, at what is hurting us or helping us. But David gives us this example to look up instead. To look to God for what we need. To simply share our heart. To seek His face, His favor, His provision, and His wisdom. To give Him praise and glory.

If we keep our focus upward, the things around us will start to look different. The problems won’t seem so big. The darkness flees in His light. The shiny things that command our attention fade compared to His glory. When our attention is on God, those other things fall into place. We are changed by that, along with our perspectives, our desires, our attitudes and our actions. Our relationship with God is changed by that because we know Him better and we know better who we are in relation to Him. Wherever this day finds you, at the dawn of this new year, begin with prayer, seek the Lord, and look up.