"My voice shall You hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning I will direct my prayer unto You, and will look up." (Psalm 5:3)
Thus wrote the psalmist David in the innocency and integrity of his soul. He could not have written thus if he had not been able to write as in verse one: "Give ear to my words, O Lord; consider my meditation." (Psalm 5:1)
Looking up is a sign of hope and courage, and of a clear conscience. The guilty child hangs its head, and the criminal is afraid to look the officer of law in the face. Thus Ezra, when identifying himself with his people, said: "I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to You, my God; for our iniquities are increased over our head." (Ezra 9:6)
But the man whose heart is pure, whose thoughts are of God, and who meditates in His law day and night, can look up, not in self-confidence, but in the strength of Christ. Says David: "But You, O Lord, are a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of my head." (Psalm 3:3)
He whose heart is free from guile may look up, and he shall behold the beauty of the Lord, for "the pure in heart ... shall see God." (Matthew 5:8)--Signs of the Times, January 7, 1889--Psalm 5:3.