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"They who dwell in the ends of the earth stand in awe of Your signs; You make the dawn and the sunset shout for joy" (Psalm 65:8). "From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised" (Psalm 113:3).

We've been in our new ground level bedroom for just over a year now. It has two windows that face east and this morning we awoke to gilded skies. We recalled an old hymn, "When Morning Gilds The Skies" rarely sung anymore at least in our circles. Since "gilded" is a word I rarely use I looked it up. It means "covered thinly with gold leaf or gold paint". Indeed this early morning sky had that exact appearance!

The hymn was written in the mid 1700's in German and not translated to English for another 100 years. It took awhile, decades, for a song to get traction before the internet!

Indeed the sky, some time before its rising, appeared gilded, that is, covered with gold such as in our lead photo we use today but in our location, rather than mountains, we are surrounded by farmland. Each verse of the hymn concludes with this declaration: "May Jesus Christ be praised!"

We had the experience of viewing mountains in our distant landscape for nearly sixteen years when we moved to the northeast early in our marriage in 1977. We established a church in Elk County and we were surrounded by mountains and found them to be awe inspiring. But now we experience the same kind of awe when we observe farmland and crops, barns and silos along with farm animals in the fields.

We post a link to the song today and in the notes it refers to someone who sings this song every morning over a beautiful lake, watching the sun rise. "In a world with a lot of darkness, we need the light of God to brighten our ways and our hearts!"

The first daily Scripture describes the outlook for those who have the blessed gift of faith. "They who dwell in the ends of the earth stand in awe of Your signs; You make the dawn and the sunset shout for joy". The dawn and sunset are always an occasion for shouting with joy. These daily bookends are observable to all who have breath. Wherever you live there is a sunrise and sunset. However, depending on where you live, it is more easy to observe in such places as where we live with open fields in each direction.

The second daily Scripture states: “From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the Lord is to be praised". What an inspiring daily spiritual exercise in which we can all participate: whether young or old, large or small, in bad or good health. It's the Psalmist's universal call to praise the name of the Lord - all the people on this planet.

This call is not limited geographically, for each part of Planet Earth experiences the rising and setting of the sun. This call is not limited to a specific time, for this event happens daily, and in fact is always happening. This call is not limited to a specific people, for all peoples on earth today live where the sun rises and sets. (Now, some astute observer will probably point out that there are certain times of the year when the sun never sets at the Polar Regions!)

We have many choices today. Some are relatively inconsequential, others are very important. The most important choice we make is to love and serve God. And one way we can do that is by joining millions of our redeemed brothers and sisters on this earth in praising the name of the Lord, from the rising of the sun to the setting of the same!

Be encouraged today! Hebrews 3:13

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