Cause me to hear

So many voices apply for the first word of your day — the alarm, the headlines, the inner critic who wakes remarkably early. David files a different request: cause me to hear Thy lovingkindness in the morning. Let love be the first thing that gets through.

“Cause me” is honest praying. He does not promise to feel loved; he asks God to make it heard, because some mornings the hearing needs help. And the second request follows naturally from the first: cause me to know the way I should walk. The heart that has heard lovingkindness can face direction; the unloved heart just braces.

Both requests rest on the same small hinge: for in thee do I trust. That is all the qualification the prayer requires. Lift up your soul — the day’s first act — and ask to hear love before you hear anything else.