"Come up in the morning . . . and present thyself unto me in the top of the mount" (Exod. 34:2).
The morning is the time fixed for my meeting the Lord. The very word morning is as a cluster of rich grapes. Let us crush them, and drink the sacred wine. In the morning! Then God means me to be at my best in strength and hope. I have not to climb in my weakness. In the night I have buried yesterday's fatigue, and in the morning take a new lease of energy. Blessed is the day whose morning is sanctified! Successful is the day whose first victory was won in prayer! Holy is the day whose dawn finds thee on the top of the mount!
My Father, I am coming. Nothing on the mean plain shall keep me away from the holy heights. At Thy bidding I come, so Thou wilt meet me. Morning on the mount! It will make me strong and glad all the rest of the day so well begun. --Joseph Parker.
Still, still with Thee, when purple morning breaketh,
When the bird waketh, and the shadows flee;
Fairer than morning, lovelier than daylight,
Dawns the sweet consciousness, I am with Thee.
Alone with Thee, amid the mystic shadows,
The solemn hush of nature newly born;
Alone with Thee in breathless adoration,
In the calm dew and freshness of the morn.
As in the dawning o'er the waveless ocean,
The image of the morning-star doth rest,
So in this stillness, Thou beholdest only
Thine image in the waters of my breast.
When sinks the soul, subdued by toil, to slumber,
Its closing eyes look up to Thee in prayer;
Sweet the repose, beneath Thy wings o'er shadowing,
But sweeter still to wake and find Thee there.
-Harriet Botcher Stowe
My mother's habit was every day, immediately after breakfast, to withdraw for an hour to her own room, and to spend that hour in reading the Bible, in meditation and prayer. From that hour, as from a pure fountain, she drew the strength and sweetness which enabled her to fulfill all her duties, and to remain unruffled by the worries and pettinesses which are so often the trial of narrow neighborhoods. As I think of her life, and all it had to bear, I see the absolute triumph of Christian grace in the lovely ideal of a Christian lady. I never saw her temper disturbed; I never heard her speak one word of anger, of calumny, or of idle gossip; I never observed in her any sign of a single sentiment unbecoming to a soul which had drunk of the river of the water of life, and which had fed upon manna in the barren wilderness.--Farrar
九月十三日
「明日早晨，你要……在山顶上站在我面前。」（出卅四2）
早晨是我所规定的朝见的时间，因为早晨是我气力最大、希望最大的时间；早晨我用不着爬山过岭。在夜间我已将一天的疲乏全行埋葬了，在早晨我已得着了新的精力。早晨已经被主洁净的，这一天一定是快乐的！第一个胜利已经在祷告中获得的，这一天一定是成功的！黎明在山顶上的这，一天一定是圣洁的！
我的父阿，我现在到祢这里来了。平原上没有甚么东西能够抓住我，叫我不上圣洁的高原来。我现在依照您的命令上来朝见祢。早晨在山顶上，会叫我全天强健喜乐。－－帕克约瑟
我的母亲有一个习惯：每天早晨，必须在她自己房里退修一小时━读经、默想、祷告。从那一小时里面━好像从一个清洁的泉源里面一样━她吸取力量和安慰来担任她一天的职务，保守她不被邻里间的琐事纷扰。我一想到她的生活，和她生活上一切的负担，我就立刻看见基督在她身上的得胜。我从来没有看见她发过一次脾气；我从来没有听见她说过一句过火的话，一句谗言，或者一句闲言；我从来没有感到她有过一些不适当的出于情感的态度；她的秘诀，在甚么地方呢？乃在她每天早晨饮了生命水的河里的活水，吃了旷野的吗哪。－－法勒尔