I myself will awake early. Psalm 57:8. THE proper subject to treat upon with such a text as this would be the propriety and excellence of early rising, especially when we are desirous of praising or serving God. The dew of dawn should be consecrated to devotion. The text is a very remarkable expression, and might fitly be made the early-riser's motto. It is, in the original, a highly poetical phrase, and Milton and others have borrowed or imitated it. 'I will awaken the morning.' So early would the psalmist arise for the praise of God, that he would call up the day, and bid the sun arise from the chambers of the east, and proceed upon his journey. 'I will awaken the morning.' Early rising has the example of Old Testament saints to recommend it, and many modern saints having conscientiously practiced it, have been loud in its praise. It is an economy of time, and an assistance to health, and thus it doubly lengthens life. Late rising is too often the token of indolence, and the cause of disorder throughout the whole day. Be assured that the best hours are the first. Our City habits are to be deplored, because by late hours of retirement at night we find early rising difficult if not impossible. If we are able to escape the shackels of custom, and secure for devotion and contemplation the hour when the dew is on the grass, we may count ourselves thrice happy...
