Morning Star

Daily writing prompt

What’s your favorite time of day?

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If I had to choose, I’d probably say morning. Even on holiday, that’s my favourite time of day. I remember London holidays where our family would stay in a Youth Hostel and then go off out to a Pret A Manger for breakfast. The one that I remember most was on Euston road near King’s Cross.

And when working, mornings were always my most productive time of day. I tended to sink in the late afternoon 😀. I like the evenings too, but mornings are best.

Here are some songs that I’m familiar with about mornings:

• “Morning Has Broken” – Cat Stevens
• “Mr. Blue Sky” – Electric Light Orchestra
• “Lovely Day” – Bill Withers
• “Good Day Sunshine” – The Beatles
• “Morning Bell” – Radiohead
• “Good Morning Good Morning” – The Beatles
• “Oh What a Beautiful Morning” – Gordon McRae
• “Morningtown Ride” – The Seekers
• “Good Morning” – Judy Garland & Mickey Rooney
• Breakfast at Tiffany’s” – Deep Blue Something (1995)

What about hymns? Many hymns mention morning. Here are some of my favourites.

And Scripture verses? Here are a few:

Psalm 30:5
“Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.”

Mark 1:35
“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”

Revelation 22:16
“I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”

In that last verse, Jesus refers to himself as the Morning Star. Morning Star is an interesting term, because it’s used of both Jesus and Satan. If fact, Lucifer is the Latin term for morning star. How did it come to be applied to him? Well, there’s a verse in Isaiah about the fall of the King of Babylon:

Isa 14:12
How you have fallen from heaven,
    morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
    you who once laid low the nations!

The passage came to be seen as a reference to Satan, because something similar happened to him. Jesus makes reference to it in the gospels:

Luke 10:18
He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.”

The King James Bible version, for whatever reason, kept the Latin word for morning star in Isa 14:12. “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!” Some King James version fans complained that they took Lucifer out of the Bible in modern versions 😀. But Lucifer was always just the Latin word for morning star. It first appeared in the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible, completed by Jerome in the late 4th century. And early English translators just chose to use that word rather than translate it to morning star.

And we’re not even sure that Isa 14:12 refers to Satan. In any case, the true morning star is Jesus, and even then, it’s just an analogy. The true morning star is thought to be Venus 😀. My primary school was called Morning Star, obviously named after Jesus. Two other hymns containing morning just popped into my mind.

Great is thy faithfulness, Great is thy faithfulness,
Morning by morning, new mercies I see

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
His mercy never comes to an end,
They are new every morning, new every morning,
Great is your faithfulness, Oh Lord, great is your faithfulness

 Lamentations 3:22–23
“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”