Psalms 30:1-12: a reflection

1I will extol you, LORD, for you have raised me up, and have not made my foes to rejoice over me. 2LORD my God, I cried to you, and you have healed me. 3LORD, you have brought up my soul from Sheol. You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. 4Sing praise to the LORD, you saints of his. Give thanks to his holy name. 5For his anger is but for a moment. His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may stay for the night, but joy comes in the morning. 6As for me, I said in my prosperity, “I shall never be moved.” 7You, LORD, when you favored me, made my mountain stand strong; but when you hid your face, I was troubled. 8I cried to you, LORD. I made supplication to the Lord: 9“What profit is there in my destruction, if I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise you? Shall it declare your truth? 10Hear, LORD, and have mercy on me. LORD, be my helper.” 11You have turned my mourning into dancing for me. You have removed my sackcloth, and clothed me with gladness, 12to the end that my heart may sing praise to you, and not be silent. LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever!

David sings this psalm out of a deliverance: he had been brought low, near to death, and God had raised him up and healed him. And out of that experience he gives us some of the most comforting words in the Psalms: For his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may stay for the night, but joy comes in the morning. And he sums up his deliverance: You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have removed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness.

Notice the hope in these words: weeping may stay for the night, but joy comes in the morning. David does not deny the weeping; the night of sorrow is real, and it may last a while. But he sets it against the morning of joy that follows. For those who are God's, sorrow is not the final word; it is a night, and morning comes. God is able to turn even mourning into dancing, to remove the garments of grief and clothe us with gladness.

That hope steadies us in our own nights of weeping. When sorrow comes, and it may stay through a long night, it can feel as though it will never lift. But David's word is that the night, however long, gives way to morning; joy comes. God has not abandoned you in your grief; he is able to turn your mourning into dancing, in his own time. When you are in a night of weeping, hold onto the promise that joy comes in the morning. Your sorrow is real, but it is not the end; for those who are God's, the night gives way to morning, and God can clothe even deep grief with gladness. Wait for the morning, and trust the God who turns mourning into dancing.

Lord, David sang that weeping may stay for the night, but joy comes in the morning, and that you turned his mourning into dancing, clothing him with gladness. Steady me with that hope in my own nights of weeping. When sorrow comes, and it may stay through a long night, it can feel as though it will never lift. But your word is that the night, however long, gives way to morning; joy comes. You have not abandoned me in my grief; you are able to turn my mourning into dancing, in your own time. When I am in a night of weeping, help me hold onto the promise that joy comes in the morning. My sorrow is real, but it is not the end; for those who are yours, the night gives way to morning. Help me wait for the morning, and trust you, who turn mourning into dancing and clothe even deep grief with gladness.