Psalm 30
A psalm - a song used at the dedication of the temple; by David.
I will praise you, O Lord, for you lifted me up,
and did not allow my enemies to gloat over me.
O Lord my God,
I cried out to you and you healed me.
O Lord, you pulled me up from Sheol;
you rescued me from among those descending into the grave.
Sing to the Lord, you faithful followers of his;
give thanks to his holy name.
For his anger lasts only a brief moment,
and his good favor restores oneʼs life.
One may experience sorrow during the night,
but joy arrives in the morning.
In my self-confidence I said,
“I will never be upended.”
O Lord, in your good favor you made me secure.
Then you rejected me and I was terrified.
To you, O Lord, I cried out;
I begged the Lord for mercy:
“What profit is there in taking my life,
in my descending into the Pit?
Can the dust of the grave praise you?
Can it declare your loyalty?
Hear, O Lord, and have mercy on me!
O Lord, deliver me!”
Then you turned my lament into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and covered me with joy.
So now my heart will sing to you and not be silent;
O Lord my God, I will always give thanks to you. NET Bible
Back when I was struggling to come out of a difficult situation and was beginning to follow the Lord, we used to sing verse 11;
"Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing:
thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;"
Emotionally I was a mess, trying to recover from my wife leaving me and failing an oral exam that forced me to change from one university to another one. It was also during this time that my father died, so I had much to mourn. However, the Spirit of the Lord was with me and was teaching me to dance in the midst of all of that. I was much more comfortable in sackcloth (metaphorically), but the Lord was teaching me to put on the garments of gladness. That is still something I struggle with from time to time, but I'm so grateful that the Spirit is with me to lead me out of those times of mourning when I get down on myself.
As is says in verse 5 "weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." most of life's troubles will pass. It's alright to weep during the dark night of the soul, but once the night is over, you need to embrace the joy that comes in the morning. For me, the key to finding that joy is reading the Psalms and playing worship music. For others, it's spending time in prayer of spending time fellowshipping with the saints. Whatever it is that helps you find the joy, you need to embrace it and remember that there is a way to find joy again.
So that leads us to end at the beginning:
"1 I will praise you, O Lord, for you lifted me up, ..."
We thank you and praise you Lord, for the times of darkness and the times of light; the times of mourning and the times of joy.
And now for one of my favorite interpretations of Psalm 30 by Sons of Korah, "Garments of Joy”
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