Psalm 30:4-5 (NLT)
Sing to the Lord, all you godly ones! Praise his holy name. For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime! Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.
Are you a disciple of Jesus Christ? Have you placed all of your faith in him to achieve eternal life in Heaven (Jn. 14:6)? Have you indeed been born again (John 3:3)? If so, Praise the Lord! You are a child of God (Jn. 1:12) and everything that David is referring to in this passage is your present reality. Yes, you can make God angry. Yes, you will experience seasons of difficulty and grief. But God…takes no delight in either of those things and always brings far more favor and joy.
“When God’s children prosper one way, they are generally tried another, for few of us can bear unmingled prosperity. Even the joys of hope need to be mixed with the pains of experience, and the more surely so when comfort breeds carnal security and self-confidence. Nevertheless, pardon soon followed repentance, and God’s mercy was glorified” (Spurgeon). We all love the “good times” and the favor of God, but a long winning streak tends to dull the senses and decrease dependency. That is why Jesus said that it would be difficult for a rich man to enter Heaven – he has a hard time seeing his deep need for anything or anyone (Mth. 19:24). Yes, David was fabulously rich, but he writes as one who knows by experience that riches guarantee nothing and only God can be fully trusted.
David writes out of a long history of experiencing God as both his Judge and his Father. He had lived long enough to know that while God’s anger does come upon his followers – and always for good reason – that anger lasts “only a moment” in comparison to a life filled with God’s provision, love, and yes, favor. God’s favor on your life is a daily occurrence, though sometimes we struggle to recognize it, usually because we take it for granted. Do you have a roof over your head today? A car to drive? A job to get to? A family to love? Decent health? Food in the fridge? The ability to understand what you are reading? A profession of faith? A church home? Heaven to look forward to? If you have one of these, then you have reason to rejoice! Do you have several? Rejoice all the more? Do you have all of them? Joy Everlasting! You are blessed and highly favored by God!
But we all know that life is not always so joy-filled. Sometimes it’s hard to see God’s favor when weeping becomes the soundtrack of a dark season. Hearts get broken. Relationships fracture. Trials overtake you. Financial challenges overwhelm you. A friend or loved one dies. David’s son, Solomon, said it well when he noted that, “For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven” (Ecc. 3:1). Despite his wealth and standing, David experienced great tragedy, deep pain, tremendous loss, shocking betrayal, and extended periods of darkness…yet in the end, he knew that joy would always come with the morning.
The great Matthew Henry noted that, “If weeping endureth for a night, and it be a wearisome night, yet as sure as the light of the morning returns after the darkness of the night, so sure will joy and comfort return in a short time, in due time, to the people of God; for the covenant of grace is as firm as the covenant of the day.” Are you experiencing God’s correction, friend? It will only be brief. Are you in a nighttime of weeping? Morning will soon come. Are you secure in the faith through Jesus Christ? God’s favor is on your life, now and forevermore. Remember from where He has brought you and take to heart the testimony of the saints…for that is the truth that undergirds you and offers you hope and joy. Amen.
