Joy comes in the morning. . .

Psalm 30

¹ I will exalt you, LORD, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me. ² LORD my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me. ³ You, LORD, brought me up from the realm of the dead; you spared me from going down to the pit. ⁴ Sing the praises of the LORD, you his faithful people; praise his holy name. ⁵ For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.⁶ When I felt secure, I said, “I will never be shaken.” ⁷ LORD, when you favored me, you made my royal mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was dismayed. ⁸ To you, LORD, I called; to the Lord I cried for mercy: ⁹ “What is gained if I am silenced, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your faithfulness? ¹⁰ Hear, LORD, and be merciful to me; LORD, be my help.” ¹¹ You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, ¹² that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent. LORD my God, I will praise you forever.

How often I've sat with families who have lost a loved one to some wretched disease and they cannot do anything but weep, the tears flow, they gasp for breath, that evil b*^%$ death seems to have won.  It's as if God has walked away from them, never to be seen again, all that is left is emptiness and weeping.  There is no comfort anywhere; nothing I say can help, as if I were smart enough to know what to say in the first place.  But I keep pointing them to the cross of Christ. It's all I can do, point to the reality of Jesus' own suffering and death.  They feel forsaken. . . so did he.  They feel lost in their grief. . . so did he.  They cannot imagine there will ever be a new beginning worth experiencing. . . and yet on Sunday, that very first Easter Sunday, what Mary Magdalene found was an empty tomb- and a man she supposed was the gardener but who really was the Lord risen and freed from the captivity of death and the grave.  

When does it change?  From being weeping and the heaving of chest, gasping for air, eyes swollen and matted shut from the tears to being a joyful morning?  When does it become rejoicing?  2 o'clock am?  5 o'clock?  When?  There is just so much we cannot understand, but the promise is that rejoicing comes in the morning.  We cannot let go of that promise or else all we have is complete and utter despair!  Broken hearts and broken lives.  

It's not just the death of loved ones that can bring us to these places of "night." Loss of dreams, loss of opportunities, loss of being comfortable and thriving.  But God will not leave us, no matter what!  The psalmist says, "What is gained if I am silenced?"  Who will speak the good news for God if all the faithful are silenced by grief and pain and anguish?  The psalmist understands what it's like to cry for mercy and feel like you aren't being heard!  The psalmist knows how it feels to be in the depths of despair and grief, to be in a place so dark that no light seems to be able to enter in!  To have God hide his face from us is to be completely rejected and forlorn.  But who will be left to praise God if all the faithful are crippled and wracked with pain and grief?  Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.  Lord, have mercy.

But. . .  joy comes in the morning.  We have to believe it!  We have to have hope!  Without hope we will surely die sometime in the dark night.  

Sometime over night the Psalmist received relief. . . you turned my mourning into dancing. . . you took away my grieving clothes, my funeral attire and replaced it with joy so my heart can sing your praises, so no one can shut me up I'm so amazed at your love!  Lord God, I will praise you forever.  . . and I will not forget the many times you brought me out of wailing into joy sometime over night into the morning.  Amen.

Image credit: wnrn.org