"Sing praise to the Lord, you saints of His, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name. For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.” (Psalm 30:4-5 NKJV).
The trouble I have with Scripture is that I have far too many “favorite” verses! Verse 5 being one of them!
I don’t know what troubles you may face today, but on the authority of God’s Holy Word I tell you, “take heart!” There is light at the end of the tunnel and it’s not the train! "Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.” You have God’s Word on it!
Recall if you will what we said the likely setting for this Psalm was. David, in pride, had sinned. His confidence had turned from what God had done for Israel to what he had the power to do. He repented. God forgave, but to remind David of the seriousness of his sin, God gave him his choice of three possible punishments–three years of famine, three months of military losses, or three days facing His wrath. Talk about being between a rock and a hard place!
David chose three days of Divine punishment stating, “Let me fall into the hands of the Lord for His mercy is very great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.” (1 Chronicles 21:13 NIV). In our text David repeats that sentiment stating that “[God’s] anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life . . . .”
Israel experienced God’s anger because of David’s sin. Plague hit the land and 70,000 men died. Let us never forget that sin, no matter how small it may seem, is never a private affair. (David’s sin was a sin of the heart that exhibited itself in a census. How bad could that have been? Answer, 70,000 men paid for this secret sin of David’s heart). Unfair? Never! God is never unfair! Therefore, learn this lesson: your sin will always impact others–sometimes in ways in which you least expect. “I’m not hurting anybody,” is nothing but a hopeful (and naive) lie.
I think David was right in trusting himself to God. 70,000 deaths in a few days, as horrible as it is, is probably much smaller than the loss and pain that would have occurred had David chosen one of the other two options.
All that aside, think of the agony it must have been on this kings heart to know that these 70,000 men–some who obviously left families behind–had died because of his sin. Consider it this way: our country is still reeling from the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Accusations as to who and why it should have been prevented abound. Thousands lost their lives in that attack (though no where near 70,000), and we’re still seeking to place some blame not on the enemy, but on some leader or some agency.
Now, let’s suppose for a minute, you somehow had the crucial information that could have prevented it all. You had prior knowledge, but you didn’t think what you “knew” could possibly be true. But then, like the rest of us, you sat in horror as you watched planes slam into the Twin Towers; you listened in horror as you heard of the attack on the Pentagon, and learned of the bravery of some of our citizens as they prevented a third attack, sacrificing their lives to save others. Can you imagine the guilt you would feel? That guilt of course would only be imagined; David’s guilt was real! Like Peter he wept bitter tears. I doubt he slept much, if at all, during this time.
With this perspective, read again the second half of verse 5: “Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.” Please remember this: the joy he refers to in this passage did not reverse the effects of the previous days. That joy came in the shadow of the reality of the horrible plague that killed 70,000 men. The darkness of death itself gave way to the light of the joy that only the Lord can bring.
You may be going through a time of sorrow now, but trust the Lord on this: joy will come in the morning.
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