“I will extol you, O LORD, for You have drawn me up and have not let my foes rejoice over me. O LORD my God, I cried to You for help, and You have healed me. O LORD, You have brought up my soul from Sheol; You restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit. Sing praises to the LORD, O you His saints, and give thanks to His holy Name. For His anger is but for a moment, and His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” Psalm 30:1-5
Devotional Thought For The Day
We all have troubles and burdens, challenges in life that threaten us severely. We recognize the potential dangers and cry to the Lord for help and deliverance. Always He is there to lift us up, to help us, to deliver us, and to restore our joy and optimism. He will not allow our foes and adversaries to rejoice over us. There is anger from the Lord for our sins, and at times His discipline comes upon us – but there is always full and complete forgiveness and mercy from the Lord, much more so than we will ever receive from people. So our hope and confidence is always in the Lord, and we focus on His gracious love and His promises to us, and not on the threats and malice of our enemies and adversaries, those who seek our discomfort, consternation, and harm.
Though things may seem dark and dismal at times, and it appears that our problems and foes may oppress us, times of healing and restoration will come – and our spirits will be lifted up. So as we go through some of the fear and darkness we need to keep our focus on the Lord, His goodness and love, and His promises to His dear people of faith. Rather than being “buried in the moment” we need to hold on in optimism – God has not forgotten us, is not incapable of helping us, and will get to us at just the right time, in accord with His overarching plans for all things. Evil people rejoice as they anticipate being able to finally bury us but their joy will be snatched away by God – it must be a very dismal and depressing thing to be an enemy of God and His people! Thanks and praise be to God!
The sun is finally shining here, though we have more rain in the forecast. It is a foretaste of what is to come next week. When the sunshine returns and we are rescued from the threat and peril then we also need to extol the Lord and exult in His love, and give thanks and praise to Him for His deliverance. And we need to enjoy the relative peace and safety that He blesses us with most of the time, rather than taking it for granted. Indeed, whether in the midst of trials and difficulties or in the sunshine and optimism of good times, we join the psalmist: “Sing praises to the LORD, O you His saints, and give thanks to His holy Name. For His anger is but for a moment, and His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” So God blesses us, and so we give our praise and thanks to Him!
Prayer For The Day
Dear Lord Jesus, thank You for attending to the fears and cries of our hearts, our deepest prayers to You for mercy, help, and deliverance from our enemies. Grant us faith and constancy in Your Words and promises so that we do not despair and lose hope. Remind us of past deliverance, especially that which You have given to us in Your suffering, death, and resurrection, that we look forward with joy to Your continued blessings. Amen.