Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning. Psalm 30:5 NLT
Night: the period of darkness in every 24 hours. I love the consistency of time, you can count on it. No matter how dark the night, the sun will rise in the morning. You know it’s coming and you wait for it. Psalm 30 gives me hope. We all go through seasons of difficulty, times of heartache and weeping, when everything is dark and we are tired. But joy comes with the morning. Night is temporary, the clock keeps ticking, the darkness will eventually give way to the light of the sun! It helps to remember this when life is hard and there seems to be no relief in sight. The season you are in today is temporary.
David wrote this Psalm in hindsight. It begins with, “I will exalt you, Lord, for you rescued me. You refused to let my enemies triumph over me.” It’s easy to regain perspective after the trial, but the goal is to remember God’s faithfulness in the midst of the pain. Jeremiah was a prophet who knew what it meant to suffer. Check out what he wrote in Lamentations and see if you can relate.
Peace has been stripped away, and I have forgotten what prosperity is. I cry out, “My splendor is gone! Everything I had hoped for from the Lord is lost! The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words. Lamentations 3:17-19 NLT
When life is disappointing and everything we had hoped for is lost, it’s easy to forget what prosperity is. It’s easy to lose sight of the goodness of God, and when we reach that point we lose our peace. If that’s where you are today, call out to God, turn to His word, and allow Him to renew your hope and restore your peace. Listen to Jeremiah’s next statements:
I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. Lamentations 3:20-23 NLT
His mercies begin afresh each morning! God is faithful to His children. He loves you and He will bring your season of suffering to an end. Don’t give up, don’t lose heart, your season of suffering is only temporary. Know relief is coming and wait for it in hope.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!” The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him. So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord. Lamentations 3:24-26 NLT
Both Jeremiah and David found their hope in the Lord. They trusted Him to bring them out of the darkness and He did not disappoint them. David ends Psalm 30 with this declaration:
You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy, that I might sing praises to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever! Psalm 30:11-12 NLT
If you are experiencing the darkness of night, I pray this song will bring you hope: I Can Feel You