Forever Thankful

DEVOTION

PSALMS

FOREVER THANKFUL

 Ps 30

I will exalt you, O LORD, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me. 2 O LORD my God, I called to you for help and you healed me. 3 O LORD, you brought me up from the grave; you spared me from going down into the pit.

4 Sing to the LORD, you saints of his; praise his holy name. 5 For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

6 When I felt secure, I said, "I will never be shaken." 7 O LORD, when you favored me, you made my mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was dismayed.

8 To you, O LORD, I called; to the Lord I cried for mercy: 9 "What gain is there in my destruction, in my going down into the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your faithfulness? 10 Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me; O 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 to you and not be silent .O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever.

NIV

Once again we see the transition from the city of darkness and death into the city of light and life. This move from the depths might be our choice, but we cannot make that move ourselves, we have way too much baggage, we require a moving company. The Lord is that company, he carries our baggage, in fact he removes it, and the Spirit drives us across the bridge, the cross of Jesus, into the new city, the new creation, the city filled with light and life. We did not have to stay in the pit, nor do we ever have to return to the pit. The Lord has healed us. The sickness of our sin weighted us down and kept us from getting out of the pit. We could not climb out, but Jesus took all our sin, he healed us. We are his saints and we sing to him, a new song, a song of life, of joy, of praise and thanksgiving. Yes, he has anger, anger over the sin of the world, the fact that man’s heart is bent toward evil all the time. But that wrath is momentary, as his love for his creation is eternal. He favored his creation by sending Jesus to die in our place, so we might have eternal life. There are times of night, so to speak, when we slip, failing to remain as faithful as we should. We are not perfect and we do sin, but rejoicing comes in the morning. With each new day, we rejoice and start our day singing praises to our Lord. Today is going to be a good day, we are secure in the Lord and we will not be shaken, we will not be moved, we will stand firm against all the attacks of the evil one. We have been given his armor so we can take our stand. We know God will sustain us for what pleasure does he derive from our being in the grave, in the dust, silent, unable to sing his praises. No one who lives in the city of darkness and death sings his praises, but we have been moved out, relocated into the city of light and life and we will sing a new song, our wailing in the old city has been turned into dancing. He removed that old sackcloth from us, those old clothes of despair and death and clothed us in his righteousness and filled us with his joy. Now our hearts can sing, we can live in song and dance for our Lord has done a great thing, we can praise him in the morning, we can praise him in the evening, and we can praise him all the day long. We do not have to be silent for he has given us voice and we will give him thanks forever.