Monday, 22 August, 2005: Today’s Bible readings.
1 I will extol you, O LORD, for you have drawn me up
and have not let my foes rejoice over me.
2 O LORD my God, I cried to you for help,
and you have healed me.
3 O LORD, you have brought up my soul from Sheol;
you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.4 Sing praises to the LORD, O you his saints,
and give thanks to his holy name.
5 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.6 As for me, I said in my prosperity,
“I shall never be moved.”
7 By your favor, O LORD,
you made my mountain stand strong;
you hid your face;
I was dismayed.8 To you, O LORD, I cry,
and to the Lord I plead for mercy:
9 “What profit is there in my death,
if I go down to the pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it tell of your faithfulness?
10 Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me!
O LORD, be my helper!”11 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
you have loosed my sackcloth
and clothed me with gladness,
12 that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever!
In this Psalm, David is recalling what God has done for him. Whatever David is thinking of, the specifics of the incident are not clear. Something had happened, something so dramatically awful that he compares it to dying, and he called out to God. God saved him from this situation, and as a result, David calls for people to praise God and thank Him for what He has done.
So we see this progression: David is in some distress, he calls out to God, God acts to preserve him, and as a result, David praises God.
What do we learn from this?
David is not unusual. God has acted the same way in our lives as well. We’ve been in some distress, and we called out to God. God acted to bring us through our difficulty. But, do we then do our part? Do we follow through as we should? Do we praise God for what He has done?
If you’re like me, you probably have often forgotten to thank God for what He has done. It is so easy to forget about our problems after they are resolved. When we look back, they don’t seem as disturbing as they seemed at the time, and knowing how it worked out, we don’t think about how we pleaded with God for a resolution. We’ve usually moved on to the next problem and have neglected to properly thank God for what He has done in our lives.
But David reminds us in this Psalm to remember what God has done in our lives and to praise and thank God for how He has answered our prayers in the past. David tells us why God acts in our lives to preserve and protect us: that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
And so we should, like David, give thanks to you forever!
Where is Christ in this passage?
You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
you have loosed my sackcloth
and clothed me with gladness….
For all those who have repented of their sins and come to God in faith for salvation, they have gone through conviction for their sins. They have realized the depths of their sin, and the punishment that is due to them because of their very great sin. They have mourned for their sin, and come to God truly sorrowing that they have grieved Him and violated His law.
It is in this mourning that there is comfort. It is in repentance that there is salvation. As we come to God through faith in Jesus Christ, our sins are forgiven, and our mourning is turned to dancing. Our sackcloth is turned to gladness.
