Psalm 30:5b. …weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
And it’s a cool and windy but sunshiny lazy-day Saturday! So there’s nothing to complain about; just oodles of time to laze around in good weather. (smile) Unfortunately though, some of us don’t have that luxury, we have to be about our Father’s business. And since my lazy time has been cut short, I’ll be selfish and take you along with me. So please accompany me as we declare (yesss!!!) our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer.
Altogether now. ‘Lord, I want to be with You now. Please slow my thoughts and quiet my soul. Let my muscles relax, my breath deepen. You are here with me – Your peace and LOVE are present. I marvel to think You can’t be contained, that Your LOVE both surrounds and fills me. Thank You for this tenderness, Lord. I praise You for Your unceasing nearness. Increase my awareness of You today, that I may know You all the more. Amen!’
And without fail, that simple, heartfelt prayer touched something in me, opened up a pathway, as it were, that led directly to God’s awesome presence. It’s the kind of thing that happens when you open up your heart to the Lord and pour out all that’s in it. When you pray for things like God’s unceasing nearness, His awesome LOVE and peace, and the ability to know Him more, His presence just naturally shows up and quietens our hearts. It’s like Bruh David cried out in Psalm 30 – Praise for God’s Holiness.
He unashamedly proclaims: ‘I will extol thee, O Lord, for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me. O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me. O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave (Sheol, the place of the dead): thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit (grave).’ (Ps. 30:1-3) Yes friends, it’s the Lord who keeps us and our souls alive and refreshed, and not mired in the pit of unrighteousness.
Therefore, as Bruh David continues: ‘Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness (His holy name). For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.’ (Ps. 30:4-5) And how wonderful is that eh my fellow believers? It certainly is, for there’s no other god like our God, who doesn’t retain His anger at us, or hold our sins over our heads for ever and ever. But for that very reason we have to be humble and not boast or be prideful when we receive the Lord’s favour.
As Bruh David said: ‘And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved (shaken). Lord, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled. I cried to thee, O Lord; and unto the Lord I made supplication. What profit is there in my blood when I go down to the pit (grave)? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth? Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me: Lord be thou my helper.’ (Ps. 30:6-10)
Ah my fellow saints, you see how quickly the Lord can take away His favour if we allow His goodness to make us become proud and haughty. Regardless of how much favour and LOVING-kindness our God pours out on us, He expects us to remain humble and obedient to His every word, not get too big for our britches and stop considering or forget where our prosperity came from.
But sadly, that’s something way too many of us do. The Lord blesses us, and we are joyful at the moment, but soon forget it, or become so accustomed to His blessings that they longer move us the way they ought to. But please remember that just as blessings can be bountifully bestowed, they can also become non-existent if our behaviour becomes inappropriate. Remember too that the Lord is no respecter of persons; be we big or small, weak or strong, our positions in life doesn’t matter. It’s all about how we react to Him and His favour.
So, apparently Bruh David got a li’l too big for his britches and the Lord removed His favour, which troubled him, and he came back crying for help, for mercy. But even that shows the kind of person Bruh David was. He wasn’t too proud to beg when he’d done wrong. But some of us are so proud and arrogant, that even when we know we’ve done wrong, be it before the Lord or our fellow man, we refuse to apologize and/or ask for mercy. We’re just so full of ourselves and our supposed importance that apologizing or asking for mercy and help are beneath us. But that’s why we suffer so many setbacks and disappointments.
Meanwhile those who drop the false pride and ask for forgiveness and help, usually receive it, because our God is a forgiving and merciful God when He sees the sincerity of our hearts. Consequently, Bruh David could afford to write: ‘Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth (the ragged clothes of my mourning), and girded me with gladness. To the end that my glory (my soul) may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.’ (Ps. 30:11-12) And that’s how it ought to be my people!
Now the scholars tell us that there’s no certainty of when and for what purpose the Psalm was written, but ‘In later Judaism the psalm was used in the celebration of Hanukkah (the Jewish festival at Christmas) and at the presentation of firstfruits. The main idea of the psalm, in any case, is clearly expressed: Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing (vs.11). The joy and thanks voiced in the final two verses, however, are only the aftermath of David’s thanks (vs. 1-5) for the Lord’s chastening hand on a boastful servant (vs. 6-10).’
Please friends, let’s remember God’s awesome truth this lazy-day Saturday. ‘And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children (sons). My son, despise not thou the chastening (discipline) of the Lord, nor faint (be discouraged) when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the LOVETH he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.’ (Heb. 12:5-6)
Now that’s a most appropriate scripture for us to end on today. So, I implore us to spend some of our lazy-day Saturday meditating, contemplating and pondering on it. ‘It shall be health to our navels (bodies), and marrow (strength or refreshment) to our bones.’ (smile) (Prov. 3:8) Much LOVE!
… as our dear departed Uncle Charles (Dr. Charles Stanley) would say…the best way to live this life…is to obey God…and leave all the consequences to Him…
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