Psalm 30 (NRSV)
Read Psalm 30 on biblegateway.com
Verse 1I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up, and did not let my foes rejoice over me.
Verse 2O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me.
Verse 3O Lord, you brought up my soul from Sheol, restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit.
Verse 4Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones, and give thanks to his holy name.
Verse 5For his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.
Verse 6As for me, I said in my prosperity, "I shall never be moved."
Verse 7By your favor, O Lord, you had established me as a strong mountain; you hid your face; I was dismayed.
Verse 8To you, O Lord, I cried, and to the Lord I made supplication:
Verse 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?
Verse 10Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me! O Lord, be my helper!"
Verse 11You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
Verse 12so that my soul may praise you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever.
Devotion
Mark was a clever, powerful, pimping guy. He knew how to set up young girls and entrap them into a life of prostitution where he got all the rewards – money, power, sex.
Could such an evil lifestyle ever be changed for good? Yet God did deliver Mark from Sheol. Through the words of Romans 10:9-10, he found new life in Jesus. Over a period of time God did the impossible in his treacherous and stigmatized life. Every day he now leans on God to keep him whole as he reads the scriptures.
We in the church cannot let evil paralyze us. We belong to a God whose anger lasts for a moment but whose favor lasts a lifetime. Are we boldly proclaiming that in our world? Mark now reaches out to hurting, entrapped people on the streets of Atlanta.
Prayer
Holy Spirit, keep me from being immobilized by adversity or unsolvable problems. Bring me to see beyond the Lord’s anger to his favor and to let that grace guide me through the day. In Christ’s name, Amen.