Psalm 30 (NRSV)
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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
You have brought me up, O Lord, from the dead; you restored my life as I was going down to the grave. —Psalm 30:3
What good is God to us if God isn't good to us? Easter is the key event of the Christian story. We worship on the first day of the week rather than on the seventh as a reminder that death, in all its forms, cannot break off the relationship God has promised that we have with God through the risen Christ.
The psalmist too looks at her suffering "from the other side"—after God has restored her from whatever difficult experience she had. She can't help but praise God, for now life is good again. But her experience has also given her a new perspective. Praise is always appropriate, even when it seems foolish, because God is always good—and faithful to God's promise to love us. The psalm reminds us that even when life is hard divine love will never grow dim. We can still hope and trust that restoration will come, but in God’s time and in God's way.
Prayer
Oh God, you are light in the midst of our darkness. You are hope in the midst of our despair. You sound the steady, constant note of calm in the midst of the cacophony that threatens to make us deaf to your promises. Open our ears to hear your Word, that we may spend our lives praising you. Amen.