JOY COMES IN THE MORNING ?

We are comforted by God’s word, right? Often during times of hardship we have our go-to verses and one of mine and probably many others is this one from Psalm 30 - “weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning”. As always, in a Sage, Cedar and Gold Blog or Bible Study, WE ARE ALWAYS HONEST, even if it makes us feel like, seem like, look like, less than the standard as a believer.

Literally and on the surface, joy does NOT always come in the morning. Your significant other leaves or cheats on you, finally after hours of crying or anger or a mishmash of all the things that betrayal brings, we fall asleep. Do we wake up joyful the next morning? Of course not! A very close friend or spouse or child dies and in the stupor that often accompanies the shock of death, we fall asleep and wake up the next morning with fresh and worse pain, as some of the shock has worn off, does the morning bring joy? Absolutely not!

You have been single for so long and you wake up for face another day of loneliness or you just received the day before the terrible cancer diagnosis or you already have some painful malady or you are a caregiver of a person who is close to the dark door of death or ………, you fill in the blank for the affliction that may be in your life at the moment.

So, we have to first understand that this verse is not based on how you feel on any given day but on the fact of God’s faithfulness and it must be true.

So since we know that God’s word is TRUTH, we cling to that knowledge because the world is falling apart and the only solid foundation is Jesus Christ so what does this verse mean and how can it really bring us comfort?

CONTEXT HELPS CORRECT !

In Psalm 30, David is remembering the greatness of God at a great event. David’s house or palace is finally complete and it is the dedication ceremony. Remember that David has spent years living in caves and fighting his enemies in the worst of physical circumstances and now, now - God has graciously blessed him with his own house.

There is so much here but we are going to focus in on verses four and five which say,

“Sing praise to the Lord, you His godly ones,

And praise the mention of His holiness.

For His anger is but for a moment,

His favor is for a lifetime;

Weeping may last for the night,

But a shout of joy comes in the morning.”

This is the testimony of a tested man

This passage cannot be understood except by the saints of God. Yes, that’s you, you’re a saint if you believe in Jesus. Not in the manner of having obtained sainthood by the process of Catholicism which only comes AFTER your death and that’s not what the Bible means by the word Saint. It’s a word used 67 times in the New Testament, and each of those 67 times, “saint” means living breathing, common or garden Christians, just ordinary folk who have put their trust in Jesus Christ.

So, accept the fact that If you believe in Jesus then You are a Saint. That’s how your loving Heavenly Father sees you, When he looks at you, he sees not a miserable sinner, nor a useless failure, but a saint. Someone holy, special and set apart. NO MATTER HOW YOU FEEL.

When David says,

“ Sing praise to the Lord, you His godly ones,

And praise the mention of His holiness.

He is talking to believers.

My dear ones, that came here looking for something to help them get through the day, don’t give up, please keep reading for this will help you as we focus on God, our place in Christ and the context of our primary topic - JOY COMES IN THE MORNING!

The next part of our focus verses are -

“ For His anger is but for a moment,

His favor is for a lifetime;

This one is pretty self-evident. I confess, I have lived in a sinful state AS A BELIEVER and after a minute of pleasure, I became the most miserable person on the planet (I do not exaggerate) for I lost all joy because true joy only comes from being in right relationship with God and His chastisement, painful though it is, is one of the most merciful things, He will ever do in your life if you are out of His will.

Hebrews 12:6,7,8

For whom the Lord loves He disciplines,

And He punishes every son whom He accepts.”

7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

I thought this time of discipline was going to go on F O R E V E R. BUT, once I was restored oh what new LIFE flooded my soul, my heart, my mind. So, David is saying that His anger is but for a moment but HIs favor is for a lifetime!! Actually, that word lifetime can also means “life”! Isn’t that amazing? God’s favor is LIFE!

GETTING TO THE HEART OF THE MATTER

So by now, you’re beginning to understand that the text is not speaking of literally one day to the next day as we count a 24 hour period. No, it’s much better!

“Weeping may last for the night,

But a shout of joy comes in the morning”

Your translation may say, just “joy comes in the morning” but the Holy Spirit through David is trying to convey a great meaning here. No matter how long or how dark the night of sorrow or suffering or sin, A SHOUT - exuberant joy - comes in the morning. The joy that comes in your inevitable morning is so much greater than the night that you are in now that we can’t even comprehend it.

Can I just testify for a minute. Testify is to to make a statement based on personal knowledge and I will tell you that in this life, I have had many times of the darkest night and when God had walked with me through the valley of the shadow of death, oh the intensity of the joy that overwhelms when you are on the other side of that valley, IN THIS LIFE.

Yes, I know that some will not experience that joy until heaven and I don’t know what that is going to be like but it must be grander than grand because, the JOY that fills a soul totally dependent and waiting on God here on this planet is barely containable in these frail jars of clay.

You see, I can’t and you can’t even IMAGINE heaven because our bodies would just implode.

But, of you, who are struggling with getting through today, hold onto to this truth, know that even if it feels like the suffering you are going through is going to kill you, it cannot compare to the JOY that is coming in the morning.

GOD IS ABLE , my dear one!

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

I would love to pray for you and with you, send me any message even if it's a simple "unspoken". I love you!