Psalm 30:1-12 (CEB)

I exalt you, Lord, because you pulled me up;
    you didn’t let my enemies celebrate over me.
Lord, my God, I cried out to you for help,
    and you healed me.
Lord, you brought me up from the grave,
    brought me back to life from among those going down to the pit.

You who are faithful to the Lord,
    sing praises to him;
    give thanks to his holy name!
His anger lasts for only a second,
    but his favor lasts a lifetime.
Weeping may stay all night,
    but by morning, joy!

When I was comfortable, I said,
    “I will never stumble.”
Because it pleased you, Lord,
    you made me a strong mountain.
But then you hid your presence.
    I was terrified.
I cried out to you, Lord.
    I begged my Lord for mercy:
“What is to be gained by my spilled blood,
    by my going down into the pit?
Does dust thank you?
    Does it proclaim your faithfulness?
10 Lord, listen and have mercy on me!
    Lord, be my helper!”

11 You changed my mourning into dancing.
    You took off my funeral clothes
        and dressed me up in joy
12     so that my whole being
    might sing praises to you and never stop.
Lord, my God, I will give thanks to you forever.


Reflection

Psalm 30 reminds us of Jesus’ resurrection after the tragedy of his death on Good Friday. May it continue to remind us that although Our Lord has died, joy comes in the morning.

By Good Friday, it seems likely that Jesus’ followers were fearful and saddened because they did not want to be without their Lord. But on Sunday can’t you just imagine his followers saying, What? Jesus has come back to life?!  Likely many more were in disbelief –until they realized that what Jesus said would happen, actually did. Today we know that the mourning of Jesus’ loss on Friday has forever been changed into the salvation of the world on Easter morning. Our lives as God’s people were forever changed.

Easter morning gives rise to a new day and a new way of being. Surely the Resurrection of Our Lord is powerful because of our forgiveness and what God’s love means for the world. However, Jesus’ Resurrection is also powerful because it teaches us about our own resiliency and about living anew as changed Easter People.

True, there are times when we must exist in spaces with grief. When I hear the psalmist pleading for rescue, I hear a person who knows pain. Surely this is someone who longs for salvation:  “I cried out to you Lord for mercy: ‘What is to be gained by my spilled blood, by my going down in the pit?… Lord, listen, and have mercy on me!” Then I know that this was someone who also understood human sorrow.

But when I hear, “you have changed my mourning into dancing,” I am further reminded to dance even in the face of grief. I am reminded that we aren’t meant to be people that stay in mourning. We are meant to find a new day, as Easter People, and to dance in the sun of the new day. Have you danced as God’s new creation today?

by Barbara Carlson


For Pondering & Prayer

We know grief and especially during Eastertime for the loss of Our Lord. How might you be in mourning or experiencing grief today? How is God calling you to dance in the light of a new day?

You changed my mourning into dancing.

You took off my funeral clothes

and dressed me up in joy

so that my whole being

might sing praises to you and never stop.

Lord, my God, I will give thanks to you forever.

Amen.

Psalm 30:11-12