Psalm Thirty: Weeping to Rejoicing

"O LORD, I called to you for help and you helped me." v. 2

"Sing to the LORD, you saints of his, 

Praise his holy name.  

For his anger lasts only for a moment, 

but his favor lasts a lifetime;

Weeping may remain for a night, 

but rejoicing comes in the morning." v. 4-5

Lord, I thank you that you hear me and answer me when I need help.  Thank you that you love me, and for the fact that I never have to experience Your anger because of the work of Christ.  I see the feelings of the Psalmist were changed from weeping to rejoicing when he praised You in song.  Help me to do the same when You are trying to take me from a season of wallowing to time of worshiping. 

I think one of the hardest things to do when you are grieving to is to worship.  It is difficult to think that a God of love can be the one to allow you to walk through excruciating pain. Songs like this one were especially difficult for me to sing in church.  

"You give and take away, you give and take away. My heart will choose to say, Lord, Blessed be your name."

I think it is no accident that the Psalmist links weeping to singing and singing to rejoicing.  I remember sitting in church during dark days and trying to mouth the words to this song and no sound would come out.  It seemed strange and terrible that God would be asking me to worship Him when He was the one who had taken so much away from me.  This is when I understood the true meaning of bringing a "sacrifice of praise."  It seems silly that God would require me to tell Him about Himself. (Like He doesn't already know how awesome He is, and He needs ME to tell him.)  But, I don't think that is what true worship is for.  He requires me to tell myself about Him.  

It is during worship or a sermon or reading Scripture, or even just going about everyday life noticing creation when the "God bumps" come.  You know...that moment when you hear or see a truth about God and the evidence of that truth manifests itself in little bumps and shivers all over your arms and neck.  It's at that moment that your heart and your head are convening with your spirit, speaking to it, reaffirming the truth you know is very real...and it can't help but spill out all over your skin.  This sounds really weird...anybody with me?  

I think this is why God calls me to worship Him- because sometimes my heart can't accept the truth my head knows, and singing is a way that I can speak to myself and put the two in allignment.  I am thankful for the truth of this Scripture today.  It reminds me that there is a season to weeping- that rejoicing will come eventually, mostly when I am able to realize that what happens in my life has very little to do with me and everything to do with knowing God more.