His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime

Psalm 30 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Death. A Psalm of David.

I will extol You, O Lord, for You have lifted me up,
And have not let my enemies rejoice over me.
² O Lord my God,
I cried to You for help, and You healed me.
³ O Lord, You have brought up my soul from Sheol;
You have kept me alive, that I would not go down to the pit.
⁴ Sing praise to the Lord, you His godly ones,
And give thanks to His holy name.
⁵ 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.

⁶ Now as for me, I said in my prosperity,
“I will never be moved.”
⁷ O Lord, by Your favor You have made my mountain to stand strong;
You hid Your face, I was dismayed.
⁸ To You, O Lord, I called,
And to the Lord I made supplication:
⁹ “What profit is there in my blood, if I go down to the pit?
Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your faithfulness?

¹⁰ “Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me;
O Lord, be my helper.”
¹¹ You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
You have loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness,
¹² That my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.

The psalmist says:  I will extol You, O Lord, for You have lifted me up,
And have not let my enemies rejoice over me. O Lord my God, I cried to You for help, and You healed me.  O Lord, You have brought up my soul from Sheol; You have kept me alive, that I would not go down to the pit. Sing praise to the Lord, you His godly ones, And give thanks to His holy name. 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.  We too need to realize and declare that the Lord has lifted us up.  1 Peter 5:8 says:  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. Because we are in Christ, the devil may not devour us.  In John 16:33 Jesus says:  “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”   In Christ we too have and can overcome the world and all the tribulation the enemy may bring. We too have been kept alive in Christ and not only to survive but to thrive. In John 10:10 Jesus says: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”  In Christ, we have both eternal life in heaven and abundant life here and now on earth.  Sing praise to the Lord, you His godly ones, And give thanks to His holy name.

As I read these words:  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,  the Lord revealed a beautiful and powerful truth to me. David, the psalmist knew both the anger and the favor of the Lord. There were times in his life that David experienced God’s anger with his sin. Yet what David chose to see was the favor of God in his life. For us, the moment of God’s anger with sin, is not directed at us at all. Rather the moment of God’s anger with our sin was felt by Christ, when on the cross, in Matthew 27:46 it says:  Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?”   God’s anger was and is with sin, so that we who are in Christ never know even a moment of His anger, but only His favor for our lives. Jesus died for our sins and indeed all of creation, even heaven wept that night. But, on the third day He rose again and everlasting joy came that morning.

The psalmist says:  Now as for me, I said in my prosperity, “I will never be moved.”  O Lord, by Your favor You have made my mountain to stand strong; You hid Your face, I was dismayed.  To You, O Lord, I called, And to the Lord I made supplication: “What profit is there in my blood, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your faithfulness?  There are times that our prosperity can cause us to stand in our faith. Yet at times, when things are good, we can be led away from God. The writer of proverbs understood the peril of riches and prosperity. In Proverbs 30:7-9 he says:  Two things I ask of you, Lord; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.  In Philippians 4:11-13, Paul expresses what it means to prosper in the Lord saying:  I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.  I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.   Lamentations 3:24 says:"The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I have hope in Him."   The Lord Himself is our portion and our prosperity.

The psalmist poses an interesting question. He asks: “What profit is there in my blood, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your faithfulness?   I am reminded of what God said to Adam after the fall in Genesis 3:19:  “By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”  Also I think of what Jesus said in Luke 19:40 in response to those who wanted Him to silence the praises of those who celebrated His coming:  “I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!”  As for me, while I live, before my body is turned back to dust, I will praise Him and I will declare His faithfulness.

With the psalmist I say: “Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me; O Lord, be my helper.”  You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness, That my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever. Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit for Your grace and mercy; for Your overcoming power to live an abundant life of prosperity in Christ.  Amen.