Rev. Patrick Wleh
Text: Psalm 30:1-5
This is a Psalm and Song at the dedication of the house of David.
1 I will exalt you, O Lord; for you lift me out of the depths and did not let my enemies to gloat over me.
2 O Lord my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me.
3 O Lord, you brought me up from the grave; you spared me from going down into the pit.
4 Sing unto the Lord, O you saints of his; praise his holy name.
5 For his anger last only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime: weeping may remain for a night but rejoicing comes in the morning.
INTRODUCTION:
Life is not always at a sweet beginning; it has a way of going from bitter to then getting better. This is what many of us need to understand because if we are not careful, we would think that we have made a big mistake.
For you to be at the mountain top means that you have come there by way of the valley. And geographically speaking, where there is a mountain there must be a valley no doubt about this.
Let’s see what David said in these four (4) verses:
You’ve lifted me up.
You’ve healed me.
You’ve kept me alive
He lastly encourages us to sing unto the Lord.
Consider this:
David said you’ve lifted me up. If he had been lifted up, it meant he had been down. For you to be lifted up means you are down.
You’ve healed me. If he had been healed, it meant he had been sick. For you to be heal means you are sick.
For David to give praise to be kept alive, meant his life must have been in danger. For you to give praise to be alive means you are in danger.
Verse 5:
For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night but rejoicing comes in the morning.
Here is the point:
For you to get the joy, you’ve got to go through the weeping.
For you to get to the morning, you’ve got to go through the night.
Let’s consider this:
“…weeping may remain for a night but rejoicing comes in the morning.”
The mistake that many of us have made and continue to make is to assume that weeping has come to stay, and joy is gone forever, but The Bible tells us just the opposite. Weeping is the guest; it has not come to stay only but until the morning. The main tenant is Joy. Joy has come to stay.
The Bible let us know that there will be bitter times as long as we are in this life.
So, the question is not whether or not you are going to have trouble, but how are you going to respond when it show up?
We can gather some lessons from David’s response:
“I will exalt you.” (Verse 1)
David responded with worship. Many of us when we are in a bitter situation, the tendency is to complain and begin shifting blame. No David had it right, he said in the midst of this Bitterness, I will exalt you.
Look at this:
“And thou shall make two Cherubim of gold; of beaten work shall thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. (Exodus 25:18).
This was God’s instruction for the making of the Cherubim. Remember that these were physical representations of Spiritual beings, but he wanted to make sure that we understand that they were BEATEN into PROPER SHAPE. The otter moments that we go through in life are not meant to destroy us, but rather if we respond to them well as God would have us to, they will mold us into PROPER SHAPE.
“See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and all men. Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
Paul writing to the church in Thessalonica knew that life has bitter experiences and here he admonished them and show them how to respond to bitter situations when they come. In three words Paul sums up what their response should be, REJOICE, PRAY, AND GIVE THANKS. If you will go through the bitter experience of life, these three ingredients must be evident in your life.
You need to remember that God is not so worried about the circumstances of our lives. He is more concerned with the response to them, and our proper response should always be WORSHIP. David said I “will exalt you.” worship brings the presence of God. And please understand that the presence of God is more important than your problem. For where the presence of the Lord is, there is LIBERTY.
“And said his wife unto him, dost thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God and die. But he said unto her, thou speakest as one of the foolish women speakers. What? Shall we receive well at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this Job did not sin with his lips.” (Job 2: 9-10).
When you are going through the bitter moments of your life and the problems are raging, there are two things that are going on:
- The devil tries to get you to look at your flesh, give up and back off.
- God wants to get you to look at him, rise up and praise him.
As you go through the problems of life, which all of us will, have and are going through, remember that you are here not because of who you are or what you have or can do but:
- By God’ divine appointment
- In his keeping
- Under his divine training
- For his time
“Though he slays me, yet will I trust him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him (Job 13:15).
Whenever we go through the bitter moments of life, our response should be “WORSHIP.” Like David, Job said though he slays me, I will not complain, I will not murmur, all I will do is to WORSHIP HIM.
What are you going through today? How are you responding to them? What is important is your response to what you are going through. Are you complaining, blaming others, or blaming yourself?
All of that is not important now, rise up put on your garment of PRAISE and like Job say “Though he slays me, yet I will trust him…”
Like David say ” I will exalt you amid my bitter moments. For it is only God who can turn BITTER to BETTER.
AMEN!!