Bible Reflections for 7/7/08 — Reflections on Psalm 30

Psalm 30:4,5,11,12 —

Sing praise to the LORD, you saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name. For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; weeping may endure for a night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning... You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, to the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent.

Americans at this time of year celebrate Independence Day and their God-given rights to life, liberty, and the "pursuit" of happiness. As a nation we have discovered that pursuing happiness does not exempt us from economic downturns, floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, fires, hurricanes, and even wars. David also, in his quest for divine serenity and holy joy, experienced great difficulties. He knew nights of weeping and days of mourning, and he faithfully described the bad times as well as the good. But David had the ultimate assurance and triumphant experience that his God would bring him through the difficulties to a wide place of inner peace and ecstatic joy.

Not only can we expect that God, as a loving Father, will chasten every child whom He receives, we can also come to experience that true joy is knowable only to those who have known true sorrow. Just as order is imperceptible apart from a background of chaos, acceleration is unrecognizable without inertia, and peace is meaningless without the threat of turmoil, so true joy is flavorless if we have not also tasted sorrow. I suspect that the measure of the joy we can feel may also be related to the depth of sorrow we have experienced. So it just may be that, when God allows sadness to enter our lives, He is only preparing us to appreciate the ecstasy that lies ahead for us.

Best wishes, GH

Daily Bible Reflections are accompanied by daily Stock Market Commentary.

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• Yesterday's Bible Reflection: Reflections on Psalm 29
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