Joy comes in the morning

4 Sing praises to the LORD, O you His saints, and give thanks to His holy name. 5 For His anger is but for a moment, and His favour is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. (Psalm 30:4-5)

What is night time?  Verse 5 tells us: Judgement for sins and sorrow for suffering.

What is morning?  Verse 5 proclaims it: Grace for sinners and joy for sufferers.

When you're really going through the mill, morning can seem oppressive.  Not another day to face.  All you want to do is put your pillow over your head, pull the blankets up around your shoulders and snooze your way through the encroaching burdens.

But what is sunrise telling you?  Every morning it's proclaiming the gospel to you.  This darkness is only a passing shadow (as Samwise Gamgee would say).  The Light of the world triumphs.  And He chases away the gloom like the sun in all its brilliance.  Darkness cannot stand up to Him.  It must depart forever.

Every day He pledges cleansing from sin and the defeat of evil.  Far above and beyond you and your circumstances, the LORD God declares to the world that sin and suffering will be conquered by the Sun of righteousness.  Which means your sin and suffering will be conquered.  Grace and cleansing, joy and new life is more certain than the sunrise.

And if you can't feel the truth of that, that's ok.  Allow the sun simply to rise once more.  Allow it to pledge to you what you cannot imagine right now - all gloom and shadow and darkness will be swallowed up by the Light.

Joy comes in the morning.

When One rules over men in righteousness, when He rules in the fear of God, 4 He is like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the brightness after rain that brings the grass from the earth.'   (2 Sam 23:3-4)

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