Night and Day

Psalm 30

This psalm was written by David for the dedication of the temple (or possibly the palace). If it was written for the dedication for the temple it was an act of faith since the temple was not built in David's lifetime. I find the psalm to be an incredibly personal psalm for such a public occasion.
The first stanza expresses praise to God for deliverance from death and humiliation. The second stanza calls on the people to sing the praises of the Lord because his anger and judgement are momentary while his joy and favour are long lasting. David uses the imagery of day and night to make his point: just as the dawn follows the night, so the joy of the Lord will follow times of sorrow. The third stanza talks about the security David feels when he is in the Lord's favour and the terror he experiences when the Lord hides his face. David seems to be reliving the experience of not seeing the Lord's face, perhaps the circumstances he refers to at the beginning of the psalm, and recalls how he cried for mercy in that moment. I really take delight in David's argument: "If I die, I will not be alive to praise you. You should save me from death so I can continue to sing your praise." In the fifth stanza, David recalls the Lord's response to his plea, using imagery and language that seem to dance across the page: "you turned my mourning into dancing, you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent."
This psalm serves as a good reminder that the day is coming. It may seem like the night is never ending. It may seem as if the Lord's face is hidden. It may seem like our suffering will last forever. David experienced the dawn. We may not experience much of the sun in our lifetime but we can be sure that the dawn is coming. There is coming a time when light will flood our senses, when the we will experience the hilarity of the Lord lifting his countenance upon us and when we will experience the end of every pain and sorrow. Then we will finally and completely exchange our sackcloth for joy and our mourning for dancing.