Daily Devotion for Sunday 12th May 2024

I will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me
and have not let my enemies rejoice over me.

O Lord, I cried to you for help
and you, my God, have healed me.
O Lord, you have raised my soul from the dead,
restored me to life from those who sink into the grave.

Sing psalms to the Lord, you who love him,
give thanks to his holy name.
His anger lasts a moment; his favour all through life.
At night there are tears, but joy comes with dawn.

I said to myself in my good fortune:
“Nothing will ever disturb me.”
Your favour had set me on a mountain fastness,
then you hid your face and I was put to confusion.

To you, Lord, I cried,
to my God I made appeal:
“What profit would my death be, my going to the grave?
Can dust give you praise or proclaim your truth?

The Lord listened and had pity.
The Lord came to my help.
For me you have changed my mourning into dancing,
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy.
So my soul sings psalms to you unceasingly.
O Lord my God, I will thank you for ever.

Reflection

Psalm 30 is about a person who has been through a rough time, but has come through on the other side.  Perhaps you have been through a tough time and come through it, or perhaps you are going through a tough time, and long to come through to the other side?  In the time of darkness, pain often feels worse in the night, when all the usual distractions of living are stripped away and we are left on our own; but with the dawning of a new day the light shone, hope came, and a new perspective is possible.  Psalm 30 reminds us that God is with us, during the night-time, and the day-time.  Cole Porter expressed it in a song:

Night and day
You are the one
Only you ‘neath the moon
Or under the sun
Whether near to me or far
No matter, darling where you are
I think of you
Night and day

You can also find it in the name of the cold and flu medicine: Day and Night Nurse.  Most of us need to know that there is someone, somewhere, watching over us, caring for us, and there for us.  We don’t always get it right in the Church, but it’s what we try to do, because our faith is in a God who is there for us, night and day.

Life has been hard and unfair for so many people, and the situations many people face each night, each day, seem overwhelming.  Money is tight.  Relationships are strained.  Children are a worry.  Parents need more support.  Work is draining.  Psalm 30 doesn’t airbrush these realities.  It doesn’t pretend bad things don’t happen to good people, nor bury its head in the sand.  If any of this speaks to you today, join with the Psalmist and say that our souls will praise God and not be silent.  Night and day.

Prayer

Dear Master, in whose life I see
all that I would, but fail to be,
let thy clear light forever shine,
to shame and guide this life of mine.

Though what I dream and what I do
in my weak days are always two,
help me, oppressed by things undone,
O thou whose deeds and dreams were one!

John Hunter (1843-1917)