You Turned My Wailing Into Dancing (Psalm 30:6-12)

⁶ When I felt secure, I said,
“I will never be shaken.”
⁷ Lord, when you favored me,
you made my royal mountain stand firm;
but when you hid your face,
I was dismayed.

⁸ To you, Lord, I called;
to the Lord I cried for mercy:
⁹ “What is gained if I am silenced,
if I go down to the pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it proclaim your faithfulness?
¹⁰ Hear, Lord, and be merciful to me;
Lord, be my help.”

¹¹ You turned my wailing into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
¹² that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.
Lord my God, I will praise you forever.

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What is interesting in these verses is the importance of praising the Lord for His help in times of trouble.  In fact, David points out to the Lord that if the Lord doesn’t help David, then he won’t be able to praise the Him.  In verse 11-12, David links together the Lord’s deliverance with the result that his heart may sing the Lord’s praises.  This, David says, he will do forever. The point is that God’s deliverance and blessing is to result in praise.

Is this going on in my life?  It’s good that we have regularly scheduled times of praise, usually Sunday morning.  But one of the dangers of a “regularly scheduled” praise is that it becomes habit without reflection.  When I’m singing the Lord’s praises, is it flowing consciously from His work in my life and the lives of others? Is it flowing from His faithful answer to my prayers?  Or is it simply that now is the time to sing a hymn or a song?

One of the things that I try to do in my daily prayer time is to reflect on the previous day, walking through the events, activities and conversations.  As I do so, I seek to give God thanks and praise for the numerous ways He was at work.  Sometimes I’m surprised as I see an incident or conversation in a whole new light, noticing things I didn’t see when I lived through them.  Now upon reflection I see that there is something here for which to give God praise.

Another practice that can be helpful is to reflect similarly before worship on Sunday.  We always have cause to sing the Lord’s praises for His mercy and grace, daily and weekly.  But where else have I seen His hand this week?  How else have I or the people around me been blessed?

When I take the time to do this, I find new life and meaning injected into words of praise that I sing and recite.  Old hymns and fresh songs become my song of praise to the Lord.

So my prayer today is that the Lord make me mindful of His blessings in my life, His answers to my prayers.  I pray that as a result, that I may be clothed with joy, and my heart sing His praises.

NOTE:

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