Psalm 30:11-12 "Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; (12) To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever."
We talked recently of the joy that comes at the dawning of light. Let's
stop just now for a moment to remember the song of Zachariah, the father of
John the Baptist. A portion of that prophetic song says this, "And
thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go
before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; (77) To give
knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,
(78) Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring
from on high hath visited us, (79) To give light to them that sit
in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."
(Luke 1:76-79)
At a casual reading, this may seem unrelated, but we can see by placing the two
together that the Lord was indeed the source of David's joyful morning. The
same applies to us. When the "dayspring from on high" visits us, our
darkness is illuminated. He replaces our clothing of mourning with garments of
praise. As the Lord Jesus Christ does that for us, our silence is
replaced with His praise.
Let's talk about the reality of experience for a moment. For some of us, there
are times when we just do not feel like using our voice for praise. I know that
might sound strange for some who have never been in that place; yet it is true
for many of us. Why is it that we cannot force praise to come out of our
mouths? Could it be that we are still in that time of darkness? How
can we overcome that time of darkness even while walking through the valley of
despair? (David referred to it as the valley of the shadow of death.) But
how can we get through the dark times? It is during those times that we must
lift up our eyes. We must take our eyes off ourselves and place them upon the
"dayspring from on high". David said, "I will lift up my
eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help. My help comes from the LORD -
that dayspring, morning sun that drives away the darkness. He doesn't
always take away the situation or circumstance, but He does enable us to see,
by faith, that He is walking with us and in full control.
David said, "I will give thanks unto thee for ever." May we
stop to realize that even in the worst times of our lives, we are not alone.
For He has said, "I will never... I will never... I will never leave you
or forsake you or turn my back upon you." We can trust Him for He is
faithful and true.