Psalm 30:5
Weeping may stay for the night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning. (NIV)
Today’s Reading: Psalm 30
Psalm 30 is another psalm written by David. Your Bible likely says at the beginning that this is a song “for the dedication of the temple.” But as we know, David didn’t build the temple – his son Solomon did. So why would David write a song for the temple dedication? Maybe because it wasn’t that temple that David was dedicating. The temple was Jesus.
“Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.’ They replied, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?’ But the temple he had spoken of was his body” (John 2:19-21).
Psalm 30 has much the same ring to it as Psalm 22. It has an overtone of the psalmist crying out to God for help for rescue from his enemies. It begins and ends the same with the psalmist praising God. This psalm is also not considered to be a messianic psalm per se but we see Jesus throughout its verses. Specifically we see the resurrection throughout this psalm.
Verses one and three speak about the psalmist being rescued from the depths, the realm of the dead and from the pit. We then see it again in verse nine when the psalmist asks, “What is gained if I am silenced, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your faithfulness?” If these are the words of Jesus, we hear him making the argument that if he isn’t resurrected, then who will praise God? The praises of God from all of creation are depending on the resurrection of Jesus.
Jesus explains all of this in chapter 12 of the gospel of John. He predicts his death and resurrection and then explains what will happen after his resurrection. Jesus said, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” When Jesus is resurrected, the nations will praise God!
The most familiar verse of this psalm is likely verse five. “For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” Jesus again predicted this verse almost verbatim when he said, “Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy” (John 16:20).
For me, joy is the takeaway of Psalm 30. Jesus cried out to God for rescue and mercy. His pain was very real and very difficult to endure. God turned his back on him and placed on him the sins of the world. However, God’s “anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime.” And then God “turned my wailing into dancing” (verse 11).
The directive of the psalmist to us is to praise God. The psalmist begins and ends this psalm by praising God and he implores us in verse four to do the same. Jesus went on to say, “So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy” (John 16:22). No one should take away our joy. No matter what kind of junk life throws at us, the victory is won. We have an eternal hope in Jesus. We should never lose the joy of our resurrected savior giving us eternal life.
Christ in the Old Testament 
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