I will exalt you, Lord, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me. Lord my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me. You, Lord, brought me up from the realm of the dead; you spared me from going down to the pit.
Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people; praise his holy name. 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.
When I felt secure, I said, “I will never be shaken.” Lord, when you favored me, you made my royal mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was dismayed.
To you, Lord, I called; to the Lord I cried for mercy: “What is gained if I am silenced, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? W ill it proclaim your faithfulness? Hear, Lord, and be merciful to me; Lord, be my help.”
You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent. Lord my God, I will praise you forever. - Psalm 30
"When I felt secure, I said, 'I will never be shaken'...but when you hid your face, I was dismayed." Our sense of stability should come from God and not our circumstances. There are still tears. The psalmist talks about "weeping may stay for the night." and being in mourning when God "removed my sackcloth." He talks about waiting, "being in the depths" and fearing that his enemies having a chance to gloat over his weakness. But the one thing that he counts on is the solidity and immovability of God. If the relationship with God is good, then the rest will be good. If that is not good, then nothing is good.
As it says in Hebrews, "...but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our 'God is a consuming fire.'" (Heb 12:26b-29) God allows "shaking" and the years and the waiting because he wants us to see what is really solid. No relationship, no position, no bank account, no skill or talent lasts. That is scary in some ways because I want good things to continue. I don't want them to be taken away just for God to prove his point. But I think that sometimes we don't realize how much we aren't depending on God until those things are taken away--at least temporarily.
What I get from this psalm is: fight the good fight, keep on fighting and rely on God's stable character .
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