Joel M Bradshaw

11You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,
12that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever!–Psalm 30

We don’t know why David was mourning. This psalm was part of the dedication of the Temple that Solomon would later build. You would think this would be a time of honor and celebration. So we take one interpretive step back.

David thus spoke of the type of God that Yahweh is. The God who is able to enter into the darkest and sad seasons of our lives and bring reversal and transformation. Let’s examine David’s four lines. He uses three verbs about God and three about himself. They go in a 1, 2-3, 4-5, 6 pattern. Nice balance with the poem.

1. YOU HAVE TURNED
2. YOU HAVE LOOSED AND CLOTHED
3. (THAT I) MAY SING AND NOT BE SILENT
4. I WILL GIVE THANKS

I have never danced in my mourning. But I recognized God’s comforting hand. And thus, to fight the depression that latches onto that grief, I remind myself that God is faithful and that God is at work. He is the one who turns my hardest moments into times of profound closeness to him and personal growth. We put on sackcloth so tightly that grief becomes our identity. God is able to loosen and then reclothe us. Gladness is a wonderful satisfaction in God. To be glad is to trust in God’s timing and God’s plan. Even if it means pain, disappointment, or loss.

The Hebrew of the first part verse 12 is simply, ‘to the end that glory may sing praise to you.’ David was a man that received plenty of glory. People once lined the streets to sing songs to him and about his accomplishments. Whatever was best about David was instead going to sing about God. This is another moment where David was a man after God’s heart. He responded to God for God’s glory and praise. He refused to be silent. He was one who freely thanked the God who brought his transformation.

In your hardest times, recognize the work of God. This means you look for it, pursue it. Change your story to reflect the presence of God in the midst of your pain and loss. The very God who brings comfort to those who mourn deserves a response. In your depression and sorrow, turn your focus away from yourself for just a moment and onto God. Practice this. Be intentional about this. God is at work. He cares for you. Life sometimes really sucks, but God is always faithful.

A profound faith is glad in the midst of unimaginable loss. I have had to learn this over and over. My wife and I have buried three of our children, all babies. I journey with people who have lost spouses, parents, and adult children. Couples with miscarriages. The pain is real, but so is God. He doesn’t just enter into our stories, he authors them. It takes a certain kind of faith to trust God when life is at its worst. To trust that God is at work and that joy will one day come again. And until then, whatever joy I have is with God.

This is the perspective of David. This was part of the beatitudes that Jesus later spoke. I don’t give thanks for the loss, but I thank God for his faithfulness. I trust his hand at work. I look to see glory go to him and sing his praise. I may just even put some dancing shoes on.–JMB