Dressing For The Morning

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 30:11-12 (NIV)

This month we were exploring Psalm 30. David, having been through some extremely difficult times, shows his awareness of how God has been with him throughout. He urges his people to sing God’s praises and recognise how God has blessed them.

One verse that struck us was verse 11, which talks of David’s mourning being transformed into dancing. Clothes put on for a season of sorrow are exchanged for joy and gladness. All this so that David may give glory to God, the one who has clothed him for this new season in his life.

Various different translations of this verse give us plenty of food for thought. The Message gives us a vivid picture of David being ‘decked with wildflowers’- these being used as a symbol of gladness. The King James Bible uses the old-fashioned verb ‘to gird’, which can refer to putting on a belt or getting ready. In all of these examples it is God who prepares David for a promised time of joy, which verse 5 states ‘comes with the morning’.

As we explored together, we realised our many experiences make us familiar with how ‘the night’ David talks about in verse 5 can be difficult, painful and impossibly dark. One of our members talked about how the sky can seem heavy, another describing the past as bitter and broken. Yet, God prepares us for hope, with the promise that the joyful morning must follow the darkest night. As a community we are united in this hope as we both face night and morning together.