Joy Will Come and Last Longer

Friday January 30, 2026

Joy will come and it will last longer.  Our psalm this morning begins, “I will exalt you, Lord, because you have lifted me up and have not allowed my enemies to triumph over me” (Psalm 30:1).  Right away we can see that the psalmist has been in a very dark, and troubled circumstance.  To be lifted up, you have to be down.  Now, we don’t know how long this dark circumstance lasted, but we have all been there, haven’t we?  One night of struggle can seem like a lifetime.  But, what do we do while we wait?  The psalmist instructs, “Sing to the Lord, you his faithful ones, and praise His holy name” (Psalm 30:4).  These instructions appear to come by experience and faith.  What the Lord has done for the psalmist, He will do for all who are faithful.  So, we sing to the Lord.  For example, “I love You, Lord.  For your mercy never fails me.  All my days, I’ve been held in Your hand” or “I love You, Lord.  And I lift my voice, to worship You.  Oh, my soul, rejoice.  Take joy my King in what You hear.  May it be a sweet, sweet sound in Your ear”.  Whatever we do, we must do by faith.  In this case, we are singing to God, Who deserves praise, regardless of our circumstances.  We are singing to God, Who cares for us and hears the cries of the downtrodden.  Also, we are singing to God because we know He will answer and that, in His time, joy will come.  The psalmist says “For His anger lasts only a moment, but His favor a lifetime” (Psalm 30:5).  There is a theme in Scripture, that God must and will punish sin.  However, when repentant, His forgiveness is described in much longer terms.  We just finished Exodus, and we read where God proclaimed this about Himself: “The Lord – the Lord is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth, maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin.  But He will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the fathers iniquity on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation (Exodus 34:6-7).  Notice how God describes His faithful love to a thousand generations, while the punishment is described by three to four generations.  The psalmist recognizes that God’s anger will not last forever, so we repent, pray, draw closer, and even sing, knowing that “Weeping may stay overnight, but there is joy in the morning” (Psalm 34:5).