Psalm 30

I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up,
         and did not let my foes rejoice over me.
O Lord my God, I cried to you for help,
         and you have healed me.
O Lord, you brought up my soul from Sheol,
         restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit.
 Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones,
         and give thanks to his holy name.
 For his anger is but for a moment;
         his favor is for a lifetime.
     Weeping may linger for the night,
         but joy comes with the morning. 
As for me, I said in my prosperity,
         “I shall never be moved.”
By your favor, O Lord,
         you had established me as a strong mountain;
     you hid your face;
         I was dismayed. 
To you, O Lord, I cried,
         and to the Lord I made supplication:
“What profit is there in my death,
         if I go down to the Pit?
     Will the dust praise you?
         Will it tell of your faithfulness?
Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me!
         O Lord, be my helper!” 
You have turned my mourning into dancing;
         you have taken off my sackcloth
         and clothed me with joy,
 so that my soul may praise you and not be silent.
         O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever.

Comment:

Psalm 30 is a song of thanksgiving for a healing. As with all the psalms, we begin by recognizing that the Lord being addressed is the Christ—the indwelling Presence of God that is the true identity of each of us. In this case, the more fear-based ego voice had been dwelling on the illness, filled with the kind of gloomy, depressed thoughts that we are often susceptible to when we feel sick. That voice keeps us in “the Pit” of self-pity. It is when we turn to the Christ Light within us that healing can happen. It may not happen all at once—“Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning”—but it will happen. Our illness will become spiritual radiance, our depression will become joy, and we will give thanks forever.

Blessings!

Rev. Ed