JOY RESTORED
Sing to the LORD, O you His saints, and praise His holy name. For His anger is fleeting, but His favor lasts a lifetime. Weeping may stay the night, but joyH7440 comes in the morning.
Psalm 30:4-5
H7440 רִנָּה rinnâh – from H7442; properly, a creaking (or shrill sound), i.e. shout (of joy or grief):—cry, gladness, joy, proclamation, rejoicing, shouting, sing(-ing), triumph.
Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible
David thanked God for freedom from his murderous enemies. He says for the righteous to rejoice in song and offer gratitude in the awesome name of the Lord. God’s chastisement is temporal, but His blessing is without end. Wailing is fed by darkness, but joy feeds on the Light. In John 8:12, Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.” As believers, our focus is to be on Jesus alone. He is the Light who enables us to shout for joy.
In November of 1992, I (Susan) went through a horrific, heartbreaking experience with a young man who had discussed engagement with me. We thought we were in love. We had been best friends for four-and-a-half years before we began dating. I come from divorced parents, so we met with our pastors to ask them to pray and to give us their feelings on the matter even before we started dating. We received their blessing. I felt the Lord had impressed upon me in August that I needed to break up with him or my heart would be shattered, but I did not obey. I was having too much fun thinking that I was in love to listen to the One who loved me more than anyone else. At the time, the truth that God had revealed to me in August was so deeply buried in my heart that I did not admit it to myself. Months earlier, his family had bought tickets so that he could spend our three-week Christmas vacation with me and my family. Then on Thanksgiving weekend (also finals week of my first semester of graduate school), out of the blue, with no apparent warning, my best friend/boyfriend broke up with me and told me he wanted to see other people. This shattered me. However, the Lord had warned me, but I chose to be in denial. To make a much longer story short, the reason I survived this awfully terrible breakup is that Jesus tenderly came to me through an adopted family, whom He used to put my broken heart back together again. Joy came because I had those friends who lovingly, prayerfully, and tenderly came alongside me until I could once again lift my head to see the light of the morning.
Are you struggling with a painful breakup or other difficult problem? Let Jesus shine His light on the situation and strengthen you with the true Light. He will restore your joy!
Father, in our darkest moments, help us to remember that Jesus is the Light!
Worship and Rejoice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sGtUWzaJ3E