The Phil Files

I will exalt you, LORD,
    for you lifted me out of the depths
    and did not let my enemies gloat over me.
  LORD my God, I called to you for help,
    and you healed me.
  You, LORD, brought me up from the realm of the dead;
    you spared me from going down to the pit.

  Sing the praises of the LORD, you his faithful people;
    praise his holy name.
  For his anger lasts only a moment,
    but his favor lasts a lifetime;
  weeping may remain for a night,
    but rejoicing comes in the morning.

  When I felt secure, I said,
  “I will never be shaken.”
  LORD, when you favored me,
    you made my royal mountain stand firm;
  but when you hid your face,
    I was dismayed.

  To you, LORD, I called;
    to the Lord I cried for mercy:
  “What is gained if I am silenced,
    if I go down to the pit?
  Will the dust praise you?
    Will it proclaim your faithfulness?
  Hear, LORD, and be merciful to me;
  LORD, be my help.”

  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.

\o/ — Comments Psalm 30: You removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy! — \o/

What is the basis of my happiness?
What is the basis of my esteem?
What is the basis of my health?
What is the basis of my security?

I am reminded as I read Psalm 30 that all of life is dependent upon my walk with the LORD and His presence and grace in my daily routines. His attentive care can turn the most desperate situation into a time of joy and dancing. His intervention in my life can turn sickness into health, defeat into victory, despair into confidence.

This realization challenges me to “hang in there” during times that are difficult knowing that they will pass and that the LORD will lead me to a better place. This realization reminds me to go to the Father in prayer with my every care and trust Him with my deepest concerns and most most obvious failures. Most of all, this realization drives me to praise God and celebrate His goodness, His involvement, His grace, His listening ear, His mercy, and His love for mere mortals like me. With the psalmist, I cry out with confidence:

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.

I don’t know what it’s like for you where you are today, but as I look at this psalm again, with spring bursting forth and the promise of all of God’s goodness for a new day, I am reminded of a Chris Tomlin song we sang recently when gathered with God’s people. It goes somethings like this:

I will lift my eyes
In the darkest night
For I know my Savior lives
And I will walk with You
Knowing You see me through
And sing the songs You give

How can I keep from singing Your praise?
How can I ever say enough?
How amazing is Your love?

How can I keep from shouting Your name?
I know I am loved by the King
And it makes my heart want to sing

No wonder we can talk about a God who has turned our mourning into dancing!

How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever?
    How long will you hide your face from me?
  How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
    and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
  How long will my enemy triumph over me?

  Look on me and answer, LORD my God.
    Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
  and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
    and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

  But I trust in your unfailing love;
    my heart rejoices in your salvation.
  I will sing the LORD’s praise,
    for he has been good to me.

\o/ — Comments Psalm 13: I trust in Your unfailing love! — \o/

The last enemy to be destroyed is death (1 Corinthians 15:26). Those were the apostle Paul’s words and they resonate in my heart today as I read this Psalm.

You see, today my heart is on a dear friend wrestling with terminal cancer. I say this Psalm for this friend. I cry out to God for a miracle. I pray for deliverance. Whether the psalmist’s original intentions were to speak of physical, military, or political enemies, my heart is drawn to our last, powerful, vicious enemy — death. I don’t want death to triumph in this case … not now … not with my friend.

I know there are times when death is welcome — when death is the doorway to God’s presence and God’s peace and escape from suffering and sickness. But, in a world of decay and mortality, where each of us is held by a fragile thread to life and family and friends, death is still an enemy. The Holy Spirit declares that Jesus came to liberate us from our fear of death’s tyrannical rule (Hebrews 2:14). So today, dear God, I pray this Psalm and ask for your deliverance of my friend.

Yet, dear God, I do trust in your unfailing love and I know the salvation that you have already lavished down on my friend. I know, dear Abba, that you have done so many great things for me and those that I love. I trust in Your goodness and Your care. I rest my heart in the assurance that Your deliverance will come — whether from death to good health or through death into Your presence (Philippians 1:19-23).

So as I listen to the birds of morning sing their songs, my heart wells up with joy and a song stirs in my heart, too. I praise you, O LORD, for You are good … You are my God … and Your goodness overflows and blesses me.