A person of many moods

Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people; praise his holy name. For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favour lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. When I felt secure, I said, ‘I shall never be shaken’. Lord, when you favoured me, you made my royal mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was dismayed… You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy… Psalm 30

Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18

I think Psalm 30 is one of the most interesting and nourishing of the psalms, even though it’s only twelve verses long. Why? Because it travels through a variety of moods, from fear and misery to sheer joy and delight. (I’ve only quoted a handful of verses – please take a moment to soak it up as a whole.)

Just look at the way the psalmist describes what has been going on in his life…

He is like somebody rescued from the sea, “lifted out of the depths” (verse 1), “brought up from the realm of the dead” (verse 3). Has he had a serious bout of illness? – verse 2 certainly suggests so.

He has felt rejected by God himself, indeed, that God has been “angry” with him (verse 5). Do you remember times, perhaps as a child, when you felt the cold blast of an adult’s anger?

He has cried out to God, perhaps as never before (verse 2). He has even gone so far as to imagine that God’s arm can be twisted: “What is gained if I am silenced, if I go down to the pit?” (verse 9), as if to say, “Come on, Lord, it really doesn’t reflect very well on you if I, known as one of your children, should be allowed to go right under!”

Grim times indeed. I wonder if you can identify with that today? If so, be assured you are not alone.

But now notice the wonderful change of key…

God has “lifted him out of the depths…”; he has not let his enemies “gloat over him” (verse 1). He has been rescued, vindicated!

Certainly, he has known tears – “weeping” has “lasted through the night”, but he has made the wonderful discovery that “rejoicing comes in the morning” (verse 5). Yes, his “wailing has been turned into dancing”; and God has “removed his sackcloth and clothed him with joy” (verses 11-12). A new, bright dawn has arrived. (If you have a Good News translation of the Bible, take a look at the drawing under Psalm 150 – I like to think our psalmist is that chap on the left, really giving it everything he’s got…)

So… a man who has found God in a whole new way and who can’t contain his joy; and a psalm for us to squirrel away for when the dark times come. Make a note!

I’ve skimmed over the whole psalm; but I’ve left out one of its most important features: the writer also gives us an insight into what went wrong, and what led to his misery.

Our moods of course can swing quite violently from day to day, very often through no particular fault of our own. But here it seems that, putting it briefly, a particular sin had got a grip on the writer; he had had a bit of an arrogance problem: “When I felt secure, I said, ‘I shall never be shaken’. Lord, when you favoured me, you made my royal mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was dismayed…” (verses 6-7).

You can only admire his honesty, can’t you? He thought he had everything sorted out, and was, presumably, feeling pretty pleased with himself – “I’m all right, Jack” - but as he looks back and reflects, he is humble enough to pour his thoughts into this poem, and then to allow it to go public.

If the title, “Of David”, which has been added to the psalm, is in fact correct – and it very well could be – then we are looking at one of the characteristics that made this flawed, imperfect man so attractive: he was deeply humble and always willing to admit his faults.

One of the most dramatic and disturbing episodes in David’s life was his adultery with Bathsheba and his murder of her husband, Uriah the Hittite. Nathan the prophet catches David out and confronts him with his sin. What does he do? Make excuses? Try and wriggle out of his responsibility? Laugh it off? Claim that, well, this is the way powerful kings behave – helping themselves to whatever women they like, thank you very much?

No. According to 2 Samuel 12:13: “David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the Lord’”.

Just that. No ifs, no buts. A beautiful simplicity. Yes, David was capable of great sin, but capable too of frank, open confession. Is this a word for some of us?

We who claim to follow Christ can easily slip into pride, arrogance, self-assurance, over-confidence, call it what you like. We have done well! We are successful! We are king of the castle! Our church is the biggest, the best-known, the most influential, the most doctrinally correct, the most Spirit-filled. We’re all right, Jack.

Until one day we discover that we aren’t. Perhaps, for us as for the writer of Psalm 30, a helping of humble pie might be just what we need.

Or perhaps the stark warning of the apostle Paul: “If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” (1 Corinthians 10:12).

It’s only a matter of time, be clear about that…

Father, please forgive me for the proud, arrogant spirit that so often hides behind a smiling face. Bring me low, so that in time I will be lifted high in Christ. Amen.