The Silver Lining of Grace-Shutdown Sunday 3

“The Silver Lining of Grace”

3/29/20

Week 3 of Streaming Only

Ps 30:1-5 LB “I will praise you, Lord, for you have saved me from my enemies. You refuse to let them triumph over me. 2 O Lord my God, I pleaded with you, and you gave me my health again. 3 You brought me back from the brink of the grave, from death itself, and here I am alive! 4 Oh, sing to him you saints of his; give thanks to his holy name. 5 His anger lasts a moment; his favor lasts for life! Weeping may last for a night, but joy comes in the morning!”

Here we have David describing a great deliverance.

He mentions the enemies that would have destroyed him, and praises God for not letting them triumph over him.

Then he also mentions a great physical healing where God literally saved him from death.

He says, “You gave me my health again; you brought me back from the brink of death.”

So David is rejoicing in retrospect, looking back over his great trial where enemies from without and enemies from within had all been defeated by the hand of God on his life.

Then he writes the passage we’ve all heard so many times that sums up his trial in one beautiful line:

“Weeping may last for a night, but joy comes in the morning.”

He’s saying that our trials are much like a spring storm.

We know that when the clouds grow dark and ominous,

and the lightning flashes in the distance,

and thunder rolls over our rooftops,

that it WILL NOT LAST.

What we see here in David’s words is the silver lining of God’s grace working throughout his trial, weaving a testimony that reaches down through the ages to touch millions with hope.

So....In this psalm there is the nighttime of trouble, and the daytime of breakthrough.

Let’s look at both of them—First we’re told that:

Weeping may endure for a night

There are trials that sometimes come our way that bring us to tears.

We’re no longer able to keep a stiff upper lip, and the fountains deep within us gush forth in weeping.

And this kind of trial, David says, lasts “for a night”....which is a figurative statement.

A NIGHT can be a day, a week, a month, or even longer.

It can be a short night or what seems like a very long night.

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This kind of trial has been called the “dark night of the soul.”

In a dark night of the soul our faith is tested.

It is a season where we can sometimes feel abandoned by God.

Circumstances are out of our control and we feel insecure and afraid.

One author writes: “In a real dark night of the soul it is always three o'clock in the morning”—You can’t sleep well, you feel alone, and it seems like daylight will never come.

We might struggle to enter His presence, or to get anything out of His Word.

We feel alone, even while surrounded by people.

Or we might actually be alone, sitting alone in an apartment or house with no one to share our trials with.

This dark night of the soul can be brought on by many things—

abandonment of a friend or spouse,

the loss of a job,

a physical illness,

or something ominous and unsettling like the Coronavirus.

But remember, the dark night of the soul is like that spring storm—it may be terrible, but it does not last.

If you’re in a dark night of the soul right now, stay tuned, because David has some good news for all of us!

He writes:

II. But joy comes in the morning

The Hebrew word for “joy” here means “a ringing cry, or a joyful shout.”

In other words, something powerful and dynamic has happened to this person that has been weeping in the night.

The darkness is gone, the clouds have passed, the sun is shining, and the weight is lifted!

The desperation is gone, the sense of hopelessness has faded, the once heavy heart is now filled with praise.

God has broken through!

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David tells us what happened: “...you saved me from my enemies, you gave me my health again. 3 You brought me back from the brink of the grave, from death itself, and here I am alive!”

You almost sense that he’s surprised he made it...”I was at the brink of the grave, and here I am alive!”

He thought he was down for the count.

It looked like there was no way out, but then....God moved as only God can!

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His dark night of the soul has faded to the background in light of the deliverance God has brought.

Jesus talked about this by comparing it to a woman in labor,

He said our trials can be “like a woman suffering the pains of labor. When her child is born, her anguish gives way to joy because she has brought a new baby into the world” (John 16:21 NLT).

Likewise, the pains of your midnight hour will be forgotten when the Lord causes the sun to shine and a new day is born!

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Folks, this storm will pass.

God knew this was coming.

One evening Jesus told His disciples to get into their boat and cross the sea to the other side.

Meanwhile, He went up into a mountain to pray.

The Bible says when they had rowed out about 3-4 miles a great wind began to blow and they couldn’t move forward.

They were stuck and weary and losing hope that they could make it to the other side.

But then Jesus appeared walking on the water!

Think about it—He was walking on top of their trial!

Walking on top of the very thing that was defeating them!

And He is walking on top of this Coronavirus storm and is saying to us what He said to the disciples:

“Be of good cheer! Do not be afraid!” (Mark 6:50 NKJV)

“Weeping lasts for a night, but joy comes in the morning...”

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And this brings me to one last thing—you will see following the trial that:

III. God’s grace has woven a silver lining

That’s why I’ve called this message, “The Silver Lining of Grace.”

I have learned through personal experience and from the Bible that God never wastes a pain, but works through our pain to bring lasting gain.

At the very end of the psalm, David says “You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,”

And why did God do this?

12 “To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent.”

Notice those words “to the end.” It means, “for the purpose.”

You brought me through this trial for the purpose that my soul will sing your praises and not be silent.”

In other words, you turned my dark night of the soul into a joyful day to give me a testimony!

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Folks, I believe that God is going to get glory from this crisis by thousands of believers from across the land rising up to testify of His care and goodness.

But more than that, I believe that this plague will cause many who haven’t even thought about God to look up and call on Jesus for salvation.

Jesus is walking on top of this storm.

He will deliver, He will provide, He will strengthen us, and He is preparing a testimony in your own life!

LET’S PRAY