Psalm 30 - NKJV 1 I will extol (exalt) You, O LORD, for You have lifted me up, And have not let my foes rejoice over me. 2 O LORD my God, I cried out to You, And You healed me. 3 O LORD, You brought my soul up from the grave; You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. 4 Sing praise to the LORD, you saints of His, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name. 5 For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning. 6 Now in my prosperity I said, “I shall never be moved.” 7 LORD, by Your favor You have made my mountain stand strong; You hid Your face, and I was troubled. 8 I cried out to You, O LORD; And to the LORD I made supplication: 9 “What profit is there in my blood, When I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your truth? 10 Hear, O LORD, and have mercy on me; LORD, be my helper!” 11 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, 12 To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever. A Psalm. A Song at the dedication of the house of David.

Joy Comes In The Morning, NOT in the "Mourning" Aren't we the stubborn ones? We love sulking. We love a pity party. We delight in our miseries. We are stubborn in our pouting. "Why should I exalt the Lord? Just look at my circumstances. Look what has happened to me. Look how I have been cheated. " Someone said, "Misery loves company." That's true and the miserable love to pull everyone down to the level of their misery. Gloom and doom has a certain allure for the melancholy person. Depressed people don't want to be cheered. They stubbornly refuse to do the very thing that will get them out of the doldrums. The "Doldrums" is a naval term referring to the band of sea near the equator where ships used to flounder for days, even weeks, without even the slightest breeze to fill their sails. Eager sailors and wise captains put the men to work pulling the ship with boats in front and men manning the oars all day and all night until they were through the doldrums. It kept the men busy and raised hope that they would get through this. David refused to be stuck in the muck of his own heart's pouting. Sure he had troubles. Everyone does. But in the end he always said, "Yet I will praise the Lord." That is where most of us fall apart. We don't want to pull on the oars of our emotions to get us thorough our periods of discouragement. We'd rather do like Elijah and sit under a tree and ask the Lord to take away our lives because it isn't worth living. Oh, Pooh! David wisely refused to lie down and die. He deliberately fanned the flame of hope with praise, singing and dancing. "But", you say, "I don't feel like dancing." So what, is it better to feel like you do right now or to get up and dance, sing, and praise the Lord? Feelings like huge rockslides need to be blasted away by force. David refused to wait and let the mood pass. He took charge of his emotions. Praise is powerful. It is active and deliberate. It changes the way your feel no matter what your present circumstances. Praise the Lord anyhow! The louder, the more animated, the happier, the better. The ball is in your court. What are you going to do with it? I suggest you get your stereo out, or you Ipod or CD player and put on some of your rowdiest songs and dance to the music. I know you don't feel like it - that's the point! To get out of that dull feeling you've got to bust out. So, bust out in praise and dance. You'll be glad you did. A couple of weeks ago I was at my daughter-in-law's house visiting. She has a Willie Nelson CD that is filled with what I would call "happy hill belly songs. Now I don't care for Willie Nelson at all but before long I was stompin' my feet and one was so energetic I got up in the kitchen and did a jig with my grandkids. Man, that was fun and invigorating. I couldn't help myself. It was infectious. Happiness is contagious, so is depression. You can choose today where to park your camper, next to the dump, or on the dance floor. "David danced before the LORD with all his might." 2 Samuel 6:14 " New King James Bible, Bible Gateway Index Our Devotional Index Spurgeon - Treasury of David