Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.
– Psalm 30:5
As I was praying about what verse to lead us to pray according to today, this one stuck out in Psalm 30. As I thought of people who may be listening to this who were in a dark night in some way in your life. And that could obviously mean a lot of different things. It could mean just an ongoing struggle that you’ve been walking through, maybe for a long time. It could be the loss of someone who you love or something in your life. Or it could be any number of things when it comes to physical, mental, emotional, or relational challenges.
Psalm 30:5 reminds us that sorrow will not last forever.
So just think of any valley. Because when I was reading Psalm 23, studying it recently to preach on it… God just in a fresh way reminded me of the beauty of the Word “through” in verse four. David writes, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I’ll fear no evil for you are with me.” Isn’t that word “through” so good? To know that valleys are not the destination for those who know the Lord? But that valleys are part of the journey that leads to a destination on the other side of that valley? That valleys, grief, sorrow, or dark nights are not the end of the story for those who know the Lord? For those who trust in Jesus?
And that’s what Psalm 30:5 is saying, “Weeping may tarry for the night.” The Bible is so clear from cover to cover. This world is filled with sadness, sorrow, sin, and the darkness that comes from it in so many different ways. But the Bible is also clear from cover to cover that the night will not last. The whole picture of Heaven in Revelation 21 and 22 at the end of God’s Word is a picture of light and joy. This is, in a sense, the story of all of our lives. Weeping may tarry for the night in this world, but joy is coming with the morning.
It’s guaranteed for all those who know the King who has conquered sin and death… He has promised to restore all things, including all joy, where He will wipe away every tear from our eyes.
Psalm 30:5 reminds us that the restoration of all things is coming.
So, God, I just pray this verse over those who are walking through valleys, who are walking through dark days, and nights in any number of different ways. God, for those who are grieving, for those who are hurting, for those who are in pain, and those experiencing sorrow, and struggles of so many different kinds in this fallen world.
God, I pray that right now by your Spirit, you would take Psalm 30:5 and just plant it deep in their minds and hearts that weeping is real, that sorrow and sadness are real and may tarry for a time for however long this dark night lasts. But God, I pray that, right now, in a fresh way, you would fill them with hope, that joy is coming in the morning, that this night is not the end of the story, that joy is coming, that the restoration of all things is coming. That, one day, you’re going to personally wipe every tear from their eyes. That you will bring them through this valley.
This verse reminds us that God is with us in our suffering.
And that as they walk through this valley, you are with them. They are not alone. And not just with them, but for them, to carry them through, as we see all throughout in different places in the Psalms, be our Shepherd, be their Shepherd, all those who are hurting right now, and carry them through this valley to the morning. Jesus, we praise you for the confidence we have in you that “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.”
God, we pray… Help us to make this good news known to people around us today. Even in the midst of darkness, God, to be able to point to the hope we have in you, Jesus, that others might be drawn to your light as we walk through darkness.
Prayer for the Pushkarna Brahmin People
And God, we pray this for people who’ve never heard this good news. We pray specifically today for the Pushkarna Brahmin people of India, 100,000 Hindu men, women, and children, no known followers of Jesus among them.
God, please cause the Pushkarna Brahmin people to be reached with the good news that this sinful, sorrowful world of death is not the end of the story for all those who trust in Jesus, that eternal life is possible in you because of your love for us. God help us to spread that good news all over the world, and we pray that the Pushkarna Brahmin people would be reached by it through us, through people who know that, “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy is coming in the morning.” We pray all this according to your Word, which we love in Psalm 30:5. In Jesus’ name, amen.