The long view of life

Psalm 30:1-7

Are you going through a difficult time? Do you wonder whether it will last for ever?

God’s ‘favor lasts a lifetime’ (v.5). As David looked back on his life, he was filled with thankfulness and ‘praise’ (v.4). Yes, he had been through some very difficult times. But God ‘lifted [him] out of the depths and did not let [his] enemies gloat over [him]’ (v.1). When he called to God for help, God ‘healed’ him (v.2).

‘God, my God, I yelled for help
 and you put me together.
 God, you pulled me out of the grave, 
gave me another chance at life
 when I was down-and-out’ (v.2–3, MSG).

David had times when God was angry with him (v.5) and where God hid his face from him (v.7b). (After all, David did commit adultery and murder.) Yet, as he looked back on his life he was able to see that the moments of trial and testing were in the context of a lifetime of God’s favor.