Up From The Grave

We come to this weekend to mourn. And then we celebrate. But celebrating seems difficult, if not impossible, when Brussels is in mourning. Ankara has suffered a similar fate. Yemen is in flames, while the long, desperate strangulation of Syria and Iraq continues. How can we celebrate in the midst of this darkness? Many thousands of Christians around the world approach this weekend living in fear, simply because of their faith. How can they rejoice in such circumstances? It's not just the big geopolitical stuff of course. There are things closer to home to worry about, too. Do we rejoice when we think about our finances, our relationships, our health? We can rejoice because of the God who feels our pain, and more importantly, the God who did something about it. This is the God who came into the world as a baby. That world was in a mess. Roman occupation of the land of His forefathers meant misery. More than 2,000 years later, not much has changed. There is misery every time we turn on the news. But as Christians, we know that's not the full story. We can then anticipate the time when there will be no more misery and no more suffering. No more terror attacks and bombings, no more money worries, no more persecution of our brothers and sisters overseas. Resurrection means the victory of life over death, of hope over despair and of joy over misery. To get to Resurrection Sunday, though, we have to go through the suffering of Good Friday. So, while it might seem like this is the worst time to celebrate, actually this is the best time…This is a celebration which acknowledges the suffering in the world. It's a celebration which transforms suffering into joy. After all, resurrection is only possible after death. (http://www.christiantoday.com/article/in.a.world.with.so.much.tragedy.heres.why.we.should.celebrate.easter/82600.htm)

The promise of the resurrection is one of the most precious and glorious gifts God gives us in his Word. Psalm 30 is a song that celebrates the resurrection. Originally written, the superscription to the Psalm indicates that this is a psalm of David, The phrase “A Psalm of David” could mean that it was written by David, for David, about David, or even in the style of David. David was a prophet who spoke of Christ (cf. Acts 2:30, 31), and ultimately this psalm points forward to Jesus Christ, the Son of David. Reading Psalm 30 in light of Jesus’ resurrection helps explain the historical note in the inspired superscription, “A SONG AT THE DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE.” The temple wasn’t built in David’s lifetime. Solomon built it several years after David died. The historical outline of 2 Samuel 24 and 1 Chronicles 21 provides a perfect framework into which we may place Psalm 30, describing the purchase, the erection of an altar, and the dedication by David of the threshing floor of Araunah. It seems likely that the dedication of this site, upon which later David’s son would build the glorious Solomonic Temple, is meant by the superscription of the psalm. (Hindson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible Commentary (p. 1018). Nashville: Thomas Nelson).

As a Christian it is hard to read this superscription without remembering that Jesus described his own body as the temple. Jesus said to the Jews, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). They thought he was talking about Herod’s temple, a huge, magnificent building. But John clarifies that Jesus “was speaking about the temple of his body” (John 2:21). So when we read Psalm 30 in the light of the New Testament, this song celebrates the dedication of Jesus’ own body on the cross. Jesus is the temple, the place where we meet God. When God the Father raised him from the dead, God the Son sang for joy.

Death was not the end for Jesus, and death is not the end for anyone who belongs to him. There is joy in the morning. The light of God’s presence welcomes us on the other side of the valley of the shadow of death. We have not been raised bodily with Christ yet, but by faith his joy is ours today. Our hearts can fly with the hope of the resurrection!

As David speaks for Christ in Psalm 30, he 1) Praises God for the resurrection (Psalm 30:1-5) and 2) Prays for the Resurrection (vv. 6–12).

1) Praise for the Resurrection (Psalm 30:1-5)

Psalm 30:1-5 1 I will extol you, O LORD, for you have drawn me up and have not let my foes rejoice over me. 2 O LORD my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me. 3 O LORD, you have brought up my soul from Sheol; you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.4 Sing praises to the LORD, O you his saints, and give hanks to his holy name. 5 For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. (ESV)