AP

Psalm 30:11-12   You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent.  O LORD my God, I will give you thanks for ever.

King David had been through a rough time – and much of his life had been plagued with rough times.  Perhaps this is why so many people find his psalms so helpful!

The rubric at the beginning of the psalm says it was ‘For the dedication of the Temple’, a time when David would have especially reflected on the LORD’s goodness and faithfulness to him in his difficult times, because the Temple was a symbol of God’s Covenant relationship with, and care of, his Chosen People.  It was a place where they could encourage one another with the joyful singing of his praise together.

I am not part of a Church tradition that is comfortable with expressing the richness of its feeling and praise with ‘dancing’, or even just the raising and waving of hands, but I do like to join enthusiastically in the singing (even though this often leads to the embarrassment of being a loud soloist at the beginning of a line!  I was much more comfortable in the olden days when the metre of songs and tunes was much more regular and predictable).

But there is something very therapeutic about singing God’s praise in company with fellow-believers of like mind and recipients of God’s saving grace – something very sackcloth-removing and joy-clothing.  I hope we all, like David, ‘will not be silent’ during praise time at worship.  Why would we not want to ‘give him thanks for ever’ for all his abundant mercies?  “I will sing of my Redeemer and his wondrous love to me; on the cruel cross he suffered, from the curse to set me free.  Sing, oh, sing of my Redeemer, with his blood he purchased me; on the cross he sealed my pardon, paid the debt, and made me free” (Philip Bliss). 
– Bruce Christian