As I look out into the congregation, I see two types of people. Some of you may be tall, short, or an average height, but I still see two types of people. Some of you may be brown skin, dark skin, light skin, red, yellow, black, or white, but I still only see two types of people. The two types of people I see are those who are going through weeping nights, and those that are in joyful mornings. Since everyone in here is in one of these two categories, then I should have everyone’s attention as God speaks to us about our weeping nights and joyful mornings.
Anyone who has been living for some time or if you’re at an age of understanding, you know that life isn’t easy. There are some people who fool us because they only express the emotions of joy and happiness, but life isn’t easy. Our accomplishments may outnumber our failures, but life isn’t easy. Because life isn’t easy, sometimes we’re up, and at other times we’re down. The person sitting right next to you may be going through a weeping night, while you’re in a joyful morning. Perhaps you’re both going through weeping nights or both in joyful mornings. Whichever you’re going through, the fact remains that we will or have already gone through weeping nights and joyful mornings.
If I were to poll the congregation, I believe that 100% would say they rather experience joyful mornings, than experience weeping nights. But what we must understand is that weeping nights and joyful mornings go hand in hand. In other words, they work together; you can’t have one without the other. Betty Wright in the 1988 classic song said, “No Pain, No Gain.” If we want to gain or attain joy in the morning, then we must endure the pain through the night. I know that doesn’t sit well with a lot of people, but remember we’ve already established that life isn’t easy. If I’m going to shout for joy in the morning, then I must first weep through the night. If I want to experience bright joy in the morning, then I must endure nights of distress.
David, who is the author of this psalm, had his fair share of weeping nights and joyful mornings. He went through weeping nights when King Saul was seeking to take his life, but joyful mornings came when King Saul was killed in battle, and David occupied the throne as King. He went through weeping nights when his adultery with Bathsheba was hidden, but experienced joyful mornings once he confessed his sins to God. David experienced weeping nights when his own son Absalom chased him from his throne, but experienced joyful mornings when he returned to Jerusalem. Because of David’s joyful mornings, he was able to write this psalm of thanksgiving, and celebration of God’s deliverance.
We’re not quite sure from which experiences in life David wrote this psalm, but we do know that David had a reason to praise God. We know that David had endured some weeping nights, and because God brought him out, he was able to praise God for the joyful mornings. Look at David’s praise in verse 1; he exalts the Lord for lifting him up, and not allowing his enemies to gloat over him. In verse 2, David acknowledges that God heard his cry for help and healed him from sickness. Verse 3, David knew that it was God who had spared his life. David then encourages other saints to praise God in verse 4, because he knew that he wasn’t the only one God had blessed.
David could really praise God for knowing that his anger last for a moment, but God’s favor lasts a lifetime. And in our highlighted scripture for today, David gives us something to shout about, weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning!
But, before we get our shout on, let’s try to understand weeping nights and joyful mornings by asking ourselves a few questions.
The first question you need to ask yourself is, “What is your weep?” What is it that causes you distress and grief? What brings you mental aguish and pain? What is it that keeps you from getting a good night’s sleep? Somebody’s weep may be their employment situation or unemployment. Somebody’s weep may be a broken relationship with someone they love. Somebody’s weep may be a sin that you’ve been struggling with for some time, but just can’t seem to break loose. What is your weep? Whatever your weep is, God knows all about it.
Have you ever considered that you may be the cause of your weep? Or maybe your weep is something that God has allowed to come your way. But whatever the reason is you’re weeping, you can’t dwell on the weep or the night you’re in.
The longer we dwell on the night, the farther we remain from the joyful morning. Do you know that you may be the reason why you’re still in weeping nights? If you’re trying to fix a situation that you have no control over, then as long as you do so you will remain in your weeping night. Maybe you haven’t completely turned your problems over to God, if you haven’t you will remain in your weeping night. When we allow God to have control in our weeping nights, then we will be able to clearly see the joyful morning approaching. But to better understand the night season and to clearly see the morning approaching, we have to know what our weep is.
How can I cry out to God for help, if I don’t know what the problem is? Of course God knows all about it, but I need to know what I’m dealing with as well? And I don’t mean that we take God out of the equation, because only through Him will we truly understand what we’re dealing with. But when we understand our weep, and what causes us to be in our night seasons, then when God shows us the direction we need to go in, we’ll be able to clearly see the path that will lead us to our joyful mornings.
Knowing your weep isn’t the only question that needs to be asked, but you must also ask what does it mean to endure for a night? Remember; when we understand the answers to these questions, we’ll better understand our weeping nights and joyful mornings. But David said, “Weeping may endure for a night.” I don’t know if you see what I see here, but I see a reason to shout and praise God before my joy in the morning even arrives! The simple fact that weeping only endures for a night, is a good reason to praise God.
When the sun sets and darkness takes over the sky, 8 to 9 hours later, the sun starts to rise again. The sunshine erases the darkness from the sky. David uses the night to show us that our weeping is temporary, the night isn’t going to last. In Hebrew the word “endure” is loon, which means “to lodge or stop over.” When you travel and get a hotel room, you lodge there, it isn’t your permanent home, but you stay there temporarily. So it is with our weeping, it lodges or stops over for a night.
The question is what does it mean to endure for a night? We now understand that this means whatever our weep is, it’s only temporary. I’ve learned that the only thing that can give me hope in my darkest hours is the promises of God found in His Holy Word. Here the Word of God promises that our weeping doesn’t last forever. You may be unemployed right now, but sooner or later God is going work things out. Family issues may be your weep, but if you just hold on throughout the night, in the morning a change will come.
It’s good to know that weeping nights are temporary, but notice David didn’t say how long the night will last. Have you ever had a family member or friend who for some reason needed to stay with you for a while? You knew that it was temporary, but after a month or two you begin to wonder how long they would be there. Especially after you noticed they found your stash of food and always sat in your favorite spot on the couch.
We don’t know how long our nights will last, but if we just trust God and know that all things will work together for our good, it really doesn’t matter how short or long the night is. God will be right there with us throughout the entire night, so that we can rest in weeping nights.
I’m getting ready to sit down and be happy all by myself, but there’s one more question that must be raised, and that question is, “What determines your morning?” When we’re going through weeping nights, we’re always looking for the joy in the morning to arrive. We want to know when the trials will be over. We want to know when the sun is going to shine. But what determines the joyful mornings? Is it when you found a job, and no longer unemployed? Is it when the family starts to get along and everything is fine and dandy? Is it when you’re no longer down and out? The answer to these questions is yes, but not always.
“Well what do you mean yes, but not always?” “It seems to me that when everything is alright, my joy in the morning has arrived.” And I’m saying that’s not the case, but here’s something else to consider. Check this out. David was a Jew, and the Jewish days began at sundown. Now the Jews probably said, “What makes more sense? For a new day to begin when the old day ends or for a new day to start in the middle of the night?” That’s basically why the Jewish day begins at sundown—it follows the laws of nature. Not only that, in the biblical account of the creation, at the end of each day it says, “And the evening and the morning were the first day.” By mentioning evening before morning, the Bible defines a day as beginning with the nighttime, followed by the morning.
With that being said, we can’t always look for the bright sunshine as being the arrival of a new day that brings joy in the morning. Joy in the morning isn’t always when things seem good and bright, but joy in morning can come in the darkest hours of the night, which can still be your morning! It still may be dark in my life, my situations and circumstances may still be hanging around, but I have joy, because it’s morning time! The sun (s-u-n) may not have risen yet, but because the Son (S-o-n) has risen, I can have joy!
When the sun shines in your life that might be your morning, but your morning could come in the darkest hours of the night also. The question was what determines your morning? Since joyful mornings can come in the darkness or light of your life, that doesn’t determine the morning, what determines the morning is whenever you have joy.
David praised God for delivering him from all his troubles and pain, and he encourages us in this psalm to hold on and hold out, because although you’re weeping right now, joy will come in the morning. If we want to better understand weeping nights and joyful mornings, we must first know what our weep is? When we understand what the source is we’ll know what to pray for and which direction to go in when God shows us the way. We also need to know what it means to endure for a night. Knowing that the night is temporary gives hope and encouragement to hold on. And lastly, we need to know what determines the morning. The morning is not always the ideal situation we think it should be, but the morning is determined by the arrival of joy.
But thank God for joy in the morning. When joy comes, God will turn winter nights into a summer days, sighing into singing, grief into gladness, mourning into music, bitter into sweet, and our wilderness into a paradise. What are you waiting for, praise God right now, because we have the promise that weeping is temporary and joy will come in the morning. In contemporary language, what David was trying to say is that troubles don’t last always.
The song writer said, “In the morning we’ll experience:
Light after darkness, gain after loss,
Strength after weakness, crown after cross;
Sweet after bitter, hope after fears,
Home after wandering, praise after tears.
Sheaves after sowing, sun after rain,
Sight after mystery, peace after pain;
Joy after sorrow, calm after blast,
Rest after weariness, sweet rest at last.
Near after distant, gleam after gloom,
Love after loneliness, life after tomb;
I’m so glad, that one morning; joy came in the miraculous rising of Jesus Christ from the grave...
