READ Psalm 30:6–12. 6 When I felt secure, I said, “I will never be shaken.” 7 LORD, when you favored me, you made my royal mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was dismayed. 8 To you, LORD, I called; to the Lord I cried for mercy: 9 “What is gained if I am silenced, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your faithfulness? 10 Hear, LORD, and be merciful to me; LORD, be my help.” 11 You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, 12 that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent. LORD my God, I will praise you forever.
OVERCONFIDENCE. We often stroll through life, thinking everything will be fine, until suddenly it isn’t. Our unconscious or even verbalized thought is “I’m solid. I’m on top of things. I’ve got it nailed. I’ve planned well. I’m secure.” Verses 6–7 show how even after a recent act of God’s deliverance we can slip back into self-confidence, this time by thinking of God’s favor as a right we earned. But God shakes our confidence in our earthly life so that we can yearn for our heavenly life, where our joy is truly unshakable and where our wailing will be turned into dancing.
Prayer: Lord, teach me, during all the stomach-churning ups and downs of life, how to fix my heart where true joys are to be found.23 Amen.