God’s goodness is LIFELONG, and troubles are passing.
For his anger lasts only a moment, but his Favour lasts a lifetime (or in His Favour is Life! AMPC, KJV); weeping may remain for a night, but Rejoicing comes in the morning. Psalm 30:5
David endured many lengthy troubles, indeed he even told Jonathan, ‘there was only a step between him and death’, 1 Sam 20:3; yet it was David who wrote Psalm 30. He held on to his faith in the Lord, despite numerous difficult trials and wrote praising God’s Favour on his life. He didn’t just endure his trials but praised God through them and kept his soul free from bitterness. (‘Stay sweet in your soul, Russ’ Roy Walden Senior).
God is often portrayed by religious people as being harsh and critical, looking for our mistakes and weaknesses to catch us out. David’s picture is the opposite, momentary anger and Lifetime Favour. We have a loving Heavenly Father who is looking for a people to share eternity with Him, AFTER we’ve finished our walk on earth.
Job, through no fault of his own suffered greatly without explanation(God had boasted of Job to Satan and the devil tried his utmost to get Job to curse God). Job endured tremendous suffering but it ended with an encounter with God and double restoration of everything he’d lost, including his family.
Joseph was thrown into a pit by his own brothers, sold as a slave, lied about by his master’s wife and thrown into prison. He too had no idea why all this happened to him, but in God’s time he was brought to a position of great power and became ruler of Egypt and a father to Pharaoh. In God’s time he was reconciled to his family and rescued them all from famine. His father Jacob blessed Joseph’s sons and counted them as his own — in other words God made sure the sons were blessed along with his brothers’ children, they didn’t miss out because they’d been born in Egypt.
Ruth, the Moabitess, a descendant of Lot, lost her husband but decided to leave her own people and accompany her mother-in-law, Naomi(means pleasant) through the arid land to Bethlehem. She had nothing of her own and had to go out and glean/pick up the leftovers after the harvesters. She met Boaz, a family relative of Naomi and eventually became his wife and produced a son in the line of David.
All these people had to endure hardship, often without choice, but once they set out on their journey there was no turning back, they had to trust the Lord. For many of us we’ve gone too far to turn back. Life may seem difficult at times, but God and the cloud of witnesses are watching and urging us not to give up.
God’s Favour towards us is for our lifetime, keep going, our reward is sure.
God bless and keep you today.