Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning

https://odb.org/2026/09/11/divine-comfort

Psalm 30:1–5 (NIV): 1 I will exalt you, LORD, for you lifted me out of the depths  and did not let my enemies gloat over me.
      2 LORD my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me.
      3 You, LORD, brought me up from the realm of the dead; you spared me from going down to the pit.
      4 Sing the praises of the LORD, you his faithful people; praise his holy name.
      5 For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

The sound of the cascading water confirmed that I’d arrived at the 9/11 Memorial Pools in New York City, a place I’d avoided visiting for fear of being overwhelmed by sadness and grief from what took place there that tragic day in 2001. I walked around the two large reflection pools located where the Twin Towers once stood. It was deeply moving to see all the names of those who died etched on the walls—some with roses placed on them by loved ones. I was in Manhattan on the morning of 9/11 but thankfully not near the World Trade Center. Still, as a native New Yorker, the tragedy hit too close to home. I was finally at Ground Zero, yet I wasn’t overcome by sorrow or fear. I felt peace as I stood there and recalled God’s sustaining grace. That peace was a gift from the God who knows how to comfort us. (Nancy Gavilanes, Our Daily Bread 11th September 2026)

The phrase at Psalm 30:5 – weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning – is very powerful to us believers of Christ and adopted children of Yahweh, our heavenly Father and God. It speaks of the comforting divine healing that comes at the end of our grief and mourning. The night and day is figurative but as night will surely turn to day, our grief will surely turn to rejoicing. As certain is day is to night, rejoicing in the Lord is certain after our tears and broken hearts. That’s the promise of God in Psalm 30:5 as expressed by David.

The promise is akin to the light at the end of the tunnel. The period of grief may be long but there will be healing and rejoicing at the end. That’s God’s promise to us. Not a spiral down experience into nothingness but an uplifting one as we commit our hearts to God notwithstanding our devastating loss. We trust that He will comfort and heal us. With His strength, we will become strong to live on for His sake, for Him. Despite our loss, we will regain joy in His presence. He will light up the fire in us to burn ever more strongly. One day, we will see our loved ones again.

I like to end today’s devotion with a poem by Henry van Dyke:

I Am Standing Upon The Seashore

I am standing upon the seashore.
A ship at my side spreads her white
sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean.

She is an object of beauty and strength.
I stand and watch her until at length
she hangs like a speck of white cloud
just where the sea and sky come
to mingle with each other.

Then, someone at my side says;
“There, she is gone!”

“Gone where?”
Gone from my sight. That is all.
She is just as large in mast and hull
and spar as she was when she left my side and she is just as able to bear her
load of living freight to her destined port.
Her diminished size is in me, not in her.

And just at the moment when someone
at my side says, “There, she is gone!”
There are other eyes watching her coming,
and other voices ready to take up the glad shout;
“Here she comes!”
And that is dying.

Have a good weekend, everyone! Though there is weeping in the night, rejoicing will indeed come in the morning!