“You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness” (Psalm 30:11 ESV).
David knew what it meant to mourn a loss or grieve a disappointment. He had sat weeping in sackcloth to express his repentance for sin, crying out to God for forgiveness. David knew grief.
Yet, David also knew that the Lord could turn his grief into gladness. For he had experienced the touch of the Lord that changed his “mourning into dancing.” Not just that his grieving was abated, but that it was replaced with abounding joy. The Lord not only stripped away his sackcloth of sorrow, but clothed him anew in a garment of gladness.
Are you grieving a loss today? Bring it to Jesus. Are you bound up in the sackcloth of sorrow? Ask Jesus to exchange your grief for a garment of gladness. Leave your burdens with Him. Let Jesus turn your mourning into dancing.
PRAYER: Dear Father, when we are down and filled with sorrow, we look to You. For You are able to raise us up and to fill our hearts with joy. Yet we are a forgetful people. We forget to bring our burdens and sorrows to You. Today, we remember. We bring our worries and cares, our sackcloth and sorrows to You. Will You exchange them for Your peace and joy. Will You turn our mourning into dancing? In Jesus’ name, amen.