Thoughts for the Day

Thanksgiving for Recovery from Grave Illness

... O Lord my God, I cried to you for help,
and you have healed me.
O Lord, you brought up my soul from Sheol,
restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit.

Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones,
and give thanks to his holy name.
For his anger is but for a moment;
his favour is for a lifetime.
Weeping may linger for the night,
but joy comes with the morning...

To you, O Lord, I cried,
and to the Lord I made supplication:
‘What profit is there in my death,
if I go down to the Pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it tell of your faithfulness?
Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me!
O Lord, be my helper!’

You have turned my mourning into dancing;
you have taken off my sackcloth
and clothed me with joy,
so that my soul may praise you and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you for ever.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Psalm 30 is a prayer of thanksgiving from David. He has been gravely ill and likely to die, but God has spared him from Sheol, the place of the dead. We need to understand the Hebrew notion of death, which perhaps explains why the Christian idea of an after-life is so important. Sheol is pictured in the scriptures in a number of ways - often as a vast underground cavern or pit guarded by gates; or an enormous wasteland; or sometimes it appears poetically as a beast of prey. The tragedy of Sheol is that death silences the ability of the human to worship God, it shatters their plans, and it cuts them off from those who are living. But in Psalm 30 David speaks as though he has entered this dreadful place, until we hear, his soul was "brought up ...from Sheol". At the point of death God rescued him.

David's response to being healed is one of absolute joy. He knows how close to death his illness has brought him, yet God has drawn him up from the pit. Now he can worship God once more; he can even express his thanks by dancing.

Most of us have been seriously ill at some time or other, or watched as loved ones suffered, but we have been rescued through our prayers and the work of dedicated doctors and nurses. An illness that would once have killed us is now held at bay by modern medicine. How often do we praise God for this? I confess I take for granted my insulin injections! Can we learn to say as David did:

"You have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
so that my soul may praise you and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you for ever."

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Heavenly Father,
we thank You for the times we have recovered
from any illness or accident,
and for the help of those who made this possible.
We thank You that in the depths of pain
You were there to sustain us.
We pray for all who suffer this day
and for those who care for them,
and we give thanks for Your work of salvation
achieved through Your Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ,
which offers us hope for the future.
Amen.