Ps 30:4-5, “Sing praises to YHWH, O you his saints, and give thanks to His holy name. For His anger is but for a moment, and His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may remain for the night, but rejoicing comes with the morning.”
Notice that verse 5 supports verse 4, meaning that what we read in verse 5 is an expression of the “holy name” of YHWH to which we are to give thanks.
Now, notice that the night / morning imagery in v.5b does not continue the contrast of brevity vs. longevity (as in v.5a’s “moment” vs. “lifetime”), since night is more or less the same length as the day, rather it focuses on the assurance that morning/favor/joy *will without fail* follow night/wrath/sorrow. For the OT saints of YHWH, there is nothing more sure than that the joy of His favor WILL break into and swallow up the sorrow brought about by His wrath.
And recall, this assurance of joy’s dawn at the end of sorrow—this assurance of favor’s swallowing up of wrath—is an expression of YHWH’s Name (v.4), it is what He is like, it is a communication of the unique identity which is His surpassing Holiness. The very name of YHWH is itself eucatastrophic….the dawn of joy, the return of bird’s songs after a night of howling wolves, the rising up of light that scatters darkness, favor that swallows up wrath just as a lifetime swallows up the agony of a moment’s pain—these things are expressions of the Name of the Lord. He is like this.
And, of course, we see that this dynamic lies at the heart of His Name when we hear His name spoken in the flesh and blood of the incarnate Word who reveals the beauty of YHWH with greatest clarity precisely in His crucifixion and resurrection. God’s Name is the Crucified and Risen Jesus Christ…..Resurrection—and its transfiguration of Crucifixion—is, we might say, who God is (indeed, Jesus says this explicitly in John 11:25). It is the shape of His Name, it is the narrative of His identity, it is the form of His beauty, and it will define reality for all those who are bound to and found in this Name through faith in the Crucified and Risen One who bears, embodies, and reveals that Name—our Lord Jesus Christ.
