There are few things I enjoy more than seeing the sun emerge from beyond the horizon and climb its way into a new day. As darkness erodes under the power of dawning light, it’s hard not to appreciate why this spectacle is so often used as a metaphor for hope.

Psalm 90 screams from the blackness of God’s judgement. There’s no pre-dawn light to suggest the darkness will soon be gone. The cry of “how long” comes from a place of utter desperation. The Psalmist sees no way forward and no way out apart from the relenting mercy of God.

Importantly, the Psalmist is no accidental victim. He admits sinfulness. He deserves condemnation and death. He doesn’t deserve God’s favour.

But God has proven that the arms of his forgiveness stretch wide. He is filled with compassion and has an undefeatable love. History testifies to his enduring faithfulness.

And so, in the black of night, the Psalmist sets his eyes on this dawn of grace. He knows true satisfaction can only be found in the light of God’s love. He pleads for a new day—a new sunrise—so that joy will be restored, and songs of life and praise may resound once more, and indeed ever more—all our days.

Thankfully we live on this side of the risen Christ and have God’s assurance that, by faith, we have been baptised into both his death and resurrection (Rom 6:1-11). In him, the dark night of sin and death has been destroyed. We can count ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ. We live in the light of a new day, one ushered in by the risen Son of God, and one we’ve been promised will not end.