Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 30:1
A Psalm [and] Song [at] the dedication of the house of David. I will extol thee, O LORD; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.
1. I will extol thee ] Or, exalt, as the word is rendered in Exo 15:2; Psa 34:3; Isa 25:1; &c. The same word is used of God’s exalting men to high estate (1Sa 2:7), or lifting them up out of danger into safety (Psa 9:13; Psa 27:5); and man’s return is to exalt God by proclaiming His supreme exaltedness.
thou hast lifted me up ] R.V., thou hast raised me up, a peculiar word, meaning literally, thou hast drawn me up, from the depths of trouble, or the pit of Sheol.
and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me ] His death would have been the occasion for the triumph of his enemies. For the malignant delight of enemies enhancing the bitterness of misfortune see Psa 35:19; Psa 35:24 ff.; Psa 38:16; Lam 2:17.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
1 3. Thanksgiving for deliverance from death in answer to prayer.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
I will extol thee – literally, I will exalt thee; that is, he would make God first and supreme in his thoughts and affections; he would do what he could to make Him known; he would elevate Him high in his praises.
For thou hast lifted me up – To wit, from the state of danger in which I was Psa 30:2-3. The Hebrew word used here means properly to draw out, as from a well; and then, to deliver, to set free. As God had thus lifted him up, it was proper that he should show his gratitude by lifting up or extolling the name of God.
And hast not made my foes to rejoice over me – Hast not suffered them to triumph over me; that is, thou hast delivered me from them. He refers to the fact that he had been saved from a dangerous illness, and that his enemies had not been allowed to exult over his death. Compare the notes at Psa 41:5.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 30:1-12
I will extol Thee, O Lord; for Thou hast lifted me up.
A Psalm of deliverance
The title of this psalm is apparently a composite, the usual Psalm of David having been enlarged by the awkward insertion of A Song at the Dedication of the House, which probably indicates its later liturgical use, and not its first destination. Its occasion was evidently a deliverance from grave peril; and, whilst its tone is strikingly inappropriate if it had been composed for the inauguration of temple, tabernacle, or palace, one can understand how the venerable words, which praised Jehovah for swift deliverance from impending destruction, would be felt to fit the circumstances and emotions of the time when the Temple, profaned by the mad acts of Antiochus Epiphanes, was purified and the ceremonial worship restored. Never had Israel seemed nearer going down to the pit; never had deliverance come more suddenly and completely. The intrusive title is best explained as dating from that time and indicating the use then found for the song. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
A Psalm and Song at the dedication of the house of David
It was doubtless very different from the cottage he occupied when he was a shepherd. But there was no impropriety in this change. As a king he was obliged to do many things from a regard to his station rather than from personal choice. Yet he was godly there as in his former abode. Hence, entering his new house, he consecrates it to God. Let it be our concern that our dwelling may be the house of God while we live, and the gate of heaven when we die. David was a poet, and he here elaborates his deliverance from a dangerous disease.
I. Davids mind before his affliction–he had thought and said, 1 shall never be moved. Hence the need of affliction.
II. under it. He cried to the Lord.
III. after the affliction Renewed consecration to God. Hence his vow to build a house for the Lord. (W. Jay.)
Mercies remembered
St. James says, Is any merry? let him sing psalms–that is, in everything acknowledge God. A true saint in prosperity gives God thanks for His mercies. Therefore when all are in prosperity, it is easy to distinguish the true from the false, because they take directions outwardly and manifestly different. The Church in her joy praises God, the world in its joy praises man. This psalm is a beautiful specimen of church music considered in its highest character, as aiming at the praise of God. It was sung in immediate connection with the dedication of the house of David. Such a dedication was, amongst Israel, deemed a thing of great solemnity and importance (Deu 12:1-32.). And now, entering in his new abode, David looks back upon the mercies of God.
I. that his enemies had not been allowed to rejoice over him. He had many enemies, and there are few of us who are without them. If we are in good reputation and esteem, we have reason to thank God as David did.
II. Gods healing grace. Thou hast healed me. Who has not such mercy to record?
III. the many deliverances he had experienced. Thou hast brought up my soul from the grave. And such deliverance, both of body and soul, we have known. And on such an occasion as entering a new home, how good it is, as did David, to remember Gods mercies in the past.
IV. and we should seek to associate others in our praise. Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of His; and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness. It is His holiness which is the security of yours. And His anger, how momentary that compared with his life-long favour!
V. the answer to his prayer. Thou hast turned, etc. (H. MNeile, D. D.)
Christian elevation
Though believers in Christ may not be lifted up like the psalmist in a temporal point of view, yet they are all, like him, lifted up in a spiritual point of view.
1. Above all danger from the wrath to come.
2. To the enjoyment and possession of spiritual life.
3. To a place in Gods graciously adopted family.
4. Above all fatal evil from enemies, whether of a temporal or spiritual description.
5. To the hope of a safe death, a blessed resurrection, and a joyful eternity. (T. Adam.)
The first and the final stage in true worship
I. The first stage–gratitude.
1. He points to Gods mercy as having come to him in various ways.
(1) As an extrication from difficulties.
(2) As a protection from enemies.
(3) As a restoration to health.
(4) As preservation of life.
2. The gratitude from which true worship springs implies the beliefs
(1) That the favours received are utterly undeserved.
(2) That they were intended to serve us.
II. The final stage–adoration.
1. On account of the holiness of Gods character. In heaven His character attracts all eyes, absorbs all thoughts, transports all souls, inspires all anthems. Let us aspire to this highest stage of worship.
2. On account of the eternal flow of His love. Suffering is always–
(1) Brief.
(2) Preliminary. (Homilist)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
PSALM XXX
The psalmist returns thanks to God for deliverance from great
danger, 1-3.
He calls upon the saints to give thanks to God at the
remembrance of his holiness, because of his readiness to save,
4, 5.
He relates how his mind stood affected before this great trial
and how soon an unexpected change took place, 6, 7;
mentions how, and in what terms, he prayed for mercy, 8-10;
shows how God heard and delivered him and the effect it had
upon his mind, 11, 12.
NOTES ON PSALM XXX
This Psalm or song is said to have been made or used at the dedication of the house of David, or rather the dedication of a house or temple; for the word David refers not to habbayith, the house, but to mizmor, a Psalm. But what temple or house could this be? Some say, the temple built by Solomon; others refer it to the dedication of the second temple under Zerubbabel, and some think it intended for the dedication of a third temple, which is to be built in the days of the Messiah. There are others who confine it to the dedication of the house which David built for himself on Mount Sion, after he had taken Jerusalem from the Jebusites; or to the purgation and re-dedication of his own house, that had been defiled by the wicked conduct of his own son Absalom. Calmet supposes it to have been made by David on the dedication of the place which he built on the threshing floor of Araunah, after the grievous plague which had so nearly desolated the kingdom, 2Sa 24:25; 1Ch 21:26. All the parts of the Psalm agree to this: and they agree to this so well, and to no other hypothesis, that I feel myself justified in modelling the comment on this principle alone.
Verse 1. I will extol thee – for thou hast lifted me up] I will lift thee up, for thou hast lifted me up. Thou hast made me blessed, and I will make thee glorious. Thou hast magnified me in thy mercy; and I will show forth thy praise, and speak good of thy name.
I have made some remarks on this Psalm in the Introduction.
In this Psalm we find seven different states of mind distinctly marked: –
1. It is implied, in the first verse, that David had been in great distress, and nearly overwhelmed by his enemies.
2. He extols God for having lifted him up, and having preserved him from the cruelty of his adversaries, Ps 30:1-3.
3. He is brought into great prosperity, trusts in what he had received, and forgets to depend wholly on the Lord, Ps 30:4-6.
4. The Lord hides his face from him, and he is brought into great distress, Ps 30:7.
5. He feels his loss, and makes earnest prayer and supplication, Ps 30:8-10.
6. He is restored to the Divine favour, and filled with joy, Ps 30:11.
7. He purposes to glory in God alone, and to trust in him for ever, Ps 30:12.
As it is impossible for any man to have passed through all these states at the same time; it is supposed that the Psalm, like many others of the same complexion, has been formed out of the memoranda of a diary. See this point illustrated in the Introduction.
Thou hast lifted me up] Out of the pit into which I had fallen: the vain curiosity, and want of trust in God, that induced me to number the people. Bishop Horsley translates, Because thou hast depressed me. I thank God for my humiliation and afflictions, because they have been the means of teaching me lessons of great profit and importance.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
the dedication of the house, not to note the matter of this Psalm or Song; but either,
1. The name of the tune to which this song was sung, which was the same that David used at the dedication of his house; and so this gives us a reason why the word Song is added to that of Psalm, and why this Psalm was called the Song of the dedication. Or,
2. The time when it was sung; which was at the dedication of Davids house. For such dedications were performed in a very solemn manner, with divers rites and prayers, and praises to God, as the nature of that business required. And it seems probable from the matter of this Psalm, compared with the title, that David had about this time been delivered from some eminent distresses, and particularly from some dangerous sickness; for which he here gives thanks to God, taking advantage of this public and solemn occasion.
The psalmist praiseth God for deliverance out of great danger, Psa 30:1-3; and exhorteth others to do the same, Psa 30:4,5. He acknowledgeth to God that his prayer was heard, and him-self girded with gladness, Psa 30:6-11. He will give thanks to God for ever, Psa 30:12.
Lifted me up; or, drawn up, to wit, out of the deep pit, or waters; to which great dangers and afflictions are frequently compared.
To rejoice over me; which they both desired and confidently expected an occasion to do.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. lifted me upas one isdrawn from a well (Ps 40:2).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
I will extol thee, O Lord,…. Or “lift thee up on high” k. The Lord is high in his name, he is the most High; and in his nature, there is none besides him, nor like unto him; and in place, he dwells in the high and holy place; he is above all, angels and men; he is above all gods; he is the King of kings, and Lord of lords; he cannot be higher than he is: to extol him, therefore, is to declare him to be what he is; to exalt him in high praises of him, which the psalmist determined to do, for the following reasons;
for thou hast lifted me up; or “drawn me up”, or “out” l; from the pit of nature; the low estate of unregeneracy; the pit wherein is no water: the horrible pit, the mire and clay of sin and misery, in which all men, while unconverted, are; and out of which they cannot lift themselves, being without strength, yea, dead in sin: this is God’s work; he takes out of this pit, he draws out of it by his efficacious grace; he raises up the poor out of the dust, and lifts up the beggar from the dunghill; and this is an instance of his grace and mercy, and requires a new song of praise: or this may regard some great fall by sin, from which he was restored, through the grace and power of God; or deliverance from great troubles, compared to waters, out of which he was drawn, Ps 18:16; and was lifted up above his enemies; and agrees very well with his being brought to his palace and throne again, upon the defeat of Absalom;
and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me; as Satan does over unregenerate sinners, when he possesses their hearts, and keeps the house and goods in peace; and as the men of the world do over fallen saints, when forsaken by the Lord, and afflicted by him, and are under the frowns of his providence; but the conspirators against David were not suffered to succeed and rejoice over him, which they otherwise would have done; and for this he praises the Lord.
k “superexaltabo te”, Cocceius; “elevabo te”, Michaelis. l “me sursum extraxisti”, Cocceius; so Michaelis; “thou hast drawn me up”, Ainsworth.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(Heb.: 30:2-4) The Psalm begins like a hymn. The Piel (from , Arab. dla , to hold anything long, loose and pendulous, whether upwards or downwards, conj. V Arab. tdlla =, to dangle) signifies to lift or draw up, like a bucket ( , Greek , Latin tollo , tolleno in Festus). The poet himself says what that depth is into which he had sunk and out of which God had drawn him up without his enemies rejoicing over him ( as in Psa 25:2), i.e., without allowing them the wished for joy at his destruction: he was brought down almost into Hades in consequence of some fatal sickness. (never: to call into being out of nothing) always means to restore to life that which has apparently or really succumbed to death, or to preserve anything living in life. With this is easily and satisfactorily joined the Ker (without Makkeph in the correct text), ita ut non descenderem ; the infinitive of in this instance following the analogy of the strong verb is , like , , and with suffix jordi (like josdi, Job 38:4) or jaaredi, for here it is to be read thus, and not jordi (vid., on Psa 16:1; Psa 86:2).
(Note: The Masora does not place the word under (Introduction 28 b), as one would expect to find it if it were to be read mijordi , and proceeds on the assumption that mijardi is infinitive like (read amadcha ) Oba 1:11, not participle (Ewald, S. 533).)
The Chethb might also be the infinitive, written with Cholem plenum , as an infinitive Gen 32:20, and an imperative Num 23:8, is each pointed with Cholem instead of Kamtez chatuph ; but it is probably intended to be read as a participle, : Thou hast revived me from those who sink away into the grave (Psa 28:1), or out of the state of such (cf. Psa 22:22) – a perfectly admissible and pregnant construction.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Thanksgiving and Praise. | |
A psalm and song at the dedication of the house of David.
1 I will extol thee, O LORD; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me. 2 O LORD my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me. 3 O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. 4 Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. 5 For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
It was the laudable practice of the pious Jews, and, though not expressly appointed, yet allowed and accepted, when they had built a new house, to dedicate it to God, Deut. xx. 5. David did so when his house was built, and he took possession of it (2 Sam. v. 11); for royal palaces do as much need God’s protection, and are as much bound to be at his service, as ordinary houses. Note, The houses we dwell in should, at our first entrance upon them, be dedicated to God, as little sanctuaries. We must solemnly commit ourselves, our families, and all our family affairs, to God’s guidance and care, must pray for his presence and blessing, must devote ourselves and all ours to his glory, and must resolve both that we put away iniquity far from our tabernacles and that we and our houses will serve the Lord both in the duties of family worship and in all instances of gospel obedience. Some conjecture that this psalm was sung at the re-dedication of David’s house, after he had been driven out of it by Absalom, who had defiled it with his incest, and that it is a thanksgiving for the crushing of that dangerous rebellion. In these verses,
I. David does himself give God thanks for the great deliverances he had wrought for him (v. 1): “I will extol thee, O Lord! I will exalt thy name, will praise thee as one high and lifted up, I will do what I can to advance the interest of thy kingdom among men. I will extol thee, for thou hast lifted me up, not only up out of the pit in which I was sinking, but up to the throne of Israel.” He raiseth up the poor out of the dust. In consideration of the great things God has done to exalt us, both by his providence and by his grace, we are bound, in gratitude, to do all we can to extol his name, though the most we can do is but little. Three thing magnify David’s deliverance:– 1. That it was the defeat of his enemies. They were not suffered to triumph over him, as they would have done (though it is a barbarous thing) if he had died of this sickness or perished in this distress: see Ps. xli. 11. 2. That it was an answer to his prayers (v. 2): I cried unto thee. All the expressions of the sense we have of our troubles should be directed to God, and every cry be a cry to him; and giving way, in this manner, to our grief, will ease a burdened spirit. “I cried to thee, and thou hast not only heard me, but healed me, healed the distempered body, healed the disturbed and disquieted mind, healed the disordered distracted affairs of the kingdom.” This is what God glories in, I am the Lord that healeth thee (Exod. xv. 26), and we must give him the glory of it. 3. That it was the saving of his life; for he was brought to the last extremity, dropping into the grave, and ready to go down into the pit, and yet rescued and kept alive, v. 3. The more imminent our dangers have been, the more eminent our deliverances have been, the more comfortable are they to ourselves and the more illustrious proofs of the power and goodness of God. A life from the dead ought to be spent in extolling the God of our life.
II. He calls upon others to join with him in praise, not only for the particular favours God has bestowed upon him, but for the general tokens of his good-will to all his saints (v. 4): Sing unto the Lord, O you saints of his! All that are truly saints he owns for his. There is a remnant of such in this world, and from them it is expected that they sing unto him; for they are created and sanctified, made and made saints, that they may be to him for a name and a praise. His saints in heaven sing to him; why should not those on earth be doing the same work, as well as they can, in concert with them? 1. They believe him to be a God of unspotted purity; and therefore let them sing to him; “Let them give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness; let them praise his holy name, for holiness is his memorial throughout all generations.” God is a holy God; his holiness is his glory; that is the attribute which the holy angels, in their praises, fasten most upon, Isa 6:3; Rev 4:8. We ought to be much in the mention and remembrance of God’s holiness. It is a matter of joy to the saints that God is a holy God; for then they hope he will make them holy, more holy. None of all God’s perfections carries in it more terror to the wicked, nor more comfort to the godly, than his holiness. It is a good sign that we are in some measure partakers of his holiness if we can heartily rejoice and give thanks at the remembrance of it. 2. They have experienced him to be a God gracious and merciful; and therefore let them sing to him. (1.) We have found his frowns very short. Though we have deserved that they should be everlasting, and that he should be angry with us till he had consumed us, and should never be reconciled, yet his anger endureth but for a moment, v. 5. When we offend him he is angry; but, as he is slow to anger and not soon provoked, so when he is angry, upon our repentance and humiliation his anger is soon turned away and he is willing to be at peace with us. If he hide his face from his own children, and suspend the wonted tokens of his favour, it is but in a little wrath, and for a small moment; but he will gather them with everlasting kindness,Isa 54:7; Isa 54:8. If weeping endureth for a night, and it be a wearisome night, yet as sure as the light of the morning returns after the darkness of the night, so sure will joy and comfort return in a short time, in due time, to the people of God; for the covenant of grace is as firm as the covenant of the day. This word has often been fulfilled to us in the letter. Weeping has endured for a night, but the grief has been soon over and the grievance gone. Observe, As long as God’s anger continues so long the saints’ weeping continues; but, if that be but for a moment, the affliction is but for a moment, and when the light of God’s countenance is restored the affliction is easily pronounced light and momentary. (2.) We have found his smiles very sweet; In his favour is life, that is, all good. The return of his favour to an afflicted soul is as life from the dead; nothing can be more reviving. Our happiness is bound up in God’s favour; if we have that, we have enough, whatever else we want. It is the life of the soul, it is spiritual life, the earnest of life eternal.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Psalms 30
DEDICATION OF TEMPLE GROUND AREA BY DAVID
Verses 1-12:
Verse 1 recounts David’s extolling the Lord because the Lord had lifted him up or exalted him in the presence of his enemies, had not permitted them to rejoice over him, when he had almost “gone down to the pit,” 2Sa 24:13.
Verse 2 acknowledges that when he cried to the Lord, the Lord healed him of his spiritual malady of pride, which brought on his chastisement, and the plague against his people, Psa 6:2; Psa 103:3; See also 1Ch 21:14-27; Isa 1:5-6; Isa 6:10; 2Ch 36:16.
Verse 3 adds further praise to the Lord for keeping him alive, saving him from the grave or going down to the pit, the unseen world (sheol), 2Sa 24:10; 2Sa 24:14; 2Sa 24:17; 2Co 1:10; Psa 6:6-7; Hab 2:5.
Verse 4 calls on all the saints (of Israel) to sing praises to the Lord, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness, or to memorialize His holiness, Psa 97:12; 1Ch 16:4; Exo 3:15; Hos 12:5; Isa 26:8; Psa 135:13; Hos 11:9.
Verse 5 declares that His anger is or continues but for a moment, Isa 54:7-10. In His favour, however is life eternal, Psa 63:3. This is life in its fullest sense, Psa 16:1; Psa 34:12; Psa 36:9; Weeping may last all night, but joy bursts forth in the morning, 2Sa 21:15.
Verse 6 affirms that David will never hereafter be moved from God, in his prosperity; Instead, through it all, he resolved to lean on God, Pro 1:32; Deu 8:10-14; Deu 32:15; Hos 13:6. No more would he lean with pride on the number of his people, Pro 5:3-5.
Verse 7 relates David’s acknowledgment that it was the strength and favor of the Lord that had made his mountain (his government in Israel) stand strong, endure against his enemies. He recalls that God did hide his face, turn away for a brief time, and he had been gravely troubled, Psa 76:4; Psa 104:29; Neh 3:25; Mic 4:8.
Verse 8 adds that he cried to the Lord, in that hour, and found grace in the hour of just chastisement, Heb 12:5-10; 1Jn 1:8-9. See also Psa 40:1-3; Psa 145:18-19.
Verse 9 asks what profit, dividend or capital gain was in David’s blood, should he go down to the pit, to the grave, v.3. His blood could sing no songs and offer no praise to the Lord. If he should go down to the pit, or dust of death, his blood would not praise the Lord, or witness any truth, would it? He asks in rhetoric form; He therefore concludes the Lord will not reject his prayer, Psa 6:5; Isa 38:18-19; Psa 115:17; Isa 38:18.
Verse 10 adds “hear O Lord, and have mercy upon me,” Lord come to be my helper; Such a prayer would not be rejected of the Lord, David was certain, 1Ch 21:14-17; 2Ch 7:14-16.
Verse 11 recounts David’s testimony that the Lord had turned for him, “my mourning into dancing, put off my sackcloth, and girded or supported me with gladness.” This alludes to their repentance (when David numbered Israel, against the will, without sanction of the Lord) after they fell on their faces in sackcloth and ashes, 1Ch 21:16.
Verse 12 concludes that the result of the Lord’s forgiveness of David and Israel and their restoration to His favor was that they might sing glory to the Lord and not just be silent; David then vows that he will sing glory and give thanks to the Lord forever, for His mercy and favor for His Divine grace, v.4, 9; 1Co 10:31; Eph 3:21.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
1. I will extol thee, O Jehovah! As David had been brought, as it were, from the grave to the life-giving air, he promises to extol the name of God. It is God who lifts us up with his own hand when we have been plunged into a profound gulf; and therefore it is our duty, on our part, to sing his praises with our tongues. By the foes who, he says, obtained no matter of rejoicing over him, we may understand both domestic and foreign enemies. Although wicked and evil disposed persons flattered him with servile adulation, they at the same time cherished secret hatred against him, and were ready to insult him as soon as an opportunity should occur. In the second verse, he concludes that he was preserved by the favor of God, alleging in proof of this, that when he was at the very point of death he directed his supplications to God alone, and that he immediately felt that he had not done so in vain. When God hears our prayers, it is a proof which enables us to conclude with certainty that he is the author of our salvation, and of the deliverance which we obtain. As the Hebrew word רפא, rapha, signifies to heal, interpreters have been led, from this consideration, to restrict it to sickness. But as it is certain, that it sometimes signifies to restore, or to set up again, and is moreover applied to an altar or a house when they are said to be repaired or rebuilt, it may properly enough mean here any deliverance. The life of man is in danger in many other ways than merely from disease; and we know that it is a form of speech which occurs every where in the Psalms, to say that David was restored to life whenever the Lord delivered him from any grievous and extreme danger. For the sake of amplification, accordingly, he immediately adds, Thou hast brought up my soul from the grave He reckoned that he could not sufficiently express in words the magnitude of the favor which God had conferred upon him, unless he compared the darkness of that period to a grave and pit, into which he had been forced to throw himself hastily, to protect his life by hiding, until the flame of insurrection was quenched. As one restored to life, therefore, he proclaims that he had been marvellously delivered from present death, as if he had been restored to life after he had been dead. And assuredly, it appears from sacred history, how completely he was overwhelmed with despair on every side.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
MESSIANIC SECTION
Psalms 26-31
IN the treatment of the chapters here named, we call attention to the unity of thought that binds them together. They are called, in the King James version, Psalms of David. The subject, however, of these Psalms is one and the same, namely, the Lord. That accounts for the fact that His Name appears in the first verse of each Psa 26:1, Judge me, O Lord; Psa 27:1, The Lord is my light and my salvation; Psa 28:1, Unto Thee will I cry, O Lord, my Rock; Psa 29:1, Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty, give unto the Lord glory and strength; Psa 30:1, I will extol Thee, O Lord; Psa 31:1, In Thee, O Lord, do I put my trust.
Paradoxical as it may sound, the appeal is to the Lord, and the prophetical element looks also to the same Lord.
First, we have His Personal Integrity discussed, then His Perfect Trust, and finally, His Psalms of Praise.
HIS PERSONAL INTEGRITY
The subject of these Psalms seeks Gods judgment.
Judge me, O Lord; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the Lord; therefore I shall not slide.
Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.
For Thy loving kindness is before mine eyes: and I have walked in Thy truth (Psa 26:1-3).
But this could hardly be David, for this language is necessarily Messianic. If it referred to David, it would poorly comport with the 51st Psalm, for instance. Job, the righteous man as he was, when he faced God had to forfeit his egoism, and, facing his own sinfulness, say, I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes (Job 42:6).
There has lived but one Man who could truthfully utter the above sentences, for the Man of Nazareth is the only Man that ever walked in His integrity, fully trusting in the Lord, and did not slide; the only Man who could be proved and tried, and by keeping Gods loving kindness before His eyes, walk in Gods truth. Of all others, these statements, if applied at all, would have to be qualified.
So the Psalmist anticipated the Christ, and spoke what the Spirit gave him concerning the coming One.
He disfellowships sinners.
I have not sat with vain persons; neither will I go in with dissemblers.
I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and will not sit with the wicked.
I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass Thine altar, O Lord:
That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all Thy wondrous works? (Psa 26:4-7).
Here again it stands alone. If one remind us that Christ was the Friend of sinners, we answer yes, that He was with them, but we still insist that He never participated in their spirit nor indulged their thoughts or ways. That was not true of David, but it was true of Davids greater Son.
He delighted in Gods house.
Lord, I have loved the habitation of Thy house, and the place where Thine honour dwelleth.
Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men:
In whose hands is mischief, and their right hand is full of bribes.
But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity: redeem me, and be merciful unto me.
My foot standeth in an even place: In the congregations will I bless the Lord (Psa 26:8-12).
Here again is the truth of the Lord. How many times He was found in the sanctuary on the Sabbath! How sacredly did He esteem that place! What pleasure He took in it, and with what jealousy He guarded it! Who will ever forget the day when He scourged sinners from the synagogue, because in their hands was mischief and in their right hands bribes? And who can forget how, while His feet stood in that very place, He honored God before the congregation?
Passing to the 27th chapter, note
HIS PERFECT TRUST
He knew Gods sufficiency.
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.
Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.
One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in His temple (Psa 27:1-4).
Was this boast made good by Jesus? Did He never reveal any fear? Did He never quail before His foes? Did His confidence stand Him always instead? Did the face of the Father always shine for Him? There seems to have been a brief time of exception. That was when on Calvarys Cross, He cried, My God; my God; why hast Thou forsaken Me? That moment compared unfavorably with His courage in Gethsemane, when at the sight of His face, the enemies and foes stumbled, fell, and fled; unfavorably with His courage when He faced the host that had come out against Him; unfavorably with that same courage when they were effecting a farce of trial.
We have a statement concerning the English language that the exception proves the rule. This exception, however, was not to that end, but rather that He might taste death for every man; that He might be tried in all points as we are; and as Joseph Parker put it, that for one brief moment He might know the meaning of infidelity and even atheism, and consequently how to sympathize with and succor those who should be badgered by unbelief.
He trusted in Gods strength.
For in the time of trouble, He shall hide me in His pavilion: in the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me; He shall set me up upon a rock.
And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in His tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I mil sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord.
Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
When Thou saidst, Seek ye My face; my heart said unto Thee, Thy face, Lord, mil I seek.
Hide not Thy face far from me; put not Thy servant away in anger: Thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.
When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up (Psa 27:5-10).
There is a clear indication in this text that David foresaw the Lord whose time of trouble should come; whose hour of darkness should hang with heaviness; whose anguish cry, My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?? would necessitate mercy toward even the sinless one; so that the face hidden from Him because the sins of man rested upon Him, should not continue to be clouded, but brighten again, and prove that the Father had not forsaken Him; and that when all earthly friends and even the relatives of the flesh had fled or become the subjects of infidelity, then the Lord would take Him up.
In all of these respects, the Saviour has marked the path for the saint. It is not probable that His people will pass through life without times of trouble, without the sight of multiplied enemies; without the necessity of mercy; without the blindness of momentary or even more prolonged unbelief; without the sense of desertion on the part of friends and kindred. How good to know that, in it all, He has been before!
He asks for assistance.
Teach me Thy way, O Lord, and had me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.
Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.
I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.
Unto thee will I cry, O Lord my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if Thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.
Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto Thee, when I lift up my hands toward Thy holy oracle.
Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbors, but mischief is in their hearts.
Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavours: give them after the work of their hands; render to them their desert.
Because they regard not the works of the Lord, nor the operation of His hands, He shall destroy them, and not build them up.
Blessed be the Lord, because He hath heard the voice of my supplications.
The Lord is my strength, and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise Him.
The Lord is their strength, and He is the saving strength of His anointed.
Save Thy people, and bless Thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever (Psa 27:11 to Psa 28:9).
It was Christ who said that man ought always to pray and not to faint. His example and His precept are always in accord. It was Christ who prayed often. How sacred an example! If He, who knew all things, looked to the Father for all needful help, how wicked and unwise is the prayerlessness of man and how inexcusable the intermittent appeals of professed saints! It is little wonder that we fall into the power of enemies; that we are defamed by false witnesses; that we are breathed upon by cruelty; that we faint in the way; that we go down into the pit; that we are drawn away with the wicked and with the workers of iniquity. When we forget the great truth that the Lord hears the voice of supplication and is our strength, our shield, our help, how much we need to pray again even in the language of the text itself, Save Thy people, and bless Thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever (Psa 28:9).
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
THE PSALMS OF PRAISE
Psalms 29-31
He glories in Gods greatness.
Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty, give unto the Lord glory and strength.
Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His Name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
The voice of the Lord is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the Lord is upon many waiters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars; yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.
He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn.
The voice of the Lord divideth the flames of fire.
The voice of the Lord shaketh the wilderness; the Lord shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh.
The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in His temple doth every one speak of His glory.
The Lord sitteth upon the flood; yea, the Lord sitteth King for ever.
The Lord will give strength, unto His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace (Psa 29:1-11).
He trusts in Gods mercy.
I will extol Thee, O Lord; for Thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.
O Lord my God, I cried unto Thee, and Thou hast healed me.
O Lord, Thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: Thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.
Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness.
For His anger endureth but a moment; in His favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.
Lord, by Thy favour Thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: Thou didst hide Thy face and I was troubled.
I cried to Thee, O Lord; and unto the Lord I made supplication.
What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pitf Shall the dust praise Theef shall it declare Thy truth?
Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me: Lord, be Thou my helper.
Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing:
Thou has put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;
To the end that my glory may sing praise to Thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I mil give thanks unto Thee for ever (Psa 30:1-12).
He appreciates Gods favor.
In Thee, O Lord, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in Thy righteousness.
Bow down Thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be Thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me.
For Thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for Thy Names sake lead me, and guide me.
Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for Thou art my strength.
Into Thine hand I commit my spirit: Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.
I have hated them that regard lying vanities, but I trust in the Lord.
I will be glad and rejoice in Thy mercy: for Thou hast considered my trouble; Thou hast known my soul in adversities;
And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a, large room.
Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly.
For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed.
I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbours, and a fear to mine acquaintance: they that did see me without fled from me.
I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel.
For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life.
But I trusted in Thee, O Lord: I said, Thou art my God.
My times are in Thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.
Make Thy face to shine upon Thy servant: save me for Thy mercies sake.
Let me not be ashamed, O Lord; for I have called upon Thee: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave.
Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.
Oh how great is Thy goodness, which Thou hast laid up for them that fear Thee; which Thou hast wrought for them that trust in Thee before the sons of men!
Thou shalt hide them in the secret of Thy Presence from the pride of man: Thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.
Blessed be the Lord: for He hath shewed me His marvellous kindness in a strong city.
For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before Thine eyes: nevertheless Thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto Thee.
O love the Lord, all ye His saints: for the Lord preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.
Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord (Psa 31:1-24).
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
INTRODUCTION
This psalm was composed after recovery from a sickness which had very nearly proved fatal. The singer begins with an inscription of praise to God for His great goodness, and calls upon all who, like himself, had known the loving-kindness of Jehovah, to join him in his thanksgiving. Thence he passes (Psa. 30:6.) to a recital of his own experience, his pleading with God in his affliction, and Gods answer to his prayer. According to the inscription, the psalm was composed at the dedication of the house. But what house? Some would understand the dedication of the spot on which the Temple afterwards stood, and which David purchased of Araunah (2 Samuel 24; 1 Chronicles 21). Others conjecture that by the dedication of the house, is meant a purification and reconsecration of Davids palace which Absalom had defiled (2Sa. 20:3). But, perhaps, if the inscription be trustworthy, it refers to the house which David built in his new city of Zion, and the building of which he seems to have regarded as a pledge of the security and prosperity of his kingdom (2Sa. 5:11-12). We must, however, still suppose that he had suffered just before from a sickness, about which the history is silent.Perowne.
THOUGHTS ON RECOVERY FROM SICKNESS
I. Gods hand in sending sickness (Psa. 30:1-5). Sickness is common. No house is exempt, no age safe from its ravages. Sooner or later it comes to all. But we err, if we think it a chance, or the result of mere second causes. The psalmist saw in it the hand of God. Thou hast lifted me up (as a bucket from a well, Exo. 2:16; Exo. 2:19). How changed is sickness, when we recognise that it is sent of God. He does not act from caprice or passion. There is a need be (1Pe. 1:6). It is in love, and for our good, that He afflicts. As Jesus took the blind man whom He was about to heal aside from the multitude (Mar. 7:33), so He takes His people, in sickness, aside from the din and bustle of the world, that in quietness and in solitude, He may speak to their hearts.
II. Gods mercy in alleviating sickness (Psa. 30:1). David felt that his case might have been far worse. As we learn from 1Ch. 21:12, he was offered his choice of three evils,war, famine, or pestilence. He shrank from the first. His brave heart could not bear the shame of being driven before his foes. In his strait he left the decision with God. Let me fall now into the hands of the Lord, for very great are His mercies. Nor was he disappointed. Though cast down, he was not cast off; though visited with sore affliction, God had not made his enemies to rejoice over him. There are alleviations in every sickness. In wrath God remembers mercy. There is restraining mercy. He stayeth His rough wind in the day of His east wind (Isa. 27:8; cf. Ezr. 9:13; Mal. 3:17.) There is upholding mercy. Not only is life spared, and the grave deprived of its prey, but inward strength is given. Faith is confirmed; foes who watched for falls and prophesied evil are disappointed. There is comforting mercy. Books are a great help; the love of friends is a great solace. How different to be watched by the kind eyes, and to be ministered to by the gentle hands of those who love us, than to pine in solitude, or to be waited upon by strangers and hirelings! But, above all, there are the comforts of religion. Baxter said, I have pain, there is no use arguing against sense; but I have peace, I have peace! Samuel Rutherford said of Jesus, His sweet presence eateth out the bitterness of sorrow.
III. Gods loving kindness in restoring from sickness. There are many who have no sense of Gods mercies. They may have stirrings of heart and relentings so long as sickness lasts, but when it is over they go back to their old ways; they are little, if at all, altered for the better by what they have gone through. God is not in all their thoughts. But it is different with true believers. Their grateful cry is, Thou hast healed me (Psa. 30:2-3). Here recovery from sickness is represented
1. As granted in answer to prayer. Mark the earnestness and faith of the supplicant. He cries to God as a child to his father. He takes hold of Gods strength, and pleads with Him as his covenant God. O Lord my God. Happy sickness that drives the soul to Jesus 1
2. As effected by sovereign love (Psa. 30:3). It was the Lords doing. Thrice does David say, Thou hast. And it was all of grace, and not for any deserving on his part. This thought awakens the liveliest gratitude (Psa. 116:1).
3. As designed for the holiest ends (Psa. 30:4; Psa. 30:6). If he had been brought back, as from the brink of the grave, and his strength restored, it was that he might consecrate himself anew to God, and serve Him with greater love and steadfastness (Psa. 119:67): Before I was afflicted I went astray; but now have I kept Thy word (cf. Isa. 38:17-19; Heb. 12:7-11; 1Pe. 5:10).
Jeremy Taylor says that God who in mercy and wisdom governs the world, would never have suffered so many sadnesses, and have sent them especially to the most virtuous and the wisest men, but that He intends they should be the seminary of thought, the nursery of virtue, the exercise of wisdom, the trial of patience, the venturing for a crown, and the gate of glory.
A SONG TO THE LORD
(Psa. 30:4-5.)
I. The Singers. Ye saints of His. Beloved, more literally, who have obtained mercy of Him.Perowne. His gracious ones.Alexander. His pious ones.Murphy. David would not fill his choir with reprobates, but with sanctified persons who could sing from their hearts. He calls to you, ye people of God, because ye are saints; and if sinners are wickedly silent, let your holiness constrain you to sing. You are His saints, chosen, blood-bought, called, and set apart for God, sanctified on purpose that you should offer the daily sacrifice of praise.Spurgeon.
II The Song. Consider:
1. The Theme (Psa. 30:4). His holiness. His holy name, literally, His holy memorial, with reference, no doubt, to the passage in Exo. 3:15 : This is My name for ever, and this is My memorial to all generations. Gods name is His revelation of Himself in all His various attributes of love, wisdom, power, holiness, truth, and righteousness. Gods memorial is that great history of redemption which was, so to speak, the setting up of a monument to His glory, on which all these attributes were inscribed.Perowne.
2. The Spirit. Devoutness. Unto the Lord. Sociality. Ye saints. Gratitude. Give thanks. Gratitude is a free and joyous affection. It has been well called the memory of the heart.
Holy, holy, holy! is the song of seraphim and cherubim; let us join it, not dolefully, as though we trembled at the holiness of God, but cheerfully, as humbly rejoicing in it.Spurgeon.
3. The occasion (Psa. 30:5., cf. 1Ch. 21:15). The plague that followed the sin of numbering the people had brought David very low, but the voice that said It is enough, lifted him and his up again. The night of death, like that of Egypt, had filled the land with weeping, but the morning of mercy ushered in a day of gratitude and joy for the forgiven king and his people (Psa. 30:5). A reason why Gods saints should praise Him, because He manifests Himself to them in love, not in wrath, or if in wrath, but for a moment. Love rules over all. The literal rendering of the verse is: For, in His anger is (but) a moment, in His favour a life; in the evening, weeping may come in to pass the night; but with the morning (there is) a shout of joy. The parallelism is carefully preserved in each member, anger, favour; a moment, a life; evening, morning; weeping, joy. We must not repeat the verb pass the night with the second clause. Weeping is described in the first under the image of a wayfarer who comes in at evening to lodge for the night. The suddenness and surprise of gladness, on the other hand, in the morning, are beautifully represented by the simple at dawn, a shout of joy, without a verb. Just as the sun in Eastern lands, without any long prelude of twilight to announce his coming, leaps in, as it were, in a moment, above the horizon, so does the light of Gods love dispel in a moment the long night and darkness of sorrow. See the beautiful parallel (Isa. 54:7-8).Perowne.
LINKS IN THE CHAIN OF LIFE
(Psa. 30:6-12.)
I. Prosperity and presumption (Psa. 30:6). The pronoun is emphatic. And as for me. There is a tacit opposition between the psalmists present and his former experience. Now he had learnt through the lesson of suffering to trust in God. Before that suffering came, he had begun to trust in himself. I seemed so strong, so secure, I began to think within myself, I shall never be moved.Perowne. Prosperity,the Hebrew word includes the idea of prosperity, and of that self-confidence which it produces.Alexander (cf. Deu. 8:11-18; Deu. 32:15; Hos. 13:6; 2Ch. 32:25). In itself prosperity is not evil but good. It is promised to the righteous (Psa. 1:3). It is a token of Gods favour (Gen. 26:12-13). But it needs much faith and humility to prevent its becoming a snare. It often leads to pride, self-indulgence, and forgetfulness of God. Thus what is good is perverted to bad uses.
In prosperity conscience is a pope that gives dispensations to the heart.Samuel Rutherford.
When men are made spiritually faint by dealing in and with the world, Satan sets on them, as Amalek did on the faint and weak of the people that came out of Egypt.Owen.
Little knows
Any, but God alone, to value right
The good before him, but perverts best things
To worst alone, or to their meanest use.
Milton.
II. Presumption and chastisement (Psa. 30:7). Gods love is shown in divers ways. He treats His children according to their special requirements, but His ends are ever the same. Prosperity, when it leads to presumption, is a sore evil. It needs sharp treatment. Speaking is not enough (Jer. 22:2). Another method must be adopted. Thou didst hide Thy face. There is no greater affliction than this. The loss of health and prosperity is bad, the estrangement of friends is worse, but the withdrawal of God, as if in anger, is worst of all. The light of Gods face is salvation (Psa. 44:3). Zions strength was nothing, all the glory of Israel was gone if God departed. No wonder the psalmist says I was troubled, agitated, terrified, perplexed.Alexander.
Let us thank God for chastisement. It is for our good. We presume upon our health, and God sends sickness. We presume upon our friends, and God takes them from us. We presume upon our reputation and worldly goods, and God lets us be put to shame. We presume upon our frames and feelings in religion, and God suffers us to be tried with doubts and to walk in darkness. So in many ways, God teaches us humility, and shuts us up to Himself as the supreme and abiding good.
Certainly virtue is like precious odours, most fragrant when they are incensed or crushed: for prosperity doth best discover vice, but adversity doth best discover virtue.Bacon.
III. Chastisement and prayer (Psa. 30:8-10). Is any among you afflicted, let him pray. The two things are naturally connected.
Consider Davids prayer.
1. It is earnest (Psa. 30:8). I cried unto the Lord. His whole soul went out in a cry (cf. 1Ch. 21:16-17).
2. It is argumentative (Psa. 30:9). Like Job, he reasons with the Almighty (Job. 23:4; cf. Isa. 33:18-19). What profit is in my blood; in my death. Shall the dust praise Thee? To thank God for His mercy, and to show the truth of His grace, form the chief end for which He leaves His people here for a season. The dust cannot do this, and the spirit is not here.Murphy.
3. It is disinterested. He does not seek prolonged life for his own sake, but in order to serve and praise God. He felt that his life would be more useful than his death (cf. Php. 1:23-25).
It is a blessed thing when Enastisement thus leads the soul to cast itself on God, and to acquiesce in His will.
Nearer my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee,
Een though it be a cross that raiseth me.
IV. Prayer and deliverance (Psa. 30:11). His prayer has been answered. Here he acknowledges the greatness of his deliverance.
1. It was the Lords doing. Thou hast, &c. Turned (cf. Joh. 16:20), not exchanged for, but turned into.
2. It was complete. Beating the breast was a token of mourning. Dancing was an expression of pious joy (2Sa. 6:14). So sackcloth was the garb of mourning (1Ch. 21:16). Girded me with gladness. New garments are the wonted symbol of salvation (Isa. 61:3).Murphy. Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me (Psa. 1:5).
V. Deliverance and praise (Psa. 30:12). The sackcloth of his humiliation God had taken away off him, and had clothed him with the garment of praise. How should he do otherwise than praise God for ever for His goodness.Perowne. To the end that my glory may sing praise to Thee. The soul is the noblest part, the glory of man, and Gods deliverances are worthy of the highest efforts of the soul, in gratitude and praise. How often have Gods saints realised the truth of all these things in their experience (Psa. 103:3; Psa. 116:1). When we bow our hearts to God as our Father in Heaven, and say Thy will be done, we can confidently end with the triumphant song Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Psalms 30
DESCRIPTIVE TITLE
A Song of Joy on Recovery from Sickness.
ANALYSIS
Stanza I., Psa. 30:1-3, Declaration of Praise and its Occasion. Stanza II., Psa. 30:4-5, Call on Levites to Praise, with Words Supplied, Stanza III., Psa. 30:6-7, Record of Experience Prior to the Sickness. Stanza IV., Psa. 30:8-10, The Prayer offered During the Sickness. Stanza V., Psa. 30:11-12, Great Joy Beautifully Expressed.
(Lh.) PsalmSong of the Dedication of the House[300]By David.
[300] Cp. prob. 2Sa. 5:11-12.
1
I exalt thee Jehovah for thou hast drawn me up,
and hast not gladdened my foes concerning me!
2
Jehovah my God!
I cried for help unto theeand thou didst heal me:
3
Jehovah!
thou hast brought up out of hades my soul,
hast restored me to life from among them who were going down to the pit.
4
Make melody to Jehovah ye his men of kindness,
and give thanks unto his Holy Memorial:[301]
[301] Poet, for name: cp. Exo. 3:15, Psa. 135:13Dr.
5
Surely a moment[302] in his anger
[302] Cp. Isa. 54:7.
a lifetime[303] in his favour;
[303] Or: life (on and on).
At eventide there cometh to lodgeWeeping,
but by morning Jubilation![304]
[304] Or: a ringing cry.
6
But I had said in my careless ease
I shall not be shaken to the ages.
7
Jehovah!
In thy good pleasure thou hadst given stability to mountains of strength:[305]
[305] So Gt.Gn. Thou hadst established strength for my mountainDr. But Br. (w. Sep., Syr., Vul.): thou didst cause mine honour to stand firm in strength.
thou didst hide thy faceI became dismayed!
8
Unto thee Jehovah I continued crying[306]
[306] Imperfects referring to past experience, and therefore frequentatives implying oft-repeated importunate prayerBr. Cp. 2Ki. 19:14-20.
yea unto Adonay[307] making supplication:
[307] Some cod. (w. 1 ear. pr. edn.): Jehovah.
9
What profit in my blood when I descend into the pit?
will dust thank[308] thee? declare thy truth![309]
[308] Cp. Psa. 6:4, n.
[309] Cp. Isa. 38:18.
10
Hear O Jehovah and be gracious unto me!
Jehovah! become thou a helper to me!
11
Thou hast turned my lamentation into a dance for me,
thou hast loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness;
12
That my glory[310] may make melody to thee and not be still:
[310] So it shd. be (w. Sep., Syr.). Cp. Psa. 108:1Gn. For glory in the like sense, see Psa. 16:9, Psa. 57:8, Psa. 108:1.
Jehovah my God! to the ages will I thank thee.
(Lm.) To the Chief Musician.
PARAPHRASE
Psalms 30
I will praise You, Lord, for You have saved me from my enemies. You refuse to let them triumph over me.
2 O Lord my God, I pled with You, and You gave me my health again.
3 You brought me back from the brink of the grave, from death itself, and here I am alive!
4 Oh, sing to Him you saints of His; give thanks to His holy name.
5 His anger lasts a moment; His favor lasts for life! Weeping may go on all night, but in the morning there is joy.
6, 7 In my prosperity I said, This is forever; nothing can stop me now! The Lord has shown me His favor. He has made me steady as a mountain.
Then, Lord, You turned Your face away from me and cut off Your river of blessings. [311] Suddenly my courage was gone; I was terrified and panic-stricken.
8 I cried to You, O Lord; oh, how I pled:
9 What will You gain, O Lord, from killing me? How can I praise You then to all my friends?[311] How can my dust in the grave speak out and tell the world about Your faithfulness?
[311] Implied.
10 Hear me, Lord; oh, have pity and help me.
11 Then He turned my sorrow into joy! He took away my clothes of mourning and gave me gay and festive garments to rejoice in
12 So that I might sing glad praises to the Lord instead of lying in silence in the grave. O Lord my God, I will keep on thanking You forever!
EXPOSITION
This psalm appears to be so full of Hezekiah, that the wonder is, where David can be found. And yet there is but little unsuited to Davids time, if we had but the biographical details to identify one or two more incidents of his life which seem to be here memorialised. Perownes suggestion is good, that the dedication alluded to in the inscription, was perhaps the dedication of his own house, the building of which he seems to have regarded as a pledge of the security and prosperity of his kingdom (2Sa. 5:11-12). We must however still suppose that he had suffered just before from a sickness, about which the history is silent. There is nothing surprising in such silence, and we must not be unreasonably exacting in seeking for the historical occasions giving birth to individual psalms. (Yet see, post, on Psalms 38, 41.) We may at least feel satisfied that we are within the charmed circle of psalm-production. For when, in the case of this psalm, we do advert to the co-authorship of King Hezekiah,we discover Hezekian incidents starting out of every stanza. By the help of the references any reader can verify this for himself. Briggs makes an apt reference from the moment of this psalm to the small moment of Isa. 54:7. Nevertheless, we must regard as futile the attempt to establish the position that the seeming individual whose deliverance is here celebrated was the nation of Israel. Far rather, may we reverse the processespecially when the so-called Second Isaiah is discovered to be the well-known Isaiah himselfby permitting the King here in the psalm to celebrate the almost momentary brevity of his own trial; and then find, in its most fitting place, the great prophecy itself, the Prophets improvement of the royal incident, with which we know he was perfectly familiar: Like as the hiding of Jehovahs face from our beloved King was but as for a moment; so, O Israel, when the long vista of future blessedness opens before thee, shall all the grief of thy long forlorn condition appear to thee in retrospect as having been but for a small moment. In deference to Dr. Thirtle, we may imagine Isaiah to have added: Even as the weary months of the Assyrian invasion shall appear to the nation to have been but for a moment, when the glorious fifteen years of assured prosperity have well set in.
Perhaps the one reflection most apt to arise in the devout mind on the reading of this psalm will be, the grateful recognition of the selective power with which the human mind is endowed, whereby it can suffer long months or years of suffering to contract themselves into practically a short compass, comparatively a moment, while the mercies of the past can be counted lingeringly one by one, and allowed to extend into a long line of blessings. At eventide cometh to lodge Weepingin the morning, Jubilation.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1.
All of us can remember the exhilaration we felt when once the fever of flu left us, or the nausea; we awoke one morning and we were no longer sick. This seems to be the background of this Psalm. Perhaps the sickness was more serious than flu. Perhaps we have been healed from another sickness. Discuss.
2.
At eventide there cometh to lodge, Weeping, but by morning, Jubilation. There are other translations of Psa. 30:5, discuss them.
3.
There are some beautiful contrasts; discuss these: anger and favour, a moment and a lifetime, evening and morning, weeping and joy, mourning and dancing, sackcloth and festive attire.
4.
Verse nine seems to suggest that man has one primary task on earthwhat is it? How do we fulfill it?
5.
This is a song of dedication of the Housewhy isnt it used at a church dedication? Discuss.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(1) Thou hast lifted me up.The Hebrew word seems to mean to dangle, and therefore may be used either of letting down or drawing up. The cognate noun means bucket It is used in Exo. 2:19, literally of drawing water from a well; in Pro. 20:5, metaphorically of counsel. Here it is clearly metaphorical of restoration from sickness, and does not refer to the incident in Jeremiahs life (Jer. 38:13), where quite a different word is used.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
1. Lifted me up The word signifies to draw up, as water from a well, or a man out of a deep pit, and is used to denote any extrication from perilous conditions. See Psa 30:3.
My foes to rejoice over me Great as David had become in war and in peace, he was never without deadly enemies who would have rejoiced at his downfall, and only waited opportunity to accomplish it. No innocence or prudence can protect a man in power and influence from envy, rivalry, and hatred, nor a godly man from persecution.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
An Expression Of Gratitude To YHWH For His Deliverance From Death ( Psa 30:1-3 ).
Psa 30:1-3
I will exalt you, O YHWH, for you have raised me up,
And have not made my foes to rejoice over me.
O YHWH my God, I cried to you, and you have healed me.
O YHWH, you have brought up my soul from Sheol,
You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.
The Psalmist praises God for having raised him up (Psa 30:1) and healed him (Psa 30:2). He had been very conscious of two things while he was ill, firstly that his opponents had been waiting, hoping that he would die so that they could then rejoice over his coffin and pursue their own ends, and secondly of the gaping jaws of the grave that had been waiting to receive him and had been seeking to drag him in. But he recognised that God in His goodness had thwarted both and had spoiled their hopes. God had triumphed on his behalf. His soul had not, of course, actually been in Sheol, it was just that it had seemed to be so as he lay there in his fever, for God had ‘kept him alive’, and had not allowed him to go down into the Pit. The ideas of Sheol (the grave world) and the Pit are parallel. They are the places where the dead go.
Note the parallel ‘I will exalt you’ because ‘you have raised me up’. He cannot raise up God, for it is God Who is the giver, but he can at least lift up His Name in order that it might be exalted. And that he will do with all his heart.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Psalms 30
Historical Background – This Psalm was for the dedication of the house of David. This house is referred to in 2Sa 5:11.
2Sa 5:11, “And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters, and masons: and they built David an house.”
There were several other dedications of houses recorded in the Scriptures:
Deu 20:5, “And the officers shall speak unto the people, saying, What man is there that hath built a new house, and hath not dedicated it? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it.”
1Ki 8:63, “And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered unto the LORD, two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD .”
2Ch 7:5, “And king Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty and two thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep: so the king and all the people dedicated the house of God .”
Ezr 6:16, “And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy,”
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
A Prayer of Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Death.
v. 1. I will extol Thee, O Lord, v. 2. O Lord, my God, I cried unto Thee, v. 3. O Lord, Thou hast brought up my soul from the grave, v. 4. Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of His, v. 5. For His anger endureth but a moment, v. 6. And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved, v. 7. Lord, by Thy favor Thou hast made my mountain to stand strong, v. 8. I cried to Thee, O Lord, v. 9. What profit is there in my blood when I go down to the pit? v. 10. Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me, v. 11. Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing, v. 12. to the end that my glory,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
THIS psalm is one of thanksgiving from first to last, and commemorates a deliverance from a great danger. It is divided into two unequal portionsone of five and the ether of seven verses. In the first part, the deliverance is mentioned, and thanks given for it, in the briefest possible way (Psa 30:1-3), after which the people are called upon to join in praising God, and reminded what cause they have for doing so (Psa 30:4, Psa 30:5). In the second part, the circumstances of the deliverance are set out at greater length. First of all, the sin is confessed, which had drawn down God’s anger (Psa 30:6); then mention is made of the trouble which came (Psa 30:7); next the psalmist tells us how the trouble was met (Psa 30:8); he gives us his prayer and expostulation with God (Psa 30:9, Psa 30:10); then he relates how, on a sudden, there was reliefgrief was turned into gladnessentreaty into thanksgiving (Psa 30:11, Psa 30:12). Finally, in a burst of joy, he promises to continue to praise and thank God for ever.
The title ascribes the psalm to David; and it is generally allowed to possess internal evidence of Davidic authorship. Ewald calls it “a model hymn of thanksgiving, composed in the best age of Hebrew poetry, for recitation in the temple.” The particular occasion on which it was written is declared in the title to have been “the dedication of the house,” by which (if David was the author) it is impossible to understand anything but the dedication of the altar (with its precinct) on the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite, after the great plague sent to punish David for numbering the people, as related in 2Sa 24:1-25; 1Ch 21:1-28. With this occasion its contents are in perfect harmony. It was probably sung at the thanksgiving service with which David inaugurated his altar. The modern Jews still recite it at their Feast of the Dedication.
Psa 30:1
I will extol thee, O Lord; or, “I will exalt thee,” as the word is rendered in Psa 34:3; Psa 99:5, Psa 99:9; and elsewhere. For thou hast lifted me up; or, “drawn me up,” as a bucket is drawn up out of a well, or a man out of a dungeon. And hast not made my foes to rejoice over me. David had still enemies at the time of his numbering the people, as appears from 2Sa 24:13. Indeed, it was doubtless with some reference to the number of his foes that he wished to know how many followers he could rally to his standard in case of need. If the plague had continued much longer, David’s military strength would have been seriously crippled, and his foes would have rejoiced with reason.
Psa 30:2
O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me. “Heal” may be used metaphorically for the removal of mental sufferings (see Psa 41:4; Psa 147:3); but David’s grief when he saw the sufferings of his people from the plague seems to have wholly prostrated him, both in mind and body. For the nature of the “cry” spoken of, comp. Psa 30:8-10, which are an expansion of the present verse.
Psa 30:3
O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave; i.e. when I was on the verge of the grave, just ready to depart to the unseen world, thy interposition saved me, and brought me, as it were, back to life. Thou hast kept me alive. Lest the hyperbole of the preceding clause should be misunderstood, the writer appends a prosaic account of what had happened. God had “kept him alive” when he was in peril of death, and saved him, that he should not go down to the pit.
Psa 30:4
Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his. David continually calls upon the people to join him in his praises of God. Even when the mercy vouchsafed has been granted specially to himself, he regards the people as interested, since he is their ruler in peace and their leader in war (see Psa 9:11; Psa 34:3, etc.). On the present occasion, however, the people who had escaped the pestilence had almost exactly the same reason for praising and thanking God that David had, and were bound to join him in his thanksgiving service. And give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness; literally, give thanks to the memorial of his holiness, which is explained, by reference to Exo 3:15, as meaning, “Give thanks to his holy Name” (comp. Psa 103:1; Psa 106:47; Psa 145:21).
Psa 30:5
For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life; literally, for a moment (is passed) in his anger, a lifetime in his favour. God s anger is short-lived in the case of those who, having sinned, repent, and confess their sin, and pray for mercy (see Psa 30:8-10). His favour, on the contrary, is enduring; it continues all their life. Weeping may endure for a night; rather, at eventide weeping comes to lodge, or to pass the night; but joy cometh in the morning; or, but at morn joy arriveth (comp. Job 33:26; Isa 26:20; Isa 54:7).
Psa 30:6-12
Now begins the expanded account of the deliverance in respect of which the thanksgiving is offered. And first, with regard to the offence that had drawn down the Divine chastisement; it was an offence of the lips, springing from an evil temper in the heart.
Psa 30:6
And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved; rather, as in the Revised Version, and as for me, in my prosperity I said, etc. There is a marked pause, and introduction of a new subject in a new strophe. Prosperity had worked an ill effect on the psalmist, had made him self-confident and proud. He “said in his heart,” as the wicked man in Psa 10:6, only in still stronger phrase, “I shall not be moved;” literally, I shall not be moved for ever. His heart was lifted up, and in the spirit of self-glorification he gave command for the numbering of the people. The result was the plague, and the death of seventy thousand of his subjects. Into these details he does not here enter. He is content to trace his sin to its bitter root of pride, and to glance at its punishment (Psa 10:7) and his repentance (Psa 10:8-10).
Psa 30:7
Lord, by thy favour thou hast (rather, hadst) made my mountain to stand strong. It was thy favour which had given me the “prosperity” whereby I was exalted, and which I thought rooted in myselfwhich had made Zion strong, and enabled me to triumph over my enemies. But, lo! suddenly all was changedThou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled. God turned his face away, declared himself angry with his servant (1Ch 21:7-12), and sent the dreadful plague which in a single day destroyed seventy thousand lives. Then David, feeling that God’s face was indeed turned from him, “was troubled.”
Psa 30:8
1 cried to thee, O Lord; and unto thee I made supplication. The part of his prayer most honourable to David is not recorded by himself, but by the historians. He tells us of his secret wrestlings with God, his complaints and expostulationshis cries and pleadings as they remained in his memory; he passes over the desire to die for his people, which the historians put on record.
Psa 30:9
What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit! What advantage wilt thou derive from my death, if thou killest me, either by the plague, which may as well fasten upon me as upon any one else, or by the misery and mental strain of seeing my subjects, my innocent sheep, suffer? God has “no pleasure in the death of him that dieth” (Eze 18:32), and certainly can obtain no profit from the destruction of any of his creatures. Shall the dust praise thee? (comp. Psa 6:5; Psa 88:10; Psa 115:17; Isa 38:18). In death, so far as the power of death extends, there can be no action; the lips cease to move, and therefore cannot hymn God’s praisethe “dust” is inanimate, and, while it remains dust, cannot speak. What the freed soul may do, the psalmist does not consider. Very little was known under the old dispensation concerning the intermediate state. Shall it declare thy truth? The dust certainly could not do this, unless revivified and formed into another living body.
Psa 30:10
Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me: Lord, be thou my Helper (comp. Psa 54:4; Heb 13:6). Here the psalmist’s prayer, uttered in his distress, ends, and he proceeds to declare the result.
Psa 30:11
Thou hast turned (rather, thou turnedst) for me my mourning into dancing. Suddenly, in a moment, all was changed. The angel ceased to slay. God bade him hold his hand. The Prophet Gad was sent with the joyful news to David, and commanded him at once to build an altar at Jehovah. Then the mourning ceased, and a joyful ceremonial was instituted, of which dancing, as so often, formed a part (see Exo 15:20; 1Sa 18:6; 2Sa 6:14-16; Psa 149:3; Jer 31:4). Thou hast put off (rather, didst put off) my sackcloth. That the king had clothed himself in sackcloth on the occasion, is mentioned by the author of Chronicles (1Ch 21:16). And girded (girdedst) me with gladness.
Psa 30:12
To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee. If we allow the ellipse of the personal pronoun supposed by our translators and Revisers, we must regard David as calling his soul “his glory,” as in Psa 16:9. But some commentators think that “glory” is here used as we use “royalty,” and designates the royal person or the royal office (so Kay and Professor Alexander). And not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever. Great mercies deserve perpetual remembrance. David regarded the mercy at this time vouchsafed him as one which, like that vouchsafed Hezekiah, required to be commemorated “all the days of his life” (Isa 38:20).
HOMILETICS
Psa 30:5
Mercy and judgment.
“His anger a moment,” etc. This pathetic and beautiful psalm is a thanksgiving after dangerous, well-nigh fatal, sickness. Its title calls it “a song at the dedication of the house; by David” (see Revised Version); q.d. David’s own palace, not the temple. But there is no reference to this in the psalm. This is of small account. The most profitable study of Scripture is not telescopic, peering into the past; nor microscopic, dissecting it like a corpse; but stethoscopic, laying your ear against its heart, and discerning the life that throbs there. The psalmist sings “of mercy and judgment.”
I. GOD‘S DISPLEASURE, AND ITS BRIEF DURATION. There is nothing of which we need to speak more carefully and reverently than of God’s anger. With men, anger is rarely free from personal resentment, ill will, injustice, passion. None of these find place in God’s anger. It is righteous displeasure against sin. At bottom, it is a manifestation of his love, which desires his children to be holy and happy. Its reality is shown, from the dawn of man’s history, by the inseparable connection of suffering with sin (Rom 6:23). God loves sinners, though they are unworthy, but does not treat them as sinless. And “whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth.’ The chastening may be brief, “for a moment,” but it is the expression of his unchangeable opposition to sin. The lightning flash is the expression of eternal forces, unchangeable laws. Are, then, the troubles of Christians always of the nature of punishments for particular sins? Beware of hastily thinking so, for yourself or others. Trouble has another mission, disciplinethe training and culture of Christian character. The Sinless One himself learned in the school of sorrow (Heb 5:8, Heb 5:9; Heb 4:15). Thus we learn to “weep with those who weep.” But trouble may be the direct fruit of our sin; or sent to waken consciencebring sin to mind. If so, remember there is no truer exercise of God’s love (Psa 119:67).
II. GOD‘S FAVOR, AND ITS LIFE–GIVING POWER. The Hebrew seems hardly to bear the sense given in the margin of the Revised Version. “Lifetime” is rather an English than a Hebrew idea. God’s favourhis loving-kindness and faithful careis as truly exercised towards his children in adversity as in prosperity; but not so seen and felt. The clouds which hide the sun are really drawn up by the sun’s rays, that they may “break in blessing;” but for the time they do hide it. The sense of God’s favourthe assurance of forgiveness, answer to prayer, removal of trial, opening of the path, comfort of promises, bounty of providence, shedding abroad of love in the heart by his Spirit, is like the life-giving sunshine; “clear shining after rain.”
III. THE LAW OF CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE CONCERNING TROUBLE. Sorrow is joy’s forerunner. The Hebrew is very terse and vigorous, though it may sound harsh if Englished verbatim, “For there is a moment in his anger; life in his favour. At eventide weeping shall come to lodge; and at morn a shout of joy.” Trouble is not for trouble‘s sake, but “for our profit.” The end being gained, the process will cease (1Pe 1:7; 2Co 4:17). Joy is for its own sake; therefore inexhaustible (Isa 35:10; Isa 54:8). How if the process fails; the end is not gained; grace and chastening both in vain? Then “his anger” against sin cannot be “for a moment,” but must abide (Joh 3:36; Heb 6:8; Heb 10:26, Heb 10:27).
Psa 30:9
A noble view of life. “Shall the dust praise thee?” etc. We must not take this cry of bitter anguish as an utterance of unbelief or irreligion. On the contrary, it contains a noble and religions view of life. Life, in the psalmist’s view, is a scene and season in which to glorify God. His quarrel with death is that it cuts short this opportunity; silences the tongue of testimony and the lips of praise; arrests the busy worker, and buries his vigorous energies in the dust. Here, then, is
I. THE CHURCH‘S COMPLAINT AGAINST DEATH. There is no piety in ignoring mysteries, though there may be impiety either in our presumptuous attempts to explain them, or more presumptuous denials that there can be an explanation perfectly consistent with God’s wisdom, justice, and goodness. We must not rashly try to lilt the veil or rend it; but as we worship before it we feel that it is a veil (Isa 45:15). God is a Sovereign, but not a Tyrant. Absolute obedience and trust are his due; but he will not crush either our reason or our conscience (Jer 12:1). Among the imperishable monuments which the Bible has placed over the graves of the good and wise and faithful, are not only those of such as were garnered like the ripe shock; but of others who came forth as a flower, and were cut down; not only Abraham, Israel, David, Daniel; but Abel, Josiah, Stephen, James. Such cases are not rare exceptions, but so frequent in every age of the Church’s history as to suggest the thought that there must be some deep, permanent, prevailing reason why so many priceless lives are cut short in their prime, and the Church of Christ and the world made poor by the loss of such vast stores of unspent service.
II. THE ENIGMA OF LIFE. For those who reject the gospelthe insoluble enigma. Close your Bible. Suppose, in the history of our race, no Incarnation, no Atonement, no Resurrection; in our calendar, no Christmas, Good Friday, Easter. Then, what is human life? A vast funeral procession; not in ordered march, with the grey heads always in the van. A confused blind hurry, in which not one of the crowd can tell but the next step may be into darkness and dust. Now the babe is snatched, now the mother. The child in his play, the youth in his pride and hope, the bride with her wreath; the man of ripe power and rich experience, whose fall is like Samson’s, bringing down the pillars on which the house rested, What does it mean? There are those who try to borrow the moral force and motive power of Christianity, while rejecting its facts, who are ready with an answer. “Man,” they say,” is immortal in his work. All that is best of us survives.” No more, we reply, than what is worst. “The evil that men do lives after them.” Noblest enterprises are rudely made abortive by death. The statesman, reformer, philanthropist (as dying Mirabeau said), cannot “bequeath his head “(Job 14:19, last clause).
III. THE GOSPEL SUPPLIES THE KEY TO THE ENIGMA, THE REPLY TO THE QUESTION. Yes. The dust shall praise God; the grave does declare his truth.
1. From the open, empty tomb of Jesus comes the message of comfort, hope, life. Death is abolished (2Ti 1:10; 1Co 15:20).
2. Every Christian grave praises God, bearing witness to the faith which conquered death and robbed the grave of terror (Psa 23:4; 2Co 5:1, 2Co 5:6); in the recognition and comfort of Christian mourners (1Th 5:13); in the promise of the Lord (Joh 6:39; Rev 1:18). Patience! “Fear not, only believe.” The promise shall be fulfilled. Death shall be destroyed (Joh 5:28, Joh 5:29; Php 3:20, Php 3:21; 1Co 15:52, 1Co 15:53, 1Co 15:55).
Meantime, who can doubt that the work which seems to us often so roughly and untimely broken off, is but raised to a higher sphere? They who seem to enter into rest before their time do so because the Lord has made their place ready (Joh 14:2).
HOMILIES BY C. CLEMANCE
Psa 30:1-12
A public thanksgiving an recovery from sickness.
This psalm has a remarkable title, “A Psalm or Song at the dedication of the house of David.” What house is referred to we have no means of knowing, nor is there any very manifest relation between the contents of the psalm and the dedication of any house whatsoever. We can scarcely read the psalm carefully without gathering therefrom that the writer had had a dangerous illness, from which he was not expecting to recover. But his life was mercifully spared; and we may venture to gather also (by comparing the title of the psalm with Psa 30:3) that his recovery, and the dedication referred to nearly coincided in point of time; and that he piously resolved to avail himself of such dedication service to return thanks for his recovery. This supposition is in itself reasonable, and, so far as we can find, it is not inconsistent with any of the expressions in the psalm itself. We find herein an interesting blending of the psalmist’s inner thoughts and of his pleadings with God. We see from both, how the Old Testament saints were wont to think and pray concerning sickness and death; both in thought and prayer we find here a decided reflection of the incompleteness of revelation under the Mosaic economy, and therefore, as Christians, privileged with fuller light and larger truth, we shall be greatly to blame if we look at either affliction or death as gloomily as the psalmist did. At the same time, the varied stages of experience indicated here are so very frequently passed through, even now, that we may service-ably utilize this psalm for the purposes of studying the dealings of God with his saints in the olden time, and in the present time likewise. There are six stages of experience rehearsed at this dedication service.
I. FIRST STAGE: TRANQUILITY. (Psa 30:6.) “In men tranquillitate” (Buxtorf and Calvin). There had been a time, prior to the experience of trouble here recorded, in which the writer had enjoyed comparative rest for a while. Some such interval of quiet is named in 2Sa 7:1 (see also 2Sa 13:14, 2Sa 13:15). And while he was calm and prosperous, he began to reckon securely on the future. He said, “I shall never be moved.” We have no reason to think this was a sinful self-security, as one expositor intimates; for in the text we are told that David attributed his ease to God’s good grace and favour. But, not unnaturally, he took it for granted that such quiet would last. God had made his “mountain” of prosperity to stand so firmly that it did not then seem as if he would again be seriously disturbed. Note: There is not only a sinful self-security into which the saints may fall for a while, but there is also a thoughtless assumption which may fasten on us in times of ease, that things will remain calm and smooth. There is danger in this, however, if not sin. And it is more than likely that God will send us something to disturb our treacherous calm. Hence
II. SECOND STAGE: TROUBLE. (2Sa 7:7, latter part.) The references in the psalm show us what this trouble was; we can scarcely question that it was some dangerous illness, in which his life was very seriously threatened (cf. 2Sa 7:2, 2Sa 7:3, 2Sa 7:8, 2Sa 7:9). And he attributed this illness to, or at least he associated it with, the “hiding of God’s face.” There is no necessary connection between these two. If, indeed, spiritual pride and a careless walk have sullied our life, there will be a time of mental darkness and serious spiritual depression afterwards. And not only so; but there are some diseases in which equanimity is so perturbed that spiritual distress may attend on bodily weakness through unhingement of the nervous system; and, subjectively, the effect may be as if God’s face were hidden. The connection of bodily suffering with mental gloom was not understood in David’s time, nor indeed till very recently. In the lives of Brainerd and other saints of their day, it is clear that a morbid introspection led them to associate the depression caused by fluctuating bodily health with corresponding spiritual ill. But we ought now to understand better both the laws of health and the love of God. So far from bodily affliction being a sign of “the hiding of God’s face,” God himself is never nearer, and his love is never more tender, than in our times of suffering and distress. A dear friend who was seriously ill said to the writer one day, “Oh! I’m so weak, I cannot think, I cannot even pray!” We replied, “Your little Ada was very ill some time ago, was she not?” “Very.” “Was she not too ill to speak to you?” “Yes.” “Did you love her less because she could not speak to you?” “No! I think I loved her more, if there was any difference.” “Just so” was God’s reply. “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.” We must never associate trouble and sickness per se with “the hiding of God’s face.” But David’s trouble, and his views thereof, led to the
III. THIRD STAGE: PRAYER. And the prayer was woeful indeed. He thought he was going down to the graveto Sheol (Hebrew), to Hades (LXX.), i.e. to the dim and drear underworld of the departed. There are three views of the state immediately after death, which is intended by the terms above named, which carry with them no moral significance, unless such moral significance is conveyed by the connection in which they stand. “Sheol” denotes the realm of departed souls, looked at as the all-demanding world. “Hades” denotes the realm of departed souls, looked at as the unknown region. To the pagan world, Hades was all dark, and no light beyond. To the Hebrews it was a dim, shadowy realm, with light awaiting the righteous in the morning (cf. Psa 17:15; Psa 49:14). To the Christian it is neither dark nor dim, but something “very far better” it is being” with Christ” Hence it follows that such a moan as that in 2Sa 7:9 would be utterly out of place now; “dying” to a believer is not “going down to the pits” and ought not to be thought of as such. The tenth verse can never be inappropriate. But note:
1. Times of anxiety and trouble often bring out agonizing prayer.
2. We may pour forth all our agonies before God. We speak to One who will never misunderstand, and who will do for us “above all that we ask or think.” Hence we are not surprised to see the psalmist at a
IV. FOURTH STAGE: RECOVERY. (2Sa 7:11; also 2Sa 7:1, “Thou hast lifted me up;” 2Sa 7:2, “Thou hast healed me.”) The psalmist was restored, and permitted again to sing of recovering mercy. Note: Whatever means may be used in sickness, it is only by the blessing of God thereon that they are efficacious. Therefore he should be praised for his goodness and loving-kindness therein.
V. FIFTH STAGE: THANKSGIVING AND PRAMS. (2Sa 7:5.) When the trouble is over, what seemed so prolonged a period before dwindles in the review to” a moment.” There is a beautiful antithesis, moreover, in the fifth verse, which our Revisers have too cautiously put in the margin, “His anger is but for a moment; his favour is for a lifetime.” Bishop Perowne says, ” seems here to be used of duration of life, though it would be difficult to support the usage.” But even if the word may not be used of the duration of life, surely it is used of life in reference to its continuousness, as in Psa 21:5 and Psa 63:5; and so is in complete antithesis to “a moment.” We should render the text, “For a moment in his anger, life in his favour.” (Even here, however, we must beware of always associating sickness with the anger of God.) How gloriously true it is, “He will not always chide, neither will he keep his anger for ever” (Psa 103:9, Psa 103:10; Isa 57:16-18)! We may not only praise God that our joys vastly outnumber our sorrows, but also that ofttimes our sorrows become the greatest mercies of all. Thus we are brought in thought to the
VI. SIXTH STAGE: VOW. (Verse 12, “O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.”) Many illustrations are to be found in the Word of God, of vows following on the reception of special mercies from him (Gen 28:20-22; 1Sa 1:11; Psa 116:1-19; Psa 132:2). Note: At each instance of signal mercy in life, there should be as signal a repetition of our consecration vows.C.
HOMILIES BY W. FORSYTH
Psa 30:1-12
God’s chastening hand.
It is written, “No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby” (Heb 12:11). This psalm teaches how we may reap much good from the chastening of sickness.
I. The first thing is to ACKNOWLEDGE GOD‘S HAND. The heathen may be in doubt; they may question whether it is “a chance’ or the doing of God when great evil comes (1Sa 6:9); but it ought not to be so with us. Behind the things seen, and all the causes we can trace, we should see the hand of God. “Thou hast lifted me up.” What a blessed change this thought effects! It is like light breaking in on the darkness, and the sense of a loving presence bringing hope to our hearts in trouble.
II. Again, we should CONFESS GOD‘S MERCY. However bad our case may he, it might be worse. “Wherefore doth a living man complaina man for the punishment of his sins?” (Lam 3:39; cf. Mic 7:9). Besides, there are alleviations. We meet with kindness and sympathy; we are cheered by the ministry of loving friends; we have the teaching and experiences of other sufferers open to us in books; above all, we have the consolations of our holy religion.
III. Again, it is meet that we should SEEK TO KNOW GOD‘S WILL. He does not act from passion or caprice. He has a purpose, and his purpose must be worthy of himself, as well as benign and gracious toward us. We know as a general truth that “the will of God is our sanctification” (1Th 4:3). But we should inquire, besides, as to what special end God may have in view in the particular trial that has come to us. It may be he wishes to teach us the brevity of life. “Work, therefore, while it is called to-day” (Joh 9:4). Or his object may be to humble our hearts and to quicken our sympathies with others. “Look not, therefore, on your own things, but look also on the things of others” (Php 2:4). Or his purpose may be to loosen us from earthly things, and to bind us more closely to himself as our Saviour and our God. “Little children, keep yourselves from idols” (1Jn 5:21). In any case, like Job, let us say, “That which I see not teach thou me: if I have done iniquity, I will do no more” (Job 34:32; cf. Jos 7:6).
IV. Again, we should pray that we may be able to SURRENDER OURSELVES WHOLLY TO GOD. “The hardest, the severest, the last lesson which man has to learn upon this earth is submission to the will of God. It is the hardest lesson, because to our blinded eyesight it often seems a cruel will. It is the severest, because it can be only taught by the blighting of much that has been most dear; it is the last lesson, because when a man has learned that, he is fit to be transplanted from a world of wilfulness to a world in which one will alone is loved and done. All that saintly experience ever had to teach resolves itself into thisthe lesson how to say affectionately, “Not as I will, but as thou wilt” (F. W. Robertson). When we have learned this lesson, then we are able to see with thankfulness and joy that God’s holiness and love are one (verse 4). Besides, we have reached a height which, looking before and after, we recognize the gracious dealings of God with us all through, and are able to say that it was good for us to have been afflicted (verses 6-12). Perhaps, like the psalmist, we may have been falling into carnal security. We have said to ourselves, “I shall never be moved.” Our presumption has brought upon us chastisement. We presumed upon our health, and God sent sickness; we presumed upon our friends and lovers, and God has put them far from us; we presumed upon our reputation and worldly comforts, and God has brought us low; we presumed upon our religious faith and privileges, and God has hid his face from us, and taught us that we must rely only on himself. Our trials have moved us to prayer (verses 8-10); our prayer has brought us help and comfort from God (verse 11), and now with renewed hope and joy we can sing God’s praise (verse 12).W.F.
Psa 30:4
The holiness of Christ.
We may apply these words to Christ. We should “give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness” as
I. GLORIOUSLY INDEPENDENT. The holiness of the creature is derived. It is not by will, or by effort, or by discipline as something that has been wrought out by himself; it is of God. But the holiness of Christ was his own; it was essential to his being; it was the outshining of the glory that he had from eternity (Isa 6:3; Joh 12:41).
II. ABSOLUTELY PERFECT. Thank God, there have been, and there are, good men upon earth; but none of them is perfect. None is good from the first; none is wholly and always good. The holiness of the best is not only derived, but imperfect. This is the confession of every one that is godly when coming before God. But the holiness of Christ was perfect. Nothing could be added to itnothing higher could be conceived. In this respect be stands alone, the first, and the last, and the only one, in human likeness, who had kept the Law perfectly, and who could say, in the face of enemies and of friends, “Which of you convinceth me of sin?” (Joh 8:46).
III. INVIOLABLY PURE. Some may seem pure because they have not been tried. But Christ was subjected to the severest trials and temptations; yet his holy soul was never stained by sin. He was born without sin (Luk 1:35); he lived in an evil world without sin (1Jn 3:5); he died without sin (Heb 9:14). “Such an High Priest became us:” (Heb 7:26).
IV. ETERNALLY BEAUTIFUL. We read of “the beauty of holiness,” and it is the supreme and perfect beauty of character.
1. Challenges our admiration.
2. Inspires our confidence.
3. Commands our love.
Christ’s holiness is not against us, but for us. It does not repel, but attract; it shows us what we ought to be, and thus humbles us under a sense of our sins; it shows us what we may become, and thus raises our hopes to heaven. It is because of his holiness he is fitted to be our Saviour. He not only perfectly represents God to man, but also man to God. Never was it more needful than in our day to remember Christ’s holiness. Men are ready enough to speak of Christ’s truth, Christ’s goodness, Christ’s self-sacrifice, and so forth; but few speak of his holiness. But in the Old Testament and the New holiness has a first place. Our Lord addressed God as “Holy Father” (Joh 17:11). He has taught us that without holiness no one shall see God; and he, and he alone, reveals to us the way whereby we who are sinners may cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, and perfect holiness in God’s fear. It is as we become holy that we grow up into Christ, to the stature of the perfect man. It is as we are holy that we can best serve Christ here, and sing his praise for ever (1Pe 1:15; 1Pe 2:5; Rev 4:8; Rev 14:3).W.F.
Psa 30:5-12
The changes and consolations of life.
I. THE CHANGES OF LIFE. Health may give place to sickness, prosperity to adversity, joy to sorrow. To-day we may be lifted up and rejoicing in God’s favour, to-morrow we may be cast down and in trouble because God is hiding his face from us. There are two things to be guarded against. First, presumption (Psa 30:6); next, despair. Come what will, we must cling to God (Psa 30:9, Psa 30:10).
II. THE CONSOLATIONS OF LIFE.
1. All changes are under the control of God.
2. That God’s help is always available. Nothing can really prevent us from enjoying God’s presence, but our own sin.
3. That the end of the Lord is merciful. The blessing will surely come to those who wait for it. “Anger” will give place to “favour;” the. pain. of the “moment” will be forgotten in the joy of renewed “life” and the ushering m of the glad eternal “day.” The end is “praise.”W.F.
HOMILIES BY C. SHORT
Psa 30:1-5
The mercy of God.
This psalm composed after recovery from some chastisement for sin, which had very nearly proved fatal. He praises God for lifting him up out of it, and calls upon others of a similar experience to join him in his thanksgiving.
I. HE CELEBRATES WITH JOY THE MERCY OF GOD TO HIM.
1. His recovery had put an end to the malicious exultation of his foes. (Psa 30:1.) Wicked men rejoice in the downfall and calamity of the good; they accept it as a sign of hypocrisy and of the approaching downfall of goodness and the good cause. And this was why the psalmist rejoiced that in his case they had been disappointed. We sympathize in the success of the cause that is dearest to our heartthe good with the good; the bad with the bad.
2. God had healed him of the sin which caused the chastisement. (Psa 30:2.) What the instance of the sin was may be seen in the sixth verseoverweening presumption and pride, produced by prosperity. It was that which threatened his safety, his very life; and it imperils the safety of all who are guilty of it. “Pride goeth before destruction,” etc. His faults nothing as compared to virtues. And in being healed of the sin he was restored and lifted back to life.
3. God had removed also the chastisement of his sin. (Psa 30:3.) It would not have been good to remove the chastisement till it had wrought repentance and brought him humility and trust and watchfulness. God always removes the sin before he takes away the chastisement.
II. HE USES HIS OWN EXPERIENCE AS A LESSON OF TRUST TO OTHERS. (Psa 30:4, Psa 30:5.)
1. Sympathy with men and gratitude to God both teach us to do this. Others who were then suffering what he had suffered were encouraged to trust in the goodness of God. But the special ground for praise here insisted on is:
2. That the dark experiences of the righteous are transient, like the tears of a might; but their bright experiences as quickly return as the morning after the night. (Psa 30:5.) Long-continued sorrow kills; joy is the life-giver which God sends when sorrow has brought us low The sorrow of the world worketh death, but godly sorrow life.S.
Psa 30:6-12
Vain confidence.
“And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved,” etc. Three stages here represented in the life of a good man.
I. WORLDLY PROSPERITY A SECURITY. “In my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.”
1. We say this in youth. All our castles in the air, we think, are built upon mountains. We think we can become anything and achieve anything we please.
2. We say this before we know our sinfulness. The ways of the world harden our hearts about our sins. Success in life and the means we employ to reach it will often harden the conscience. Money, luxury, praise, are dreadful things to blind men to their real character and state before God.
II. THE SENSE OF DANGER AND TROUBLE.
1. God hides his face. We, in our vain confidence, think it is God that has made our mountain to stand strongtill he hides his face, till a great black cloud (our sins) comes between us and God. This phrase, though often misapplied, expresses a very real fact. It is the blackness of darkness to many a terror-stricken sinner.
2. The terrors of death. Of death, natural and spiritual, get hold of us. The terror of death, natural and spiritual, is to be forsaken of God in it. This dreadful moment has come to nearly all good men. Some men never get beyond this second stage of life.
III. RESTORATION TO REAL PROSPERITY AND SECURITY.
1. The prosperity of the believer is real prosperity. It is the prosperity of the soul; it is prosperity from God, and not from man; it is lasting, secure prosperity.
2. God is the Author of the second and third stages of a good man‘s life. “Thou didst hide thy face; thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing,” etc.S.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Psalms 30.
David praiseth God for his deliverances: he exhorteth others to praise him by the example of God’s dealing with him.
A Psalm and Song, at the dedication of the house of David.
Title. mizmor shiir. A psalm and song, &c. This excellent composition is well suited to the occasion on which it was penned: for nothing could be more proper than the recollection of the past conduct of Providence, amid the various changes of condition which had attended David, the numerous and dangerous distresses that had befallen him, and the deliverances which God had seasonably wrought out for him; till, at length, he was brought to the height of prosperity, when he saw Jerusalem well fortified, and her numerous buildings rising up under his hand, and his own palace magnificently finished for the residence of himself and family. This psalm is penned with great strength and elegance of diction, and the sentiments of piety in it are truly noble and instructive. The manner in which he describes the interpositions of God’s favour, and the gratitude of his own heart, is warm, sententious, and affecting; the periods being short, generally without the connective particles, and answering to the events which crowded fair one after another, and the various affections which inspired him. Nor should the excellent design of it be forgotten; which is to put men in mind of the folly and vanity of that presumption which causes them to forget themselves, and fondly depend on the continuance of their external prosperity; and to shew them, that when their expectations of this kind are highest, they may then be nearest to a severe disappointment by a sudden reverse of their circumstances, in order more effectually to convince them, that, as all their prosperity is originally from God, the continuance of it depends solely on his favour. And, on the other hand, we are instructed, that all the afflictions of life are under a divine direction; that we should never despair, but should apply ourselves to God, when exercised with them, by frequent supplication, and hope in his mercy, who can and will deliver us out of them, if, upon the whole, it be necessary to promote our best and highest happiness. Dr. Chandler.
At the dedication of the house of David The original word chanukkah signifies to initiate, or the first use which is made of any thing. It was common, when any person had finished a house and entered into it, to celebrate it with great rejoicings, and keep a festival, to which his friends were invited, and to perform some religious ceremonies to procure the protection of heaven. See Deu 20:5.
Psa 30:1. Thou hast lifted me up Or, Thou hast drawn me up. The verb dalah is used in its original meaning, to denote the reciprocating motion of the buckets of a well; one descending as the other rises, and vice versa; and it is here applied, with admirable propriety, to point out the various reciprocations and changes of David’s fortunes, as described in this psalm, as to prosperity and adversity; and particularly that gracious reverse of his afflicted condition which he now celebrates, God having raised him up to great honour and prosperity; for, having built his palace, he perceived that the Lord had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom, for his people Israel’s sake. 2Sa 5:12 and see Schultens on Pro 20:5 and Chandler.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Psalms 30
A Psalm and Song at the dedication of the house of David
1I will extol thee, O Lord; for thou hast lifted me up,
And hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.
2O Lord my God,
I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.
3O Lord,thou hast brought up my soul from the grave:
Thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.
4Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his,
And give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.
5For his anger endureth but a moment;
In his favour is life:
Weeping may endure for a night,
But joy cometh in the morning.
6And in my prosperity I said,
I shall never be moved.
7Lord, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong;
Thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled.
8I cried to thee, O Lord;
And unto the Lord I made supplication.
9What profit is there in my blood,
When I go down to the pit?
Shall the dust praise thee?
Shall it declare thy truth?
10Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me:
Lord, be thou my helper.
11Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing:
Thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;
To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent.
12O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Its Contents. For the Title vid. Introduction.19Thanksgiving for Divine deliverance from great peril of death begins the Psalm (Psa 30:1-3), which is followed by an appeal to the congregation to praise the goodness of God, which soon changes the deserved trouble into abiding joy (Psa 30:4-5). This has been shown in the life of the Psalmist, who mentions his false feelings of security and his boasting (Psa 30:6), and his terror when he perceived the loss of the Divine favor, which constitutes the true basis of his power (Psa 30:7). He then states the fact (Psa 30:8), and the manner (Psa 30:9-10) of his prayer and his experience of help (Psa 30:11), in order that he may praise God without intermission, as he vows likewise to do (Psa 30:12). Comp. P. Gerhards hymns: Ich preise dich und singe, and, Sollt ich meinem Gott nicht singen, with the refrain from Psa 30:520
Str. I. Psa 30:1-3. For Thou hast drawn me up.The Hebrew word is used in Exo 2:16; Exo 2:19 of drawing water from a well and so is figuratively applied, Pro 20:5. But this is not the original idea of the word, according to Hupfeld, but is itself a particular application of the idea of drawn up, which is here rendered by all ancient translators and interpreters (so A. V. lifted me up). This does away at once with the chief point of the hypothesis of Hitzig, that the reference is to the deliverance of the prophet Jeremiah from the slimy cistern (Jeremiah 38). The deep place in question is manifestly stated in Psa 30:3 [as sheol and grave, vid.Psa 6:5; Psa 16:9.C. A. B.]; and since there is described there, not a great danger in general in a symbolical manner (Calv., Hengst,), or in hyperbolical expressions (De Wette, Hupf.), but the near peril of death, we cannot understand the healing Psa 30:2, which is parallel with the drawing up, of help and salvation in general, but rather of deliverance from sickness. For the reading and the construction of Psa 30:3 b vid. Hupfeld.Thou hast quickened me from among those that go down to the grave. [Hupfeld: Hell and grave are ideas usually interchanged and parallel: and , from, is used at first of the place out of which he was drawn, then of the association of those who are there, from which he is taken away.C. A. B.]
Str. II. Psa 30:4. And praise His holy memory.Memory is parallel with name,Exo 3:15; Isa 26:8; Hos 12:6; Psa 97:12; Psa 135:13, yet is not identical with it. The name makes God known, the memory brings God and our duty to Him to remembrance.
Psa 30:5. For a moment (passeth) in His anger, a life in His favor; at even weeping turneth in (literally, passeth the night), and in the morningshouts of joy.The figurative character of these pregnant words is misunderstood by Hengst. and Hitzig and applied in the interest of their hypotheses, which however different in other respects, coincide in this, that they make all depend upon the duration of a single day. And it is the more remarkable when Hengstenberg denies the parallelism of the thought in Psa 30:5 b, and translates: for His wrath brings on a (sad) moment, His favor life. At any rate, usage demands that should only be regarded as a designation of time. It is true that includes usually the material contrast with death, in accordance with its Biblical meaning; and so Geier likewise translates delectatur vita=God has pleasure in the life, and not in the death of the sinner: but this destroys the parallelism at once. But Psa 27:4. shows that the idea of time may under certain circumstances, even in this world, appear as the only one. So likewise in Isa 54:7-8, an everlasting grace is contrasted with the moment of anger just as here a lifelong favor. The Vulgate has after the Sept. (which reads ) quoniam ira in indignatione ejus. So Roman Catholic interpreters in their expositions assert that the cause is used instead of the effect, wrath instead of punishment; particularly death.
Str. III. [Psa 30:6. And as for me.Perowne: The pronoun with the conjunction thus at the beginning of a clause is always emphatic, and generally stands in opposition to something going before, either expressed or understood. Here there is a tacit opposition between the Psalmists present and his former experience. Now he had learnt through the lesson of suffering to trust in God. Before that suffering came, he had begun to trust in himself. I seemed so strong, so secure, I began to think within myself, I shall never be moved; Thou hadst made my mountain so strong. And then Thou didst hide Thy face, and I was troubledC. A. B.]
Psa 30:7. Hadst Thou appointed strength to my mountain.The Vulgate has instead of to my mountain decori meo after the Sept. , which presupposes the reading So likewise the Syriac. The Chald. has: Thou hast placed me on strong mountains, which Hupfeld prefers, and it is certainly better than the interpretation of others: on my strong mountain. The Hebrew verb with the accusative of the thing and dative of the person leads, however, to the idea of appoint=give, comp. 2Ch 33:8, with 2Ki 21:8. The mountain is not so much a symbol of dignity and greatness, as either of security and of success, or of dominion, especially of the Davidic kingdom (2Sa 6:9; 2Sa 6:12; Mic 4:8).[Thou didst hide Thy face, I was frightened.For an explanation of Gods hiding His face vid.Psa 13:1. The A. V. troubled is too weak.C. A. B.]
Str. IV. Psa 30:9. What profit by my blood, by my going down to the grave? can dust praise Thee? can it declare Thy truth?The mention of blood does not lead necessarily to the idea of a violent death, for the soul is in the blood. [Compare the argument in Psa 6:5, also Psa 88:10; Psa 88:12 and in Hezekiahs words Isa 38:18-19, which is manifestly based on Davids words. Delitzsch: His prayer for a prolongation of life was not for the sake of earthly possessions and enjoyment, but for the honor of God. He feared death as the end of the praise of God. For on the other side of the grave no more Psalms would be sung. Psa 6:5. Hades was not overcome in the Old Testament, the heavens not yet opened. In heaven were the (Psalms 29. sons of Gods), but not yet the blessed (sons of Adam),21C. A. B.]
Str. V. Psa 30:11. Thou hast turned my lamenting into dancing for me, didst undo my sackcloth and gird me with joy.[Hupfeld: Dancing (dances performed by women accompanied by songs and music at the celebration of a victory as Exo 15:20; Jdg 11:34 : 1Sa 18:6, or at religious feasts Exo 32:19, Jdg 21:21) is here poetical of joy or shouts of joy, thanksgiving and songs, as Jer 31:4; Jer 31:13; Lam 5:15.vid. Smiths Dict. of the Bible, art. Dance.C. A. B.]. Sackcloth is the hairy, tight garment of sorrow and penitence, which was worn on the naked body, sometimes girded on with a cord and sometimes not. The girdles were mostly colored and served at the same time as ornaments, and were often embroidered and partially adorned with costly ornaments. Hence the expression gird does not merely pass over into a figurative meaning as of girding with strength,Psa 18:32, but is used at once in the sense of adorn, only that the fundamental meaning ever shines through, as Psa 65:12 : the hills gird themselves with rejoicing.
Psa 30:12. In order that glory may celebrate Thee.Most interpreters take here as referring to soul. The only difficulty is the absence of the suffix, for in this connection the reference can only be to the soul of the Psalmist and there is no example of an ellipsis of the suffix (Geier, Rosenm.). And so Hupfeld supplies it at once in the text, which thus becomes like the words of Psa 108:1. Kimchi thinks of the immortal soul in the eternal life as contrasted with the dust, Psa 30:9, which he explains of the corpse and not of the grave. But without regard to this false contrast, the article could not fail, if the soul as such was to be designated. Many others depart from the context and take the abstract for concrete=the noble (Chald.) or indeed; every man who has a wise soul (Aben Ezra). The Syriac has not regarded this word at all as the subject, but as the object: therefore will I sing praise to Thee. But this is against the construction, which is restored by the interpretation: glory=praise, renown, hymn, sings to Thee (Maurer, Olsh., De Wette). In the song of Hezekiah (Isaiah 38.) the last two verses of this Psalm are re-echoed together with many passages from the Book of Job. [Perowne: The sackcloth of his humiliation God had taken off from him, and had clothed him with the garment of praise (Isa 61:3). How should he do otherwise than praise God for ever for His goodness.C. A. B.]
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. There is sufficient reason in the exhibitions of grace, helpings and deliverances which God richly bestows upon men, to praise Him continually and thank Him daily. For as God lifts us by His hand on high from the depths into which we have fallen, so it is again our obligation to lift up our hearts and mouths to His praise (Calvin). Would that the depth of our feelings might correspond with the depths of misery from which we were drawn up, and the earnestness of our praise and thankfulness with the greatness of our obligation, since we could not even with our highest thankfulness attain to the greatness of God.
2. The Divine grace and help are wonderfully exhibited to every individual, yet it is not something singular and special; therefore the favored one has confidence in the entire congregation, that they will gladly follow his appeal to unite in the song of praise and thanksgiving which he lifts up to God. The one bounty reminds us likewise of others, the particular help of the general salvation, the present deliverance of previous exhibitions of grace shown to other men, so that the pious remembrance of Gods holy Being, as it is made known in His Providence in history, is awakened and sustained and the holy memory of Jehovah forms the subject of the songs of praise of the congregation.
3. It is worthy of particular consideration that whilst we richly deserve the wrath of God and must experience its frightful effects likewise in those sufferings in which we receive the taste of the punishments of our sins, yet the delivering favor of God which giveth life turns directly to the sinner when he is awakened from his security, and is terrified on account of his sins, and is brought in humility to the knowledge of his true condition and implores the grace of God. Thus we perceive that not wrath, but love is the essential disposition of God, and that He has both of these dispositions in Himself. Alles Ding whrt seine zeit, Gottes Lieb in Ewigkeit. (P. Gerhardt.
4. Even pious people have to keep before them the dangers of prosperity and be warned by the example of David, in order that they may not be betrayed in times of prosperity to hurtful confidence in self, and false feelings of security and then descend from their imaginary height, strength and abundance, and lose more than they ever thought it possible to lose. But the security of fools ruins them (Pro 1:32; comp. Deu 8:11-18; Deu 32:15; Hos 13:6). Yet he who has been brought by sufferings to reflection, by falls to awakening and thereby to terror, self-knowledge, prayer, gains not only true help and a new grace and attains to fresh and joyous thankfulness, but gains likewise beyond self, to tell others his history in humble and thankful joy, that they may be warned, instructed and consoled. David previously fast asleep, suddenly begins to cry out in terror to the Lord. For as iron, when it has become rusty by long disuse, cannot be again used until it is heated again in the fire and beaten with the hammer, so when once carnal security has prevailed, no one can quickly equip themselves for prayer, unless previously beaten and properly prepared by the cross (Calvin).
5. God in the deliverance of those who seek Him in penitence, declares not only His goodness and His faithfulness, but likewise His truth, which is to be transmitted from father to son (Isa 38:19), from generation to generation (Psa 22:31). Accordingly it is incumbent upon God and is in the interest of God not to be robbed of those servants who have pleasure in never ceasing to praise Him, and who in imploring for the preservation of their life have directed themselves not to earthly things, but to Gods glory and the efficiency of His service with heart, mind and thoughts, in the assurance that this can be accomplished by them only on earth and in this life, so long as death, the world below and hell have not been vanquished.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Our songs of praise and thanksgiving cannot be drawn too deep, nor ascend too high, nor be spread too far, nor last too long.No misery is so deep that we cannot be drawn out of it by God, but no height is so great that we cannot be cast down from it.It is not Gods fault if His anger last longer than a moment.When suffering or joy turns in to us, we do well to inquire whether God has sent us these guests.It is not indifferent how long we may weep or shout for joy, but more depends upon what they are about, for God determines their duration in accordance with it.We know not how many moments remain to us in this short, life, therefore it is important, that we should always be found as servants of God, in order that we may be ready through Gods favor to give account at any moment, and that we may praise forever His gracious help in bodily and spiritual things.In the congregation of God are heard not only the songs of sorrow and of praise of its members, but there may be heard there likewise their penitential prayers and confessions of faith.The experiences of believers should minister to the salvation of others, therefore they are told and written by them.To the preaching of the truth of God belongs the preaching of His wrath against the sinner as well as the message of His grace towards the penitent and the narration of His love towards those seeking salvation.We can have no better wish, than to experience Gods grace our lives long, declare Gods truth daily, praise Gods name forever.
Starke: It is a great benefit, when God prolongs a mans life until he turns to God in righteousness.Gods usual way is to cause a constant saving interchange of sorrow and of joy, in order that we may not sink under the burden.In good days we should think of the uncertainty of success and of our own weakness, and not put our trust in ourselves and be presumptuous.Children of the world seek to banish their sorrow by earthly pleasures of every kind, but the children of light know that all comes from the hand of the Lord; hence they wait patiently until the Lord Himself shall turn their sorrow into joy.Osiander: When we are in trouble, carnal security soon falls to the ground and we tremble and shudder for it.Selnekker: The guilt is mans, the punishment comes from God. But God delights in the life of man and has not ordained any man to death, but would that all men should turn and live.Arndt: We have here an earnest warning from the example of the dear David, that we should fear God in good days, and not be secure and rely upon temporal things.Tholuck: To confess that God is righteous in His chastisements is very difficult for men, but David was always ready to confess this after his failures.Stiller: This Psalm gives comfort in the sufferings of life, and says first of all, from whom they come, then how long they will endure, and finally what profit they will have.Guenther: Every one ascends high and has ascended, who lets himself be guided in the way of the Lord.He who always fares well quickly forgets God, and forgets likewise his poor soul; he then neglects to struggle, he regards himself as safe, even the gracious countenance of God shining upon him in continued success, he too easily takes for Gods good pleasure in his holiness.Thym: The pious sufferer on the bed of severe sickness: 1) knows thoroughly the weakness of his nature; 2) feels therein the chastisement of the holy God; 3) turns to the Physician who ever helps.
[Matth. Henry: The more imminent our dangers have been, the more eminent our deliverances have been, the more comfortable to ourselves, and the more illustrious proofs of the power and goodness of God A life from the dead ought to be spent in extolling the God of our life.No one of all Gods perfections carries in it more terror to the wicked nor more comfort to the godly, than His holiness.Our happiness is bound up in Gods favor; if we have that we have enough, whatever else we want. It is the life of the soul, it is spiritual life, the earnest of life eternal.Barnes: If we are to offer prayer for the salvation of our children, neighbors, or friends, it is to be done in this world; if we are to admonish and warn the wicked, it is to be done here; if we are to do anything by personal effort for the spread of the Gospel, it is to be done before we die. Whatever we may do in heaven, these things are not to be done there; for when we close our eyes in death, our personal efforts for the salvation of men will cease forever.Spurgeon: When Gods children prosper one way, they are generally tried another, for few of us can bear unmingled prosperity. Even the joys of hope need to be mixed with the pains of experience, and the more surely so when comfort breeds carnal security and self-confidence.How high has our Lord lifted us? Lifted us up into the childrens place, to be adopted into the family; lifted us up into union with Christ, to sit together with Him in heavenly places. Lift high the name of our God, for He has lifted us above the stars.Heavenly heart-music is an ascending thing, like the pillars of smoke which rose from the altar of incense.We die like withered flowers when the Lord frowns, but His sweet smile revives us as the dews refresh the fields. His favor not only sweetens and cheers life, but it is life itself, the very essence of life. Who would know life, let him seek the favor of the Lord.As in a wheel, the uppermost spokes descend to the bottom in due course, so is it with mortal conditions. There is a constant revolution: many who are in the dust to-day shall be highly elevated to-morrow; while those who are now aloft shall soon grind the earth.The next best thing to basking in the light of Gods countenance is to be thoroughly unhappy when that bliss is denied us.C. A. B.]
Footnotes:
[19][The genitive of David does hot belong to the house but to A Psalm. Riehm is probably correct in regarding the as a later liturgical addition to the Title, showing that it was to be used at the feast of Dedication, which was instituted by Judas Maccabeus in 165 B. C. to commemorate the purification of the Temple from its desecration by Antiochus Epiphanes. is not used in the Title of any other Psalm of the first book. The Psalm would then have a general reference to Davids recovery from sickness corresponding with Psalms 16 and there is no reference to a house of his own or to the temple in the Psalm. But it might very properly be used at the feast of Dedication in subsequent times when once fixed by the circumstances of the Maccabean period. If however the Title is to be regarded as entirely original the house is not the house of David, whether at its reconsecration from the defilement of Absalom (2Sa 20:3), Calvin, Cocc. Geier, et al., or the rebuilding of the citadel of Zion which David regarded as the pledge of the greatness of his empire (Delitzsch, Moll, Perowne et al.), which is better; but to the house of God. And then it does not refer to the temple of Solomon (Chald., Rabbins. Hupf., et al.), but to the dedication of the threshing floor of Araunah (2Sa 24:20, sq.) after the three days plague (Rosenm., Venema, Hengst, Keil, Tholuck, Alexander, et al.).C. A. B.]
[20][Delitzsch: The call to praise God which in Psalms 29 goes forth to the angels above, in Psalms 30 is directed to the pious here below.C. A. B.]
[21][Perowne; The truth seems to be, that whilst the Faith of the Old Testament saints in God was strong and childlike, their Hope of Immortality was at best dim and wavering, brightening perhaps for a moment, when the heart was rejoicing in God as its portion, and then again almost dying away.C. A. B.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
The title of this Psalm tells what it is. The Psalmist praiseth God for his goodness, and he calleth upon others to do the same from the same cause.
A Psalm and Song at the dedication of the house of David.
Psa 30:1
The dedication of David’s house leads to the spiritual sense of this blessed scripture. The temple, or house, is a type of the body of Jesus. Our authority for this interpretation we find in the Apostle James (Act 15:16 ), who expressly, in so many words, determines the repair of David’s tabernacle to be altogether a type of the ever blessed Jesus at his resurrection. So that here we are at no loss to discover Jesus thus extol ling God the Father for that illustrious event. And with this clue, we shall find sweet discoveries of Jesus praising and blessing God for his own victory over all the foes of his salvation, and his people’s victory in him. Reader, pray for grace to keep this in remembrance, while perusing this Psalm; and then if through faith we are raised from the death of sin, through him, we shall feel our own personal interest in all that is here said concerning him, in whom we triumph.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 30
Bishop Hannington’s last entry in his Journal contains the words: ‘I can hear no news, but was held up by the 30th Psalm, which came with great power. A hyena howled near me last night. Smelling a sick man, but I hope it is not to have me yet.’
References. XXXI. 5. C. F. Aked, The Courage of the Coward, p. 83. Parker, City Temple, vol. ii. p. 14. Spurgeon, Evening by Evening, p. 242. XXXI. 7. F. D. Maurice, Sermons, vol. vi. p. 221.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
PSALMS
XI
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF PSALMS
According to my usual custom, when taking up the study of a book of the Bible I give at the beginning a list of books as helps to the study of that book. The following books I heartily commend on the Psalms:
1. Sampey’s Syllabus for Old Testament Study . This is especially good on the grouping and outlining of some selected psalms. There are also some valuable suggestions on other features of the book.
2. Kirkpatrick’g commentary, in “Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges,” is an excellent aid in the study of the Psalter.
3. Perowne’s Book of Psalms is a good, scholarly treatise on the Psalms. A special feature of this commentary is the author’s “New Translation” and his notes are very helpful.
4. Spurgeon’s Treasury of David. This is just what the title implies. It is a voluminous, devotional interpretation of the Psalms and helpful to those who have the time for such extensive study of the Psalter.
5. Hengstenburg on the Psalms. This is a fine, scholarly work by one of the greatest of the conservative German scholars.
6. Maclaren on the Psalms, in “The Expositor’s Bible,” is the work of the world’s safest, sanest, and best of all works that have ever been written on the Psalms.
7. Thirtle on the Titles of the Psalms. This is the best on the subject and well worth a careful study.
At this point some definitions are in order. The Hebrew word for psalm means praise. The word in English comes from psalmos , a song of lyrical character, or a song to be sung and accompanied with a lyre. The Psalter is a collection of sacred and inspired songs, composed at different times and by different authors.
The range of time in composition was more than 1,000 years, or from the time of Moses to the time of Ezra. The collection in its present form was arranged probably by Ezra in the fifth century, B.C.
The Jewish classification of Old Testament books was The Law, the Prophets, and the Holy Writings. The Psalms was given the first place in the last group.
They had several names, or titles, of the Psalms. In Hebrew they are called “The Book of Prayers,” or “The Book of Praises.” The Hebrew word thus used means praises. The title of the first two books is found in Psa 72:20 : “The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.” The title of the whole collection of Psalms in the Septuagint is Biblos Psalman which means the “Book of Psalms.” The title in the Alexandrian Codex is Psalterion which is the name of a stringed instrument, and means “The Psalter.”
The derivation of our English words, “psalms,” “psalter,” and “psaltery,” respectively, is as follows:
1. “Psalms” comes from the Greek word, psalmoi, which is also from psallein , which means to play upon a stringed instrument. Therefore the Psalms are songs played upon stringed instruments, and the word here is used to apply to the whole collection.
2. “Psalter” is of the same origin and means the Book of Psalms and refers also to the whole collection.
3. “Psaltery” is from the word psalterion, which means “a harp,” an instrument, supposed to be in the shape of a triangle or like the delta of the Greek alphabet. See Psa 33:2 ; Psa 71:22 ; Psa 81:2 ; Psa 144:9 .
In our collection there are 150 psalms. In the Septuagint there is one extra. It is regarded as being outside the sacred collection and not inspired. The subject of this extra psalm is “David’s victory over Goliath.” The following is a copy of it: I was small among my brethren, And youngest in my father’s house, I used to feed my father’s sheep. My hands made a harp, My fingers fashioned a Psaltery. And who will declare unto my Lord? He is Lord, he it is who heareth. He it was who sent his angel And took me from my father’s sheep, And anointed me with the oil of his anointing. My brethren were goodly and tall, But the Lord took no pleasure in them. I went forth to meet the Philistine. And he cursed me by his idols But I drew the sword from beside him; I beheaded him and removed reproach from the children of Israel.
It will be noted that this psalm does not have the earmarks of an inspired production. There is not found in it the modesty so characteristic of David, but there is here an evident spirit of boasting and self-praise which is foreign to the Spirit of inspiration.
There is a difference in the numbering of the psalms in our version which follows the Hebrew, and the numbering in the Septuagint. Omitting the extra one in the Septuagint, there is no difference as to the total number. Both have 150 and the same subject matter, but they are not divided alike.
The following scheme shows the division according to our version and also the Septuagint: Psalms 1-8 in the Hebrew equal 1-8 in the Septuagint; 9-10 in the Hebrew combine into 9 in the Septuagint; 11-113 in the Hebrew equal 10-112 in the Septuagint; 114-115 in the Hebrew combine into 113 in the Septuagint; 116 in the Hebrew divides into 114-115 in the Septuagint; 117-146 in the Hebrew equal 116-145 in the Septuagint; 147 in the Hebrew divides into 146-147 in the Septuagint; 148-150 in the Hebrew equal 148-150 in the Septuagint.
The arrangement in the Vulgate is the same as the Septuagint. Also some of the older English versions have this arangement. Another difficulty in numbering perplexes an inexperienced student in turning from one version to another, viz: In the Hebrew often the title is verse I, and sometimes the title embraces verses 1-2.
The book divisions of the Psalter are five books, as follows:
Book I, Psalms 1-41 (41 chapters)
Book II, Psalms 42-72 (31 chapters)
Book III, Psalms 73-89 (17 chapters)
Book IV, Psalms 90-106 (17 chapters)
Book V, Psalms 107-150 (44 chapters)
They are marked by an introduction and a doxology. Psalm I forms an introduction to the whole book; Psa 150 is the doxology for the whole book. The introduction and doxology of each book are the first and last psalms of each division, respectively.
There were smaller collections before the final one, as follows:
Books I and II were by David; Book III, by Hezekiah, and Books IV and V, by Ezra.
Certain principles determined the arrangement of the several psalms in the present collection:
1. David is honored with first place, Book I and II, including Psalms 1-72.
2. They are grouped according to the use of the name of God:
(1) Psalms 1-41 are Jehovah psalms;
(2) Psalms 42-83 are Elohim-psalms;
(3) Psalms 84-150 are Jehovah psalms.
3. Book IV is introduced by the psalm of Moses, which is the first psalm written.
4. Some are arranged as companion psalms, for instance, sometimes two, sometimes three, and sometimes more. Examples: Psa 2 and 3; 22, 23, and 24; 113-118.
5. They were arranged for liturgical purposes, which furnished the psalms for special occasions, such as feasts, etc. We may be sure this arrangement was not accidental. An intelligent study of each case is convincing that it was determined upon rational grounds.
All the psalms have titles but thirty-three, as follows:
In Book I, Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 10 ; Psa 33 , (4 are without titles).
In Book II, Psa 43 ; Psa 71 , (2 are without titles).
In Book IV, Psa 91 ; Psa 93 ; Psa 94 ; Psa 95 ; Psa 96 ; Psa 97 ; Psa 104 ; Psa 105 ; Psa 106 , (9 are without titles).
In Book V, Psa 107 ; III; 112; 113; 114; 115; 116; 117; 118; 119; 135; 136; 137; 146; 147; 148; 149; 150, (18 are without titles).
The Talmud calls these psalms that have no title, “Orphan Psalms.” The later Jews supply these titles by taking the nearest preceding author. The lack of titles in Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; and 10 may be accounted for as follows: Psa 1 is a general introduction to the whole collection and Psa 2 was, perhaps, a part of Psa 1 . Psalms 9-10 were formerly combined into one, therefore Psa 10 has the same title as Psa 9 .
QUESTIONS
1. What books are commended on the Psalms?
2. What is a psalm?
3. What is the Psalter?
4. What is the range of time in composition?
5. When and by whom was the collection in its present form arranged?
6. What the Jewish classification of Old Testament books, and what the position of the Psalter in this classification?
7. What is the Hebrew title of the Psalms?
8. Find the title of the first two books from the books themselves.
9. What is the title of the whole collection of psalms in the Septuagint?
10. What is the title in the Alexandrian Codex?
11. What is the derivation of our English word, “Psalms”, “Psalter”, and “Psaltery,” respectively?
12. How many psalms in our collection?
13. How many psalms in the Septuagint?
14. What about the extra one in the Septuagint?
15. What is the subject of this extra psalm?
16. How does it compare with the Canonical Psalms?
17. What is the difference in the numbering of the psalms in our version which follows the Hebrew, and the numbering in the Septuagint?
18. What is the arrangement in the Vulgate?
19. What other difficulty in numbering which perplexes an inexperienced student in turning from one version to another?
20. What are the book divisions of the Psalter and how are these divisions marked?
21. Were there smaller collections before the final one? If so, what were they?
22. What principles determined the arrangement of the several psalms in the present collection?
23. In what conclusion may we rest concerning this arrangement?
24. How many of the psalms have no titles?
25. What does the Talmud call these psalms that have no titles?
26. How do later Jews supply these titles?
27. How do you account for the lack of titles in Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 10 ?
XII
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF PSALMS (CONTINUED)
The following is a list of the items of information gathered from the titles of the psalms:
1. The author: “A Psalm of David” (Psa 37 ).
2. The occasion: “When he fled from Absalom, his son” (Psa 3 ).
3. The nature, or character, of the poem:
(1) Maschil, meaning “instruction,” a didactic poem (Psa 42 ).
(2) Michtam, meaning “gold,” “A Golden Psalm”; this means excellence or mystery (Psa 16 ; 56-60).
4. The occasion of its use: “A Psalm of David for the dedication of the house” (Psa 30 ).
5. Its purpose: “A Psalm of David to bring remembrance” (Psa 38 ; Psa 70 ).
6. Direction for its use: “A Psalm of David for the chief musician” (Psa 4 ).
7. The kind of musical instrument:
(1) Neginoth, meaning to strike a chord, as on stringed instruments (Psa 4 ; Psa 61 ).
(2) Nehiloth, meaning to perforate, as a pipe or flute (Psa 5 ).
(3) Shoshannim, Lilies, which refers probably to cymbals (Psa 45 ; Psa 69 ).
8. A special choir:
(1) Sheminith, the “eighth,” or octave below, as a male choir (Psa 6 ; Psa 12 ).
(2) Alamoth, female choir (Psa 46 ).
(3) Muth-labben, music with virgin voice, to be sung by a choir of boys in the treble (Psa 9 ).
9. The keynote, or tune:
(1) Aijeleth-sharar, “Hind of the morning,” a song to the melody of which this is sung (Psa 22 ).
(2) Al-tashheth, “Destroy thou not,” the beginning of a song the tune of which is sung (Psa 57 ; Psa 58 ; Psa 59 ; Psa 75 ).
(3) Gittith, set to the tune of Gath, perhaps a tune which David brought from Gath (Psa 8 ; Psa 81 ; Psa 84 ).
(4) Jonath-elim-rehokim, “The dove of the distant terebinths,” the commencement of an ode to the air of which this song was to be sung (Psa 56 ).
(5) Leannoth, the name of a tune (Psa 88 ).
(6) Mahalath, an instrument (Psa 53 ); Leonnoth-Mahaloth, to chant to a tune called Mahaloth.
(7) Shiggaion, a song or a hymn.
(8) Shushan-Eduth, “Lily of testimony,” a tune (Psa 60 ). Note some examples: (1) “America,” “Shiloh,” “Auld Lang Syne.” These are the names of songs such as we are familiar with; (2) “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” and “There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood,” are examples of sacred hymns.
10. The liturgical use, those noted for the feasts, e.g., the Hallels and Hallelujah Psalms (Psalms 146-150).
11. The destination, as “Song of Ascents” (Psalms 120-134)
12. The direction for the music, such as Selah, which means “Singers, pause”; Higgaion-Selah, to strike a symphony with selah, which means an instrumental interlude (Psa 9:16 ).
The longest and fullest title to any of the psalms is the title to Psa 60 . The items of information from this title are as follows: (1) the author; (2) the chief musician; (3) the historical occasion; (4) the use, or design; (5) the style of poetry; (6) the instrument or style of music.
The parts of these superscriptions which most concern us now are those indicating author, occasion, and date. As to the historic value or trustworthiness of these titles most modern scholars deny that they are a part of the Hebrew text, but the oldest Hebrew text of which we know anything had all of them. This is the text from which the Septuagint was translated. It is much more probable that the author affixed them than later writers. There is no internal evidence in any of the psalms that disproves the correctness of them, but much to confirm. The critics disagree among themselves altogether as to these titles. Hence their testimony cannot consistently be received. Nor can it ever be received until they have at least agreed upon a common ground of opposition.
David is the author of more than half the entire collection, the arrangement of which is as follows:
1. Seventy-three are ascribed to him in the superscriptions.
2. Some of these are but continuations of the preceding ones of a pair, trio, or larger group.
3. Some of the Korahite Psalms are manifestly Davidic.
4. Some not ascribed to him in the titles are attributed to him expressly by New Testament writers.
5. It is not possible to account for some parts of the Psalter without David. The history of his early life as found in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1and 2 Chronicles, not only shows his remarkable genius for patriotic and sacred songs and music, but also shows his cultivation of that gift in the schools of the prophets. Some of these psalms of the history appear in the Psalter itself. It is plain to all who read these that they are founded on experience, and the experience of no other Hebrew fits the case. These experiences are found in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles.
As to the attempt of the destructive critics to rob David of his glory in relation to the Psalter by assigning the Maccabean era as the date of composition, I have this to say:
1. This theory has no historical support whatever, and therefore is not to be accepted at all.
2. It has no support in tradition, which weakens the contention of the critics greatly.
3. It has no support from finding any one with the necessary experience for their basis.
4. They can give no reasonable account as to how the titles ever got there.
5. It is psychologically impossible for anyone to have written these 150 psalms in the Maccabean times.
6. Their position is expressly contrary to the testimony of Christ and the apostles. Some of the psalms which they ascribe to the Maccabean Age are attributed to David by Christ himself, who said that David wrote them in the Spirit.
The obvious aim of this criticism and the necessary result if it be Just, is a positive denial of the inspiration of both Testaments.
Other authors are named in the titles, as follows: (1) Asaph, to whom twelve psalms have been assigned: (2) Mosee, Psa 90 ; (3) Solomon, Psa 72 ; Psa 127 ; (4) Heman, Psa 80 ; (5) Ethem, Psa 89 ; (6) A number of the psalms are ascribed to the sons of Korah.
Not all the psalms ascribed to Asaph were composed by one person. History indicates that Asaph’s family presided over the song service for several generations. Some of them were composed by his descendants by the game name. The five general outlines of the whole collection are as follows:
I. By books
1. Psalms 1-41 (41)
2. Psalms 42-72 (31)
3. Psalms 73-89 (17)
4. Psalms 90-106 (17)
5. Psalms 107-150 (44)
II. According to date and authorship
1. The psalm of Moses (Psa 90 )
2. Psalms of David:
(1) The shepherd boy (Psa 8 ; Psa 19 ; Psa 29 ; Psa 23 ).
(2) David when persecuted by Saul (Psa 59 ; Psa 56 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 52 ; Psa 54 ; Psa 57 ; Psa 142 ).
(3) David the King (Psa 101 ; Psa 18 ; Psa 24 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 110 ; Psa 20 ; Psa 20 ; Psa 21 ; Psa 60 ; Psa 51 ; Psa 32 ; Psa 41 ; Psa 55 ; Psa 3:4 ; Psa 64 ; Psa 62 ; Psa 61 ; Psa 27 ).
3. The Asaph Psalms (Psa 50 ; Psa 73 ; Psa 83 ).
4. The Korahite Psalms (Psa 42 ; Psa 43 ; Psa 84 ).
5. The psalms of Solomon (Psa 72 ; Psa 127 ).
6. The psalms of the era of Hezekiah and Isaiah (Psa 46 ; Psa 47 ; Psa 48 )
7. The psalms of the Exile (Psa 74 ; Psa 79 ; Psa 137 ; Psa 102 )
8. The psalms of the Restoration (Psa 85 ; Psa 126 ; Psa 118 ; 146-150)
III. By groups
1. The Jehovistic and Elohistic Psalms:
(1) Psalms 1-41 are Jehovistic;
(2) Psalms 42-83 are Elohistic Psalms;
(3) Psalms 84-150 are Jehovistic.
2. The Penitential Psalms (Psa 6 ; Psa 32 ; Psa 38 ; Psa 51 ; Psa 102 ; Psa 130 ; Psa 143 )
3. The Pilgrim Psalms (Psalms 120-134)
4. The Alphabetical Psalms (Psa 9 ; Psa 10 ; Psa 25 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 37 ; 111:112; Psa 119 ; Psa 145 )
5. The Hallelujah Psalms (Psalms 11-113; 115-117; 146-150; to which may be added Psa 135 ) Psalms 113-118 are called “the Egyptian Hallel”
IV. Doctrines of the Psalms
1. The throne of grace and how to approach it by sacrifice, prayer, and praise.
2. The covenant, the basis of worship.
3. The paradoxical assertions of both innocence & guilt.
4. The pardon of sin and justification.
5. The Messiah.
6. The future life, pro and con.
7. The imprecations.
8. Other doctrines.
V. The New Testament use of the Psalms
1. Direct references and quotations in the New Testament.
2. The allusions to the psalms in the New Testament. Certain experiences of David’s life made very deep impressions on his heart, such as: (1) his peaceful early life; (2) his persecution by Saul; (3) his being crowned king of the people; (4) the bringing up of the ark; (5) his first great sin; (6) Absalom’s rebellion; (7) his second great sin; (8) the great promise made to him in 2Sa 7 ; (9) the feelings of his old age.
We may classify the Davidic Psalms according to these experiences following the order of time, thus:
1. His peaceful early life (Psa 8 ; Psa 19 ; Psa 29 ; Psa 23 )
2. His persecution by Saul (Psa 59 ; Psa 56 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 7 ; Psa 52 ; Psa 120 ; Psa 140 ; Psa 54 ; Psa 57 ; Psa 142 ; Psa 17 ; Psa 18 )
3. Making David King (Psa 27 ; Psa 133 ; Psa 101 )
4. Bringing up the ark (Psa 68 ; Psa 24 ; Psa 132 ; Psa 15 ; Psa 78 ; Psa 96 )
5. His first great sin (Psa 51 ; Psa 32 )
6. Absalom’s rebellion (Psa 41 ; Psa 6 ; Psa 55 ; Psa 109 ; Psa 38 ; Psa 39 ; Psa 3 ; Psa 4 ; Psa 63 ; Psa 42 ; Psa 43 ; Psa 5 ; Psa 62 ; Psa 61 ; Psa 27 )
7. His second great sin (Psa 69 ; Psa 71 ; Psa 102 ; Psa 103 )
8. The great promise made to him in 2Sa 7 (Psa 2 )
9. Feelings of old age (Psa 37 )
The great doctrines of the psalms may be noted as follows: (1) the being and attributes of God; (3) sin, both original and individual; (3) both covenants; (4) the doctrine of justification; (5) concerning the Messiah.
There is a striking analogy between the Pentateuch and the Psalms. The Pentateuch contains five books of law; the Psalms contain five books of heart responses to the law.
It is interesting to note the historic controversies concerning the singing of psalms. These were controversies about singing uninspired songs, in the Middle Ages. The church would not allow anything to be used but psalms.
The history in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles, and in Ezra and Nehemiah is very valuable toward a proper interpretation of the psalms. These books furnish the historical setting for a great many of the psalms which is very indispensable to their proper interpretation.
Professor James Robertson, in the Poetry and Religion of the Psalms constructs a broad and strong argument in favor of the Davidic Psalms, as follows:
1. The age of David furnished promising soil for the growth of poetry.
2. David’s qualifications for composing the psalms make it highly probable that David is the author of the psalms ascribed to him.
3. The arguments against the possibility of ascribing to David any of the hymns in the Hebrew Psalter rests upon assumptions that are thoroughly antibiblical.
The New Testament makes large use of the psalms and we learn much as to their importance in teaching. There are seventy direct quotations in the New Testament from this book, from which we learn that the Scriptures were used extensively in accord with 2Ti 3:16-17 . There are also eleven references to the psalms in the New Testament from which we learn that the New Testament writers were thoroughly imbued with the spirit and teaching of the psalms. Then there are eight allusions ‘to this book in the New Testament from which we gather that the Psalms was one of the divisions of the Old Testament and that they were used in the early church.
QUESTIONS
1. Give a list of the items of information gathered from the titles of the psalms.
2. What is the longest title to any of the psalms and what the items of this title?
3. What parts of these superscriptions most concern us now?
4. What is the historic value, or trustworthiness of these titles?
5. State the argument showing David’s relation to the psalms.
6. What have you to say of the attempt of the destructive critics to rob David of his glory in relation to the Psalter by assigning the Maccabean era as the date of composition?
7. What the obvious aim of this criticism and the necessary result, if it be just?
8. What other authors are named in the titles?
9. Were all the psalms ascribed to Asaph composed by one person?
10. Give the five general outlines of the whole collection, as follows: I. The outline by books II. The outline according to date and authorship III. The outline by groups IV. The outline of doctrines V. The outline by New Testament quotations or allusions.
11. What experiences of David’s life made very deep impressions on his heart?
12. Classify the Davidic Psalms according to these experiences following the order of time.
13. What the great doctrines of the psalms?
14. What analogy between the Pentateuch and the Psalms?
15. What historic controversies concerning the singing of psalms?
16. Of what value is the history in Samuel, 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles, and in Ezra and Nehemiah toward a proper interpretation of the psalms?
17. Give Professor James Robertson’s argument in favor of the Davidic authorship of the psalms.
18. What can you say of the New Testament use of the psalms and what do we learn as to their importance in teaching?
19. What can you say of the New Testament references to the psalms, and from the New Testament references what the impression on the New Testament writers?
20. What can you say of the allusions to the psalms in the New Testament?
XVII
THE MESSIAH IN THE PSALMS
A fine text for this chapter is as follows: “All things must be fulfilled which were written in the Psalms concerning me,” Luk 24:44 . I know of no better way to close my brief treatise on the Psalms than to discuss the subject of the Messiah as revealed in this book.
Attention has been called to the threefold division of the Old Testament cited by our Lord, namely, the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms (Luk 24:44 ), in all of which were the prophecies relating to himself that “must be fulfilled.” It has been shown just what Old Testament books belong to each of these several divisions. The division called the Psalms included many books, styled Holy Writings, and because the Psalms proper was the first book of the division it gave the name to the whole division.
The object of this discussion is to sketch the psalmist’s outline of the Messiah, or rather, to show how nearly a complete picture of our Lord is foredrawn in this one book. Let us understand however with Paul, that all prophecy is but in part (1Co 13:9 ), and that when we fill in on one canvas all the prophecies concerning the Messiah of all the Old Testament divisions, we are far from having a perfect portrait of our Lord. The present purpose is limited to three things:
1. What the book of the Psalms teaches concerning the Messiah.
2. That the New Testament shall authoritatively specify and expound this teaching.
3. That the many messianic predictions scattered over the book and the specifications thereof over the New Testament may be grouped into an orderly analysis, so that by the adjustment of the scattered parts we may have before us a picture of our Lord as foreseen by the psalmists.
In allowing the New Testament to authoritatively specify and expound the predictive features of the book, I am not unmindful of what the so-called “higher critics” urge against the New Testament quotations from the Old Testament and the use made of them. In this discussion, however, these objections are not considered, for sufficient reasons. There is not space for it. Even at the risk of being misjudged I must just now summarily pass all these objections, dismissing them with a single statement upon which the reader may place his own estimate of value. That statement is that in the days of my own infidelity, before this old method of criticism had its new name, I was quite familiar with the most and certainly the strongest of the objections now classified as higher criticism, and have since patiently re-examined them in their widely conflicting restatements under their modern name, and find my faith in the New Testament method of dealing with the Old Testament in no way shattered, but in every way confirmed. God is his own interpreter. The Old Testament as we now have it was in the hands of our Lord. I understand his apostle to declare, substantially, that “every one of these sacred scriptures is God-inspired and is profitable for teaching us what is right to believe and to do, for convincing us what is wrong in faith or practice, for rectifying the wrong when done, that we may be ready at every point, furnished completely, to do every good work, at the right time, in the right manner, and from the proper motive” (2Ti 3:16-17 ).
This New Testament declares that David was a prophet (Act 2:30 ), that he spake by the Holy Spirit (Act 1:16 ), that when the book speaks the Holy Spirit speaks (Heb 3:7 ), and that all its predictive utterances, as sacred Scripture, “must be fulfilled” (Joh 13:18 ; Act 1:16 ). It is not claimed that David wrote all the psalms, but that all are inspired, and that as he was the chief author, the book goes by his name.
It would be a fine thing to make out two lists, as follows:
1. All of the 150 psalms in order from which the New Testament quotes with messianic application.
2. The New Testament quotations, book by book, i.e., Matthew so many, and then the other books in their order.
We would find in neither of these any order as to time, that is, Psa 1 which forecasts an incident in the coming Messiah’s life does not forecast the first incident of his life. And even the New Testament citations are not in exact order as to time and incident of his life. To get the messianic picture before us, therefore, we must put the scattered parts together in their due relation and order, and so construct our own analysis. That is the prime object of this discussion. It is not claimed that the analysis now presented is perfect. It is too much the result of hasty, offhand work by an exceedingly busy man. It will serve, however, as a temporary working model, which any one may subsequently improve. We come at once to the psalmist’s outline of the Messiah.
1. The necessity for a Saviour. This foreseen necessity is a background of the psalmists’ portrait of the Messiah. The necessity consists in (1) man’s sinfulness; (2) his sin; (3) his inability of wisdom and power to recover himself; (4) the insufficiency of legal, typical sacrifices in securing atonement.
The predicate of Paul’s great argument on justification by faith is the universal depravity and guilt of man. He is everywhere corrupt in nature; everywhere an actual transgressor; everywhere under condemnation. But the scriptural proofs of this depravity and sin the apostle draws mainly from the book of the Psalms. In one paragraph of the letter to the Romans (Rom 3:4-18 ), he cites and groups six passages from six divisions of the Psalms (Psa 5:9 ; Psa 10:7 ; Psa 14:1-3 ; Psa 36:1 ; Psa 51:4-6 ; Psa 140:3 ). These passages abundantly prove man’s sinfulness, or natural depravity, and his universal practice of sin.
The predicate also of the same apostle’s great argument for revelation and salvation by a Redeemer is man’s inability of wisdom and power to re-establish communion with God. In one of his letters to the Corinthians he thus commences his argument: “For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? -For after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preach-ing to save them that believe.” He closes this discussion with the broad proposition: “The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God,” and proves it by a citation from Psa 94:11 : “The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.”
In like manner our Lord himself pours scorn on human wisdom and strength by twice citing Psa 8 : “At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight” (Mat 11:25-26 ). “And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children that were crying in the temple and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, and said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?” (Mat 21:15-16 ).
But the necessity for a Saviour as foreseen by the psalmist did not stop at man’s depravity, sin, and helplessness. The Jews were trusting in the sacrifices of their law offered on the smoking altar. The inherent weakness of these offerings, their lack of intrinsic merit, their ultimate abolition, their complete fulfilment and supercession by a glorious antitype were foreseen and foreshown in this wonderful prophetic book: I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices; And thy burnt offerings are continually before me. I will take no bullock out of thy house, Nor he-goat out of thy folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, And the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all of the birds of the mountains; And the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee; For the world is mine, and the fulness thereof. Will I eat the flesh of bulls, Or drink the blood of goats? Psa 50:8-13 .
Yet again it speaks in that more striking passage cited in the letter to the Hebrews: “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, not the very image of the things, can never with the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshipers, once purged should have no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance made of sins year by year. For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, But a body didst thou prepare for me; In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hadst no pleasure: Then said I, Lo, I am come (In the roll of the book it is written of me) To do thy will, O God. Saying above, Sacrifice and offering and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou wouldst not, neither hadst pleasure therein, (the which are offered according to the law), then hath he said, Lo, I am come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second” (Heb 10:1-9 ).
This keen foresight of the temporary character and intrinsic worthlessness of animal sacrifices anticipated similar utterances by the later prophets (Isa 1:10-17 ; Jer 6:20 ; Jer 7:21-23 ; Hos 6:6 ; Amo 5:21 ; Mic 6:6-8 ). Indeed, I may as well state in passing that when the apostle declares, “It is impossible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins,” he lays down a broad principle, just as applicable to baptism and the Lord’s Supper. With reverence I state the principle: Not even God himself by mere appointment can vest in any ordinance, itself lacking intrinsic merit, the power to take away sin. There can be, therefore, in the nature of the case, no sacramental salvation. This would destroy the justice of God in order to exalt his mercy. Clearly the psalmist foresaw that “truth and mercy must meet together” before “righteousness and peace could kiss each other” (Psa 85:10 ). Thus we find as the dark background of the psalmists’ luminous portrait of the Messiah, the necessity for a Saviour.
2. The nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation to be wrought by the coming Messiah. In no other prophetic book are the nature, fullness, and blessedness of salvation so clearly seen and so vividly portrayed. Besides others not now enumerated, certainly the psalmists clearly forecast four great elements of salvation:
(1) An atoning sacrifice of intrinsic merit offered once for all (Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:4-10 ).
(2) Regeneration itself consisting of cleansing, renewal, and justification. We hear his impassioned statement of the necessity of regeneration: “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts,” followed by his earnest prayer: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me,” and his equally fervent petition: “Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow” (Psa 51 ). And we hear him again as Paul describes the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputes righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, And whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not reckon sin Psa 32:1 ; Rom 4:6-8 .
(3) Introduction into the heavenly rest (Psa 95:7-11 ; Heb 3:7-19 ; Heb 4:1-11 ). Here is the antitypical Joshua leading spiritual Israel across the Jordan of death into the heavenly Canaan, the eternal rest that remaineth for the people of God. Here we find creation’s original sabbath eclipsed by redemption’s greater sabbath when the Redeemer “entered his rest, ceasing from his own works as God did from his.”
(4) The recovery of all the universal dominion lost by the first Adam and the securement of all possible dominion which the first Adam never attained (Psa 8:5-6 ; Eph 1:20-22 ; Heb 2:7-9 ; 1Co 15:24-28 ).
What vast extent then and what blessedness in the salvation foreseen by the psalmists, and to be wrought by the Messiah. Atoning sacrifice of intrinsic merit; regeneration by the Holy Spirit; heavenly rest as an eternal inheritance; and universal dominion shared with Christ!
3. The wondrous person of the Messiah in his dual nature, divine and human.
(1) His divinity,
(a) as God: “Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever” (Psa 45:6 and Heb 1:8 ) ;
(b) as creator of the heavens and earth, immutable and eternal: Of old didst thou lay the foundation of the earth; And the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure; Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; As a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed. But thou art the same, And thy years shall have no end Psa 102:25-27 quoted with slight changes in Heb 1:10-12 .
(c) As owner of the earth: The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof; The world, and they that dwell therein, Psa 24:1 quoted in 1Co 10:26 .
(d) As the Son of God: “Thou art my Son; This day have I begotten thee” Psa 2:7 ; Heb 1:5 .
(e) As David’s Lord: The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, Until I make thine enemies thy footstool, Psa 110:1 ; Mat 22:41-46 .
(f) As the object of angelic worship: “And let all the angels of God worship him” Psa 97:7 ; Heb 1:6 .
(g) As the Bread of life: And he rained down manna upon them to eat, And gave them food from heaven Psa 78:24 ; interpreted in Joh 6:31-58 . These are but samples which ascribe deity to the Messiah of the psalmists.
(2) His humanity, (a) As the Son of man, or Son of Adam: Psa 8:4-6 , cited in 1Co 15:24-28 ; Eph 1:20-22 ; Heb 2:7-9 . Compare Luke’s genealogy, Luk 3:23-38 . This is the ideal man, or Second Adam, who regains Paradise Lost, who recovers race dominion, in whose image all his spiritual lineage is begotten. 1Co 15:45-49 . (b) As the Son of David: Psa 18:50 ; Psa 89:4 ; Psa 89:29 ; Psa 89:36 ; Psa 132:11 , cited in Luk 1:32 ; Act 13:22-23 ; Rom 1:3 ; 2Ti 2:8 . Perhaps a better statement of the psalmists’ vision of the wonderful person of the Messiah would be: He saw the uncreated Son, the second person of the trinity, in counsel and compact with the Father, arranging in eternity for the salvation of men: Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:5-7 . Then he saw this Holy One stoop to be the Son of man: Psa 8:4-6 ; Heb 2:7-9 . Then he was the son of David, and then he saw him rise again to be the Son of God: Psa 2:7 ; Rom 1:3-4 .
4. His offices.
(1) As the one atoning sacrifice (Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:5-7 ).
(2) As the great Prophet, or Preacher (Psa 40:9-10 ; Psa 22:22 ; Heb 2:12 ). Even the method of his teaching by parable was foreseen (Psa 78:2 ; Mat 13:35 ). Equally also the grace, wisdom, and power of his teaching. When the psalmist declares that “Grace is poured into thy lips” (Psa 45:2 ), we need not be startled when we read that all the doctors in the Temple who heard him when only a boy “were astonished at his understanding and answers” (Luk 2:47 ); nor that his home people at Nazareth “all bear him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth” (Luk 4:22 ); nor that those of his own country were astonished, and said, “Whence hath this man this wisdom?” (Mat 13:54 ); nor that the Jews in the Temple marveled, saying, “How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?” (Joh 7:15 ) ; nor that the stern officers of the law found their justification in failure to arrest him in the declaration, “Never man spake like this man” (Joh 7:46 ).
(3) As the king (Psa 2:6 ; Psa 24:7-10 ; Psa 45:1-17 ; Psa 110:1 ; Mat 22:42-46 ; Act 2:33-36 ; 1Co 15:25 ; Eph 1:20 ; Heb 1:13 ).
(4) As the priest (Psa 110:4 ; Heb 5:5-10 ; Heb 7:1-21 ; Heb 10:12-14 ).
(5) As the final judge. The very sentence of expulsion pronounced upon the finally impenitent by the great judge (Mat 25:41 ) is borrowed from the psalmist’s prophetic words (Psa 6:8 ).
5. Incidents of life. The psalmists not only foresaw the necessity for a Saviour; the nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation; the wonderful human-divine person of the Saviour; the offices to be filled by him in the work of salvation, but also many thrilling details of his work in life, death, resurrection, and exaltation. It is not assumed to cite all these details, but some of the most important are enumerated in order, thus:
(1) The visit, adoration, and gifts of the Magi recorded in Mat 2 are but partial fulfilment of Psa 72:9-10 .
(2) The scripture employed by Satan in the temptation of our Lord (Luk 4:10-11 ) was cited from Psa 91:11-12 and its pertinency not denied.
(3) In accounting for his intense earnestness and the apparently extreme measures adopted by our Lord in his first purification of the Temple (Joh 2:17 ), he cites the messianic zeal predicted in Psa 69:9 .
(4) Alienation from his own family was one of the saddest trials of our Lord’s earthly life. They are slow to understand his mission and to enter into sympathy with him. His self-abnegation and exhaustive toil were regarded by them as evidences of mental aberration, and it seems at one time they were ready to resort to forcible restraint of his freedom) virtually what in our time would be called arrest under a writ of lunacy. While at the last his half-brothers became distinguished preachers of his gospel, for a long while they do not believe on him. And the evidence forces us to the conclusion that his own mother shared with her other sons, in kind though not in degree, the misunderstanding of the supremacy of his mission over family relations. The New Testament record speaks for itself:
Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them. How is it that ye sought me? Knew ye not that I must be in my Father’s house? And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them Luk 2:48-51 (R.V.).
And when the wine failed, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. And Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. Joh 2:3-5 (R.V.).
And there come his mother and his brethren; and standing without; they sent unto him, calling him. And a multitude was sitting about him; and they say unto him. Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee. And he answereth them, and saith, Who is my mother and my brethren? And looking round on them that sat round about him, he saith, Behold, my mother and my brethren) For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother Mar 3:31-35 (R.V.).
Now the feast of the Jews, the feast of tabernacles, was at hand. His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judea, that thy disciples also may behold thy works which thou doest. For no man doeth anything in secret, and himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou doest these things, manifest thyself to the world. For even his brethren did not believe on him. Jesus therefore saith unto them, My time is not yet come; but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that its works are evil. Go ye up unto the feast: I go not up yet unto this feast; because my time is not fulfilled. Joh 7:2-9 (R.V.).
These citations from the Revised Version tell their own story. But all that sad story is foreshown in the prophetic psalms. For example: I am become a stranger unto my brethren, And an alien unto my mother’s children. Psa 69:8 .
(5) The triumphal entry into Jerusalem was welcomed by a joyous people shouting a benediction from Psa 118:26 : “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Mat 21:9 ); and the Lord’s lamentation over Jerusalem predicts continued desolation and banishment from his sight until the Jews are ready to repeat that benediction (Mat 23:39 ).
(6) The children’s hosanna in the Temple after its second purgation is declared by our Lord to be a fulfilment of that perfect praise forecast in Psa 8:2 .
(7) The final rejection of our Lord by his own people was also clear in the psalmist’s vision (Psa 118:22 ; Mat 21:42-44 ).
(8) Gethsemane’s baptism of suffering, with its strong crying and tears and prayers was as clear to the psalmist’s prophetic vision as to the evangelist and apostle after it became history (Psa 69:1-4 ; Psa 69:13-20 ; and Mat 26:36-44 ; Heb 5:7 ).
(9) In life-size also before the psalmist was the betrayer of Christ and his doom (Psa 41:9 ; Psa 69:25 ; Psa 109:6-8 ; Joh 13:18 ; Act 1:20 ).
(10) The rage of the people, Jew and Gentile, and the conspiracy of Pilate and Herod are clearly outlined (Psa 2:1-3 ; Act 4:25-27 ).
(11) All the farce of his trial the false accusation, his own marvelous silence; and the inhuman maltreatment to which he was subjected, is foreshown in the prophecy as dramatically as in the history (Mat 26:57-68 ; Mat 27:26-31 ; Psa 27:12 ; Psa 35:15-16 ; Psa 38:3 ; Psa 69:19 ).
The circumstances of his death, many and clear, are distinctly foreseen. He died in the prime of life (Psa 89:45 ; Psa 102:23-24 ). He died by crucifixion (Psa 22:14-17 ; Luk 23 ; 33; Joh 19:23-37 ; Joh 20:27 ). But yet not a bone of his body was broken (Psa 34:20 ; Joh 19:36 ).
The persecution, hatred without a cause, the mockery and insults, are all vividly and dramatically foretold (Psa 22:6-13 ; Psa 35:7 ; Psa 35:12 ; Psa 35:15 ; Psa 35:21 ; Psa 109:25 ).
The parting of his garments and the gambling for his vesture (Psa 22:18 ; Mat 27:35 ).
His intense thirst and the gall and vinegar offered for his drink (Psa 69:21 ; Mat 27:34 ).
In the psalms, too, we hear his prayers for his enemies so remarkably fulfilled in fact (Psa 109:4 ; Luk 23:34 ).
His spiritual death was also before the eye of the psalmist, and the very words which expressed it the psalmist heard. Separation from the Father is spiritual death. The sinner’s substitute must die the sinner’s death, death physical, i.e., separation of soul from body; death spiritual, i.e., separation of the soul from God. The latter is the real death and must precede the former. This death the substitute died when he cried out: “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me.” (Psa 22:1 ; Mat 27:46 ).
Emerging from the darkness of that death, which was the hour of the prince of darkness, the psalmist heard him commend his spirit to the Father (Psa_31:35; Luk 23:46 ) showing that while he died the spiritual death, his soul was not permanently abandoned unto hell (Psa 16:8-10 ; Act 2:25 ) so that while he “tasted death” for every man it was not permanent death (Heb 2:9 ).
With equal clearness the psalmist foresaw his resurrection, his triumph over death and hell, his glorious ascension into heaven, and his exaltation at the right hand of God as King of kings and Lord of lords, as a high Driest forever, as invested with universal sovereignty (Psa 16:8-11 ; Psa 24:7-10 ; Psa 68:18 ; Psa 2:6 ; Psa 111:1-4 ; Psa 8:4-6 ; Act 2:25-36 ; Eph 1:19-23 ; Eph 4:8-10 ).
We see, therefore, brethren, when the scattered parts are put together and adjusted, how nearly complete a portrait of our Lord is put upon the prophetic canvas by this inspired limner, the sweet singer of Israel.
QUESTIONS
1. What is a good text for this chapter?
2. What is the threefold division of the Old Testament as cited by our Lord?
3. What is the last division called and why?
4. What is the object of the discussion in this chapter?
5. To what three things is the purpose limited?
6. What especially qualifies the author to meet the objections of the higher critics to allowing the New Testament usage of the Old Testament to determine its meaning and application?
7. What is the author’s conviction relative to the Scriptures?
8. What is the New Testament testimony on the question of inspiration?
9. What is the author’s suggested plan of approach to the study of the Messiah in the Psalms?
10. What the background of the Psalmist’s portrait of the Messiah and of what does it consist?
11. Give the substance of Paul’s discussion of man’s sinfulness.
12. What is the teaching of Jesus on this point?
13. What is the teaching relative to sacrifices?
14. What the nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation to be wrought by the coming Messiah and what the four great elements of it as forecast by the psalmist?
15. What is the teaching of the psalms relative to the wondrous person of the Messiah? Discuss.
16. What are the offices of the Messiah according to psalms? Discuss each.
17. Cite the more important events of the Messiah’s life according to the vision of the psalmist.
18. What the circumstances of the Messiah’s death and resurrection as foreseen by the psalmist?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Psa 30:1 A Psalm [and] Song [at] the dedication of the house of David. I will extol thee, O LORD; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.
A Psalm and Song ] i.e. A holy hymn, first framed in metre, then sung with men’s voices.
At the dedication of the house of David
Iamque, meos dedo tibi, Princeps, iure Penates,
Tu mihi ius dederas, posse vocare meos.
God so loveth his people that their walls are ever in his sight, Isa 49:16
Ver. 1. I will extol thee, O Lord; for thou hast lifted me up ] De puteo peccati caenoso, saith Kimchi, out of the miry pit of sin; or out of the ditch of deadly danger, say others. Therefore I will extol thee, that is, I will have high and honourable conceptions of thee. I will also do mine utmost, both by words and deeds, that thou mayest be acknowledged by others to be as thou art, the great and mighty monarch of the whole world.
And hast not made my foes to rejoice over me
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Death however is beyond the powers of nature. There all ends, now that sin is come in, and with consequences yet more awe-inspiring and agonising to the spirit. Hence the danger, for man who trusts human thoughts, of utter moral degradation in present enjoyment, with nothing but the darkness of despair before him. It was not so with the godly Jew who clung to God in hope of Messiah, though he too shrank back from death before the Cross; he had not passed that way heretofore. Yet it was his shame to doubt resurrection, whether of just or unjust, though his longing was for His reign Who annuls the power of death. Even the book of Job clearly reveals the two resurrections, separate in time as well as character, as may be seen in Job 14 and Job 19 . Altogether different and far superior is the ground of the Christian who in the death and resurrection of Christ reads his justification, is dead and risen with Christ already, and awaits with joy His coming to present him with Himself in the Father’s house. Here it is but the deprecation of death, while the Jew learns the deliverance of Jehovah to be better than any prosperity He gave, or the strength He established in His favour for His mountain: a lesson of enduring praise
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 30:1-5
1I will extol You, O Lord, for You have lifted me up,
And have not let my enemies rejoice over me.
2O Lord my God,
I cried to You for help, and You healed me.
3O Lord, You have brought up my soul from Sheol;
You have kept me alive, that I would not go down to the pit.
4Sing praise to the Lord, you His godly ones,
And give thanks to His holy name.
5For His anger is but for a moment,
His favor is for a lifetime;
Weeping may last for the night,
But a shout of joy comes in the morning.
Psa 30:1-5 The psalmist extols and praises YHWH for deliverance from death.
Psa 30:1 I will extol This verb (BDB 926, KB 1202, Polel imperfect used in a cohortative sense) has two primary meanings.
1. to exalt, extol (here of YHWH), cf. Exo 15:2; Psa 34:3; Psa 99:5; Psa 99:9; Psa 107:32; Psa 118:28; Psa 145:1; Isa 25:1
2. to lift up (referring to praise of YHWH), cf. 2Sa 22:47; Psa 18:46; Psa 21:13; Psa 46:10; Psa 57:5; Psa 57:11
This praise is given because YHWH has acted.
1. He lifted up (BDB 194, KB 222, Piel perfect) the psalmist, Psa 30:1 (this term was used of drawing water from a well and may refer to divine rescue from the pit, cf. Psa 30:4).
2. He did not let the psalmist’s enemies rejoice (BDB 33, KB 38, Qal participle), cf. Psa 25:2; Psa 41:11.
3. He healed him (BDB 750, KB 1272, Qal imperfect with waw), Psa 30:2.
4. He brought his soul up from Sheol (BDB 748, KB 828, Hiphil perfect), Psa 30:3.
5. He has kept him alive (BDB 310, KB 309, Piel perfect), Psa 30:3.
Psa 30:2 O Lord my God This is two of the most common designations of Israel’s Deity (see SPECIAL TOPIC: NAMES FOR DEITY ).
1. YHWH God as Savior, the covenant-making God, cf. Gen 2:3
2. Elohim God as creator and provider of all life on this planet, cf. Gen 1:1
Notice how this Psalm starts with this title (Psa 30:2) and ends with this title (Psa 30:12). This is typical of Hebraic literary style (i.e., inclusio).
SPECIAL TOPIC: IS HEALING GOD’S PLAN FOR EVERY AGE?
You healed me See Special Topic above.
Psa 30:3 Sheol. . .pit These two terms (synonymous parallelism) refer to the grave or the holding place of the dead. See SPECIAL TOPIC: Where Are the Dead? .
Notice that antithetical parallelism common in this Psalm. It demonstrates, in very real-to-life ways, the two ways of Psalms 1.
For a good brief discussion of pit see IVP, Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, p. 646-647.
Psa 30:4
NASBgodly ones
NKJVsaints
NRSVfaithful ones
TEVfaithful people
This adjective (BDB 339) is formed from the noun hesed (BDB 338), which denoted covenant loyalty. See SPECIAL TOPIC: LOVINGKINDNESS (HESED) .
1. On God’s part; He is faithful to His covenant promises.
2. On the faithful follower’s part; he/she must be obedient and steadfast to their covenant obligations.
It becomes a common title in the Psalms for faithful covenant followers (i.e., Psa 4:3 and many more). Several translations (TEV, NJB) see Psa 30:4-5 as a separate strophe imploring faithful followers to join in the praise of YHWH (see paragraph divisions on the front page of this Psalm).
In this context they are called to
1. sing praise BDB 274, KB 273, Piel imperative
2. give thanks BDB 392, KB 389, Hiphil imperative
NASB, NRSV,
JPSOAname
NKJVremembrance
TEVremember
NJBunforgettable
The MT has the noun remembrance or memorial (BDB 271, cf. Hos 12:5). Here it refers to YHWH’s gracious character and powerful acts on behalf of His people (cf. Psa 6:5; Psa 30:5; Psa 97:12; Psa 102:12; Psa 111:4; Psa 145:7). The Hebrew concept of name is here, but not the word. Both occur in parallel in Psa 135:13 and Isa 26:8. Also notice the focus on memorial-name in Exo 3:15.
Psa 30:5 This verse has captured the wonder of grace to fallen humanity (antithetical parallel). This is a fallen world but YHWH would not allow the broken fellowship of Eden to be permanent. There are consequences to sin and rebellion but by His grace, mediated through a faithful follower’s faith (cf. Eph 2:8-9), there is forgiveness and restoration (cf. Psa 103:8-14; Isa 54:7-8)! The only permanent consequence is unbelief. It is the unpardonable sin (see Special Topic: The Unpardonable Sin).
The first two lines of Psa 30:5 have no verbs. The tense structure emphasizes the theological point
For a moment His anger
For a lifetime His favour!
The AB (p. 182) suggests that lifetime (BDB 213) means eternal life, based on Psa 21:4. However, Psa 91:16 is the normal OT usage of this word, which refers to this life.
Just an added thought about anger in this context. The OT saw a linkage between sin and sickness (cf. Jas 5:13-18). Jesus seems to modify this view in Joh 9:1-12. If God judged us in light of our sin we would all be sick and dying. The wonderful truth is we deserve anger but we get mercy, grace, and love! We, however, are not all healed (see SPECIAL TOPIC: IS HEALING GOD’S PLAN FOR EVERY AGE? )! Yet He is with us in our sufferings (cf. Rom 8:18-25; 2Co 4:17).
His anger This root (BDB 60) is related to nose (i.e., red face) or snort (unspoken but vocal sign of human emotion). See SPECIAL TOPIC: GOD DESCRIBED AS HUMAN (ANTHROPOMORPHISM) .
SPECIAL TOPIC: SIN UNTO DEATH
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Title. A Psalm. Hebrew. mizmor. See App-65.
Song. Hebrew. Shir. The only Shir in the first book. See App-65.
dedication. Hebrew. hanak. Used of houses in Deu 20:5.
of the house of David. Compare 2Sa 7:1, 2Sa 7:2. Not the temple.
lifted me up = as out of a pit.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psa 30:1-12
I will extol thee, O LORD; for you have lifted me up, and you’ve not made my foes to rejoice over me. O LORD my God, I cried unto you, and you healed me. O LORD, you have brought up my soul from the grave: you have kept me alive, that I should not go down into the pit. Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. For his anger endureth but for a moment; in his favor is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning ( Psa 30:1-5 ).
Now, when you go through the psalms and you come to a psalm like this, rather than just read it, I think that you ought to just do it. When you are reading through the psalms and David says, “Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of His,” I think you ought to just sing unto the Lord. You know, just spend a little… if he says to do it, then we ought to do it. And then when he said, “Give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness,” then you ought to give thanks unto the Lord. When he says, “Praise the Lord in the beauty of holiness,” then we ought to praise the Lord. In other words, I think the psalms ought to be enacted, rather than just read and think, “Oh, isn’t that beautiful. Yes, oh, isn’t that nice, sing unto the Lord. Oh, yes, that’s wonderful, you know.” But when you are reading them through, just go ahead and follow the exhortations. As you get to an exhortation, follow it, and you will find that the psalms will really become very meaningful to you. As you follow the exhortations of the psalms, it is a blessed experience. When you are encouraged to do something, do it, and you will really be blessed.
“Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” Oh, how glorious it is when God brings us through the trial, brings us out onto the other side. We come out into the victory and again into the glorious joy of the Lord. We go through the trials of weeping, we go through these experiences of difficulty, and we can’t see the hand of God. We don’t know the way of the Lord. And we spend the time weeping, in prayer, travail, our soul travailing unto God. All night in travail, but as the morning comes, and God begins to shower forth His love and His plan and His purpose, oh what joy we get when God brings us through that night of hardship. As we have wept and travailed, and then we come out on the victory side and see the glorious victory of the Lord.
And in my prosperity I said, I will never be moved. LORD, by thy favor thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: when you hid your face, I was troubled. I cried to thee, O LORD; and unto the LORD I made prayer. What profit is there in my blood when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth? Hear, O LORD, have mercy upon me: LORD, be thou my helper. For you have turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and you’ve clothed me with gladness; To the end that glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to thee for ever ( Psa 30:6-12 ).
Shall we stand.
Now may the Lord be with you and just really bless you during the week. May His Word become your strength and your portion. And may God just really bless you and enrich your life as you’ve gotten into the Word to study and to learn of Him. May the Lord keep His hand upon you, and may the Lord give you His strength, His peace, His love. “
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
May the Holy Spirit, who inspired the writer of this Psalm, now lead us into its inner meaning! It is entitled A Psalm and Song at the dedication of the house of David; or, rather, A Psalm; a song of dedication for the House. By David. It was a song of faith, since David did not live to witness the dedication of the temple, for which he had planned in his heart, and for which he had laid by in store. Though he knew that he would not be permitted by God to build it, he took delight in writing a Psalm which might be sung at the opening of the temple. Thus it begins:
Psa 30:1. I will extol thee, O LORD; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.
I will exalt thee, for thou hast exalted me. I will lift up thy praise, because thou hast lifted up my spirits. I will bless thee, for thou hast blessed me, Our song of praise should be the echo of Gods voice of love. Thou hast not made my foes to rejoice over me. You remember that this was one of the three things put to David as a chastisement for his great sin in numbering the people: Wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? He here praises the Lord that such calamity as that did not come upon him. Thou hast not made my foes to rejoice over me. Sorrows averted should be the occasion of grateful songs of thanksgiving.
Psa 30:2. O LORD my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.
The king and the people had been sorely smitten with darkness on account of his sin, but the Lord, in mercy, bade the destroying angel sheathe his sword when he was by the threshing-place of Araunah the Jebusite, the very place which afterwards became the site on which the temple was built. It was well, therefore, at its opening, to praise the God who heals his people. We ought to praise the Lord more than we do for our recovery from sickness. Employ the physician if you will, but, when healing comes to you, magnify the Lord for it, and ascribe the glory of it to his holy name.
Psa 30:3. O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.
Here is a double mercy to sing of, not dead, and not damned. Life spared is something for which to praise the Lord, but to have the soul saved from going down to the pit is a cause of still greater thanksgiving. Oh praise the name of the Lord, ye who love him, and trust in him, for he has delivered you from going down into the pit!
Psa 30:4. Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.
David seems to say to the saints, Do not let me sing alone, but all of you join in the chorus. He does not invite reprobates to praise the Lord, but he says, Sing unto Jehovah. O ye saints of his. I think it is very wrong to have the praises of God sung in public by ungodly men and women, as there sometimes are; the singing should not be left to a godless choir. Oh, no; sing unto the Lord, all ye saints of his, for you only can sing sincerely unto him. Give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness, at the very memory of him; at the remembrance of the whole of him, for that is his holiness, his wholeness, the entire, perfect character of God. O saints below, sing as they do in heaven, for their song is Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty.
Psa 30:5. For his anger endureth but a moment;
Notice that the words endureth but are inserted by the translators, and very properly so; but see how the passages reads if you leave them out: For his anger a moment, That is long enough for him to display it, for it is his strange work; and long enough for us to endure it, for it might crush us if it lasted longer.
Psa 30:5. In his favour is life:
Life came to Jerusalem, in Davids day, as soon as God smiled upon it; and life comes to us as soon as we taste of his favor, even though we have been ready to die of despair.
Psa 30:5. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
As the dews are appropriate to the night, so is weeping seemly for us when Jesus hides his face from us. The children of the bride-chamber may well mourn when the heavenly Bridegroom is taken from them, but it is only for a night. Morning will end our mourning. Our night-sorrow is for the night, but our joys are for a day that will know no evening.
Psa 30:6. And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.
It is a pity to say too much; very few people fall into the opposite fault of saying too little. It is always a pity to be counting with certainty upon the future, and presuming, because of the hopefulness of the present, that this state of things will last for ever David was not wise when he said, in his prosperity, I shall never be moved.
Psa 30:7. LORD, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled.
When God is at cross purposes with his people, they are troubled at once.
There is no need for blows, no need for angry words: Thou didst hide thy face; and I was troubled. That is enough for a child of God; let him but miss the light of Gods countenance, and it breaks him down at once.
Psa 30:8. I cried to thee, O LORD; and unto the LORD I made supplication.
What should the child of God do, when he is in trouble, but cry? And to whom should he cry but to his Father?
Psa 30:9. What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? shall the dust praise thee? Shall it declare thy truth?
So his prayer was an argument, and that is the very bone and sinew of prayer, to reason and argue with God. He seems to put it thus, Lord, if I lose my soul, thou wilt be a loser, too, for thou wilt lose a singer out of thy choir, one who would be glad enough to praise thee, and whose very life it is to magnify thee. Oh, do not cut me down! When I am dead, when I am lost, there can be no praise to thee from me, so spare me, my gracious God?
Psa 30:10. Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me: LORD, be thou my helper.
What a handy prayer this is, a prayer to carry about with you wherever you go! Lord, be thou my Helper. That is a ministers prayer when he was going to preach. That is a Sunday-school teachers prayer when going to the class. Is not that a prayer for the sufferer when the pain upon him is very severe? Lord, be thou my Helper. Art thou working for him? Art thou cast down in soul? This prayer will suit thee: Lord, be thou my Helper.
Psa 30:11. Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness.
What a transformation scene in answer to prayer! Notice that David does not say, I hope that thou hast, but he puts it thus, Thou hast thou hast, He is quite sure about it; and, being sure of this great mercy, he gives God all the glory of it. What a wonderful change it is! Not merely from mourning into peace, but into delight, delight expressed by dancing; not merely from sackcloth into ordinary areas, but from the sackcloth of sorrow in the satin of gladness. God does nothing by halves; he not only chases away the night, and gives us twilight, but he goes on to gladden us with the full glory of noontide; and sell this he does with a, definite end and purpose:
Psa 30:12. To the end that my glory-
Or, my tongue
Psa 30:12. May sing praise to thee, and not be silent.
God ought to have praise from us. It is the quit-rent which we pay as tenants to the great Lord of all; let us not rob him of his revenue.
Psa 30:12. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
Psa 30:1-3
THANKSGIVING FOR DELIVERANCE FROM DEATH
There are no satisfactory reasons for rejecting the ancient inscription which identifies this psalm as “A Psalm of David.” The further note in some versions that it is, “A Song at the Dedication of the House,” also generally received as accurate, is the basis of several opinions regarding its meaning.
A summary of various views as to what is meant by the “Dedication of the House” is as follows:
It refers to the Temple of Zerubbabel in 165 B.C. Some say it refers to the Temple of Solomon. Some think it means the house of David’s palace, Others assign it to the purgation and re-dedication of David’s house (palace) after Absalom left.
Calmet believed the psalm was written by David on the occasion of the dedication of the Threshing Floor of Araunah, after the awful plague that followed David’s numbering of the people (2Sa 24:25; 1Ch 21:26).
Adam Clarke discussed all of these opinions and then wrote, “All parts of this Psalm agree to Calmet’s opinion so well, and to no other hypothesis, that I feel justified in basing my comment upon this understanding alone.
Leupold also accepted the same understanding of the occasion for this psalm, pointing out that, “1Ch 22:1 uses the identical words that appear in the heading of this Psalm, namely, `Here shall be the House.’ We feel that this Psalm fits this historical situation as a glove fits the hand.
There are a number of places in the psalm itself which correspond closely with the historical occasion; and we shall notice some of these in the comments below. The following paragraphs appear in the psalm.
(Psa 30:1-3) Thanksgiving is offered for a great deliverance. (Psa 30:4-5) The people are invited to join in the thanksgiving. (Psa 30:6-7) David confesses his sin which was to blame for the catastrophe. (Psa 30:8-10) David’s appeal to God and his earnest supplications. (Psa 30:11-12) The sudden and complete relief, the burst of joy, and the pledge to praise God forever.
THANKSGIVING FOR A GREAT DELIVERANCE
Some think of a terrible illness into which David fell, but the more likely explanation is that David, feeling his own blame and guilt connected with the awful plague that destroyed 70,000 people in a single day, knowing that he certainly deserved to die and probably expecting his death momentarily, thanks the Lord, not for a delivery from illness, but for a deliverance “from death” as the heading states. (2Sa 24:15 f).
Psa 30:1-3
“I will extol thee, O Jehovah, for thou hast raised me up,
And hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.
O Jehovah my God,
I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.
O Jehovah, thou hast brought up my soul from Sheol;
Thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.”
There are five things for which David here thanks God:
(1) God has raised him up,
(2) has not allowed his foes to rejoice over him,
(3) healed him,
(4) brought up his soul from Sheol,
(5) and kept him alive.
“Thou hast raised me up” (Psa 30:1). The marginal reading here is “drawn me up”; and, “This is the word for pulling up a bucket from a well. This appears to us as an expression more appropriate for an acute state of depression and fear than it would be for some kind of an illness.
“Thou hast healed me” (Psa 30:2). “The word `healed’ here is perhaps used metaphorically for the removal of mental sufferings. David’s grief when he saw the suffering and death of so many of his people from the plague (for which he was to blame) seems to have prostrated him both in mind and in body. “David was keenly aware of the danger that threatened him. Many were dying in Israel, and he knew himself to be the chief sinner that brought it about, thus feeling that his doom was as good as sealed. It was David’s sin of numbering the people that caused the plague.
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 30:1. To extol means to elevate by praise. It was appropriate for David to be so disposed toward God for he had received that favor himself. A detail was added regarding the sense in which David had been elevated; his foes had not been allowed to rejoice over him.
Psa 30:2. Lord and God are from different originals. The first is from EHOVAH and means the self-Existent One. It was the Jewish national name of God. The second is from ELOHIYM and its outstanding meaning is one who rules. Taken together, the two words mean to state that the supreme, =created, and eternal Being is the rightful ruler over all. No wonder, then, that David so often cried unto him for help. To heal does not always refer to disease, but frequently means to relieve from any form of distress.
Psa 30:3. David had been in danger of death by the hand of his enemies. In rescuing him from evil designs he had really been saved from the grave. Pit is from an original that has been properly translated, but David used it figuratively. Had he been suffered to be overcome by his enemies it would have been his ruin.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
This is a song of praise for deliverance (1-5) and a meditation on the deliverance and its lessons (6-12), with a final note of praise (12). The phrases descriptive of the trouble are such as to leave little room for doubt that the singer had been sick and nigh unto death-“Thou hast healed me. . . . Thou has brought up my soul from Sheol.” Moreover, he believed that the sickness was a divine chastisement and that through it and his deliverance he had found the method of Jehovah-“His anger is but for a moment; . . . weeping may tarry for the night.”
The issue of such experience is of the highest, “life,” “joy in the morning.” The review is full of suggestiveness. Days of prosperity had issued in self-satisfaction. Jehovah had hid His face. That was the moment of His anger and that the night of weeping! There was the return to Jehovah in the cry of anguish. The answer was immediate, mourning became dancing, sackcloth was exchanged for gladness. What was all this for?
“To the end that my glory may sing praise to Thee and not be silent.” Self-satisfaction cannot praise Jehovah. Therefore it must be corrected by discipline. The final note of praise shows that through affliction and by deliverance the lesson has been learned.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
Joy Cometh in the Morning
Psa 30:1-12
This psalm dates from 2Sa 5:11. What a contrast between Adullams cave and the house of cedar! When God has lifted us up in mercy, we should lift Him up in song.
Apparently David had been passing through a time of sickness or intense sorrow, and now he could not be thankful enough for Gods redeeming mercy. When shall we realize that God both forgives sin and redeems us from its eternal consequences! Weeping is here personified; she is only a lodger, who tarries for the brief Eastern night, and then, veiled, glides out of the house at daybreak. With the first ray of light Joy comes to abide, and we hear His hearty salutation in the vestibule.
We need more of the joy of the Lord. The first touch of pain makes us cry, Psa 30:8; but we are slow to put on and wear the girdle and the garments of gladness. Be of good cheer, sad friend; God will yet turn the shadow of death into the morning!
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
The next five Psalms of this special division, 30 to 34, are Psalms of salvation. They all set before us, in their different ways, experimental salvation, the personal knowledge that comes to those who trust the Lord for His delivering grace. In Psalm 30 David is praising God for this salvation. Notice it says at the top, A Psalm and Song at the dedication of the house of David. This is suggestive, if it is correct, and it probably is, for those headings really belong in the Hebrew texts. It would indicate that when David built a house for himself to dwell in he had a dedication of the house, and on that occasion he wrote this Psalm, and it was sung. As he looked back over the years he remembered how wonderfully God had undertaken for him; he thought of what he once was, an unknown shepherd boy, and then of the great victories God had given him in the midst of persecution, the wonderful way the Lord had watched over him and preserved his life, and then had made him King in Israel and given him this restful home. In it all David sees evidence after evidence of Gods wonderful grace and compassion, and so he lifts his voice in adoration.
I will extol thee, O Lord; for Thou hast lifted me up, and hast made my foes to rejoice over me. We like to sing about that today-He lifted me. David was once down in the miry clay, but God had raised him in grace. O Lord my God, I cried unto Thee, and Thou hast healed me. O Lord, Thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: Thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. His heart is so full he calls upon his brethren to join with him in thanksgiving, Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness.
Then he thinks of those days when he was so troubled, when he was hunted like a partridge upon the mountain, when his enemies were seeking his life day and night, when he was driven out from the haunts of men and he had to live in dens and caves, when many a night he sobbed and wept as he thought of the enmity of King Saul and realized that those he loved had turned against him. Now it is all in the past, and God has done such wonderful things, and he says, His anger endureth but a moment; in His favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. Does it not remind you of that passage in the fourth chapter of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians where we read, For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory (verses 15-17). What did David say? His anger endureth but a moment; in His favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. I wonder whether you are saying, It seems it has been a long moment for me. I have had suffering and sorrow and disappointment and distress, and I have prayed about it but do not seem to get any answer, and it has gone on and on and on. Talk about a moment, I have had a lifetime of it. Oh yes, but if you know the Lord Jesus Christ, when this life is over, then what? Then eternity with Him! It will seem like just a moment. My mother told me that when my dear father was dying he was suffering terribly and a friend of his leaned over him and said, John, you are suffering terribly, arent you?
Oh, he said, I am suffering more than I thought it was possible for any one to and live, but one sight of His blessed face will make up for it all.
And so whatever we are called upon to endure here, whatever we are called upon to suffer here it is for only a moment, comparatively. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. Because the morn- ing will be when Jesus returns. He says, I am the bright and morning star, and His coming heralds the morning and then no more suffering, no more pain, no more sorrow. Turning back to our Psalm we find that David reminds his own soul of his confidence in early days. He says, In my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved. Did you ever say that before the depression began? You were piling up a nice little sum; you had some stocks and bonds and a paying business, and you said, My, I have things in good shape; no danger now of not being well provided for in old age. Then suddenly everything was swept away. But God was not swept away. God abides just the same, and Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever (Heb 13:8). David, like Job, had said in his prosperity, I shall never be moved, and then trouble came unexpectedly and from the most amazing source. The very last person in the world that he ever expected trouble to come from was King Saul, and yet he turned to be his enemy, moved by that frightful passion, jealousy, one of the most detestable passions of human nature. But the Lord undertook, and David now can say, Lord by Thy favour Thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: Thou didst hide Thy face, and I was troubled. There were times when he tried to pray but could not see and could not realize Gods presence. You have felt that way, have you not? Sometimes God does withdraw His face temporarily. Rutherford says,
But flowers need nights cool darkness,
The moonlight and the dew.
So Christ from one who loved Him,
His presence oft withdrew.
The Lord knows that sometimes it is good for us to have these times of darkness, these times of difficulty. When He seems to us to be afar off He wants to teach us to trust in the dark as well as in the light. I cried unto thee, O Lord; and unto the Lord I made supplication.
Now you get his prayer, for he feels as though his enemy is going to destroy him. What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise Thee? Shall it declare Thy truth? That is, my dead body, shall it declare Thy truth? Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me: Lord, be Thou my helper. This is the way he prayed, but now listen to the way he praises, Thou has turned for me my mourning into dancing: Thou has put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; to the end that my glory may sing praise to Thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto Thee for ever. Do you notice what David calls his tongue? His glory. Did you ever notice what James calls it? Look at Jam 3:8. There is a rather remarkable contrast here. The tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil. Have you a tongue like that? That is the uncontrolled tongue, but when God Himself controls it, David can call it his glory. To the end that my glory may sing praise to Thee. As much as to say, I am so glad I have a tongue that I can use to glorify Thee. If we used the tongue for that purpose all the time how different it would be.
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
Psa 30:5
The things of this Psalm are of continual interest. They do not belong to any one time or any one type of experience. Some of the notes in it are suitable to home and family, and individuals through all the years of their history. Eminently so is this fifth verse, which tells us of the bitter and the sweet, the dark and the light, which run, in various distribution, along human lives.
I. The underlying doctrine of the text is the great doctrine or fact that “God is love,” that love runs through all, rules over all, explains all. The literal translation is this: “For in His anger is but a moment. In His favour is life. In the evening weeping may come in to pass the night, but with the morning there is a shout of joy.”
II. Here, however, it may be objected that all this does not give us much help for our dark times, because it only speaks of the rapid and constant changes which come as life goes on. This, we know, it may be said, but is not this part of the trial? What we want is a decisive change for the better, that shall continue, and of this the passage does not seem to assure us. Yes, it does. It lies deep in the very terms that are used. (1) “Anger” is a strong but transient emotion. Favour is a calm, continuous, steady sentiment. (2) Take two other contrasted terms-“a moment,” a “life.” The anger is a thing of a moment; the favour is a thing that will live through life, and not die in death.
III. It is the design of the passage to teach us that one of these is more than the other, that the favour is more than the anger, the morning of joy more than the night of weeping. There is a balance of good in the world, using the word “good” in the lowest sense. Men are busy, men are happy, far more happy, at least, than miserable. Some few are miserable utterly; all are more or less unhappy at times and for a little. The dark time is for a moment. The brighter times stretch on, and flow into each other, and go far to fill up the life.
A. Raleigh, The Way to the City, p. 79.
References: Psa 30:5.-Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 134; R. D. B. Rawnsley, Sermons in Country Churches, 1st series, p. 118, and 3rd series, p. 120; J. E. Vaux, Sermon Notes, 1st series, p. 66. Psa 30:6.-Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 70.
Psa 30:6-8
The words of the text describe three states which are, or have been, or will be all ours.
I. The first state is thus described: “In my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved. Lord, by Thy favour Thou hast made my mountain to stand strong.” We are in prosperity, and we say within ourselves that we shall never be moved. Our common temper is to calculate on our comforts continuing; we act just as if they were sure to do so; we give ourselves up to the things around us; our hearts are hardened, and we think not of God nor of His judgments.
II. The second state which the Psalmist describes will surely be ours; God will hide His face from us, and we shall be troubled. It is but too possible to lose our earthly good things, and yet gain no hope of heavenly things. It may be that our hearts will be hardened, that we shall have no desire to turn to God, though our earthly idols may be broken. Then God’s face is indeed hidden, and for ever.
III. But the Psalmist goes on to say, “I cried to Thee, O Lord, and unto the Lord I made supplication.” God had not so hidden His face from him as to refuse his prayers, or to make him unwilling to utter them. His troubles, whatever was their nature, were a wholesome chastening to him, and no more; they did but awaken him in time from his proud security. But the point to be observed is that we cannot reckon on troubles having this wholesome effect. The sorrow, indeed, is sure to come; but there is a sorrow which worketh death as well as a sorrow which leadeth to repentance.
T. Arnold, Sermons, vol. iii., p. 250.
References: Psa 30:6-8.-Archbishop Thomson, Lincoln’s Inn Sermons, p. 310. Psa 30:9-12.-S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year, 1st series, vol. i., p. 289.
Psa 30:11-12
I. The text describes certain changes in the lives and experience of godly men. Sackcloth was the attire of the leper, the ascetic, the penitent, and the mourner, sometimes, too, of the prophets of God. Sackcloth represents a condition of affliction. Beautiful raiment was worn on festive and joyous occasions. Here the joy which the wearing of such attire would betoken is used to represent the raiment itself, and the raiment is employed to represent prosperity. There is in human life and experience the turning of mourning into dancing, the putting off of sackcloth and girding with gladness. They whose life has been redeemed from destruction will understand this.
II. The text points to God as the Author of these changes. (1) Mourning and sackcloth are contrary to the nature of God. (2) They are contrary to the disposition of God. (3) There is nothing in the Divine nature answering to temper in man, by which the nature and disposition of God are made to sympathise with mourning and sackcloth. (4) God has the right and the power to turn our mourning into dancing.
III. The text speaks of praise as the end and object of these changes. Praise is higher than prayer. It is Divine. There is nothing in the Divine consciousness which corresponds to our prayers; but in God’s self-appreciation there is that which is in harmony with our praises. While God’s creatures praise Him, they are unfallen; and in the degree that the spirit of praise is restored in them their redemption is being wrought out.
S. Martin, Comfort in Trouble, p. 37.
Psa 30:12
I. The first reason for the Easter joy is the triumph and satisfaction enjoyed by our Lord Himself. We sympathise reverently with the awful sorrow of our adorable Lord and Friend; and thus we enter, in some far-off way, into the sense of triumph, unspeakable and sublime, which follows beyond it. It is His joy which inspires ours; it turns our heaviness into joy, and puts off our sorrow, and girds us with gladness.
II. Easter joy is inspired by the sense of confidence with which Christ’s resurrection from the dead invigorates our grasp of Christian truth. The understanding, be sure, has its joy, no less than the heart; and a keen sense of intellectual joy is experienced when we succeed in resting truth, or any part of it, on a secure basis. Akin to the joy of students and workers is the satisfaction of a Christian when he steadily dwells on the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord’s resurrection is a foundation on which all truth in the Christian creed-that is, distinctively Christian, and not merely theistic-really rests. It is beside the empty tomb of the risen Jesus that Christian faith feels itself on the hard rock of fact; here we break through the tyranny of matter and sense, and rise with Christ into the immaterial world. Here we put a term to the enervating alternation of guesses and doubts which prevails elsewhere, and we reach the frontier of the absolutely certain.
III. We may hope to meet our friends, not as formless, unrecognisable shades, but with the features, the expressions, which they wore on earth. Christ’s resurrection is the model as well as the warrant of our own. Nay, more, “all men shall rise with their bodies.” And if they whom we call the dead know anything of what is passing here on earth, then we may believe that the Easter festival is for them too, in whatever measure, an occasion of rejoicing, and that the happiness of the Church on earth is responded to from beyond the veil.
H. P. Liddon, Easter Sermons, vol. i., p. 196.
Reference: Psa 31:4.-Spurgeon, Evening by Evening, p. 234.
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
Psalm 30
A Psalm of Praise
1. Praise for deliverance (Psa 30:1-5)
2. Past experience (Psa 30:6-12)
Psa 30:1-5. The inscription says that the Psalm was written by David as a song of dedication of the house. It probably means the house of the Lord mentioned in 1Ch 22:1. The Psalm must be looked upon as expressing prophetically the praise of the nation for the deliverance and when that greater house of the Lord will be on the earth (Eze 40:1-49, etc.) Davids experience, of course, stands in the foreground. It is generally assumed that David was sick unto death and that the Lord raised him up. But this foreshadows the experience of the remnant of Israel. They approached the pit, while their foes were ready to rejoice over them, but the Lord intervened, and they were saved and healed. Then the singing begins (verse 4). Weeping had endured for a night, the dark night of tribulation, but joy came with the morning, that blessed morning for which all is waiting, when the day breaks and the shadows flee away.
Psa 30:6-12. This is a rehearsal of the experiences through which they passed. Mourning for them is turned into dancing; the sackcloth is taken off and the garments of joy and gladness are put on. Then His glory will be manifested and will sing His praise throughout Israels land and the whole earth will be filled with His glory.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
at the: Deu 20:5, 2Sa 5:11, 2Sa 6:20, 2Sa 7:2, 2Sa 20:3
extol: Psa 34:3, Psa 34:4, Psa 66:17, Psa 145:1, Dan 4:37
for: Psa 27:6, Psa 28:9
hast not: Psa 13:4, Psa 25:2, Psa 35:19, Psa 35:24, Psa 35:25, Psa 41:11, Psa 79:4, Psa 79:10, Psa 89:41-46, Psa 140:8, Lam 2:15
Reciprocal: Exo 15:2 – exalt him Num 7:10 – dedicating 2Ch 20:27 – the Lord Neh 3:1 – sanctified it Neh 12:27 – the dedication Luk 17:15 – General Phi 2:27 – but God Jam 4:10 – he
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Whatever else changes, an unchanging God.
A psalm (a song of dedication of the house) of David.
For the title here we seem to have no explanation in the history of David; nor can we therefore decide from it whether the house” be that of Jehovah or David’s own. The Septuagint and many commentators accept the last of these applications as the true one; but the king himself does not appear in the psalm, and the “glory” spoken of in the closing verse, as well as the general reference to Israel’s last deliverance, speaks strongly for the former.
The psalm has twelve verses, and its normal structure would be therefore 4 x 3; but in fact, the second section loses one of its verses to the third, which is thus increased. The reason of this I cannot clearly give.
1. The psalmist begins with a song of praise to Jehovah for His effectual help. He had lifted him up, and had not allowed his foes to rejoice over him. Moreover it was the answer of God to his cry of distress when smitten, and death was before him; nay, when all seemed over with him. He was already numbered with those going down to the pit, and only the God of resurrection could have brought him up. This we can easily understand as applying to the deliverance of the remnant of the Jews: it exactly describes it. They are saved at the last moment of distress, when their enemies seem to have them in their grasp, and hope is gone. The whole language shows moreover that this condition of theirs is understood and acknowledged to be the effect of sin. The “pit,” though it refers to death, is death in the anger of God; and this is plainly stated in the fifth verse. Thus this deliverance is a true salvation.
2. This thanksgiving to Jehovah is followed by testimony for Him; as it will indeed be in the day which is here anticipated. Delivered Israel will be His great witnesses upon the earth; and their deliverance abundant blessing to the Gentiles. But as Judah’s deliverance precedes that of the ten tribes, who are afterwards joined to them, and is also out of more extreme distress, it is possible that the “godly ones” here addressed are these tribes of Israel. They are exhorted to sing psalms to Jehovah, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness.
Holiness had to bring them low in order to raise them up; and they can now rejoice, and bid others rejoice, in that very dealing of God with them, so severe as it might seem, but so effectual, which had wrought in bringing them to repentance, and so to God. He had acted but in consistency with Himself; and this is always a necessity for blessing for any.
Now the cloud had passed, the wrath was gone; after all, it was but for a moment indeed, and in His favor following there had come, in the fullest sense, “life.” This is stated here as a principle of widest application to all those who turn, in like manner, to Him. “Weeping may lodge with us at even-tide,” and a night of darkness and distress succeed; but God’s order is, first evening and then the morning; and for the morning is prepared, instead of sorrow, “a song of joy.”
God works for eternity; man is the creature of time. Thus it is sure that man will misconceive Him as long as he clings to his own thoughts. Faith alone brings rest and deliverance; and brings it at once in proportion to its simplicity. Alas, how frequently is the soul even of the saint at issue with Him! and this is what of necessity brings darkness over it. When the conflict of will passes, the morning is at hand. Then we realize for what God works, that it is for His eternity; that night is but the womb of nature out of which the day is born, with its multitudinous voices and its golden fruits.
3. And now the heart of the subject is reached. It is perfectly simple, and yet how difficult to learn in full practical application, where it must be learned: “And I in my prosperity had said, I never shall be moved: Jehovah, in Thy favor Thou hadst made my mountain to stand strong.” How hard it is to have a mountain standing strong, and not put our confidence in it! And if the heart refers this to the favor of God, all the more may it be a snare, a false confidence which comes in between it and immediate confidence in the Lord. And how hard it is to resign this (real or supposed) “favor,” thus attached to what makes something of us! Privileges, circumstances, experiences, we cling to, only to find them fail us in the day of trial, -everything allowed to be shaken, that that which cannot be shaken may remain. When the eye is turned away to Christ, then in the joy of Him who bare our sins, brought up out of death, we can in a deeper way than Israel here say, “Thou hast brought my soul out of Sheol: Thou hast quickened me from among those going down to the pit.” As sinners, in a work done for sinners, we find an immovable foundation, and can no more say, “Thou hidest Thy face,” for that to the soul hid in Christ is gone through -He has endured it, -and God can no more hide His face from His Beloved, nor from those who in that Beloved find unchangeable acceptance.
In this psalm, no doubt, all this is not made plain, nor could yet be; nor can we attribute such knowledge to the Jewish remnant until, brought through their deep distress, they have looked upon Him whom they have pierced, their rejected and crucified Messiah. But the prophets prophesied with a knowledge far beyond their own, and we can find in them, as Peter assures us. more than they could understand; while yet there could for them also be thus furnished principles and truths upon which faith could stay itself, whatever the dispensation. Here it is to Jehovah, Jehovah the Unchangeable, Himself, that His people are turned, even by the very hiding of His face. What good in a mountain if that Face were hidden? In fact, it is gone: it cannot abide, if He abide not. But must not He abide who is Jehovah the Abiding? and has He not known, all through, the sin, the folly, the vanity, of the creature? Can it be pleasure to Him, or profit, or glory, to exact the just sentence of death from so frail a being? Will the dust -even though He has said, “Unto dust thou shalt return,” -really declare His truth? Will He be satisfied with the curse upon one who, be he what he may, clings to Him for blessing?
Here it is not the death of Christ that is pleaded, as we see, while yet it is the death of Christ which justifies, and how much more than justifies, the plea that the Spirit of God here puts into the heart of the suppliant. Can He desire man’s death, who has given up His Son to death to redeem him? Yet God has found thus a way of making death itself a wonderful display, not of His truth simply, but of the love which is His Nature. He has got thus a ground upon which He can show and justify unchanging grace towards one who finds in his very sins his title to the Saviour of sinners. Thus God manifests how safe the plea is, that rests upon what is in Himself. For Israel the end will fully show this; to us it is already fully shown. Would then that for every Christian, “my mountain” were no more the confidence, but Christ the unclouded confidence of the soul! that “Thou hiddest Thy face” were referred wholly to that one darkness which in its endurance has rent the veil of the sanctuary for us, and set God in the light for evermore!
4. Now comes at last the experience which shows that the plea is good. Faith is not to be made to conform to experience; for we cannot be trusted thus to read experience right, and God in Christ transcends all possible experience: but experience will at last surely approve faith; and so it is in this case. The cry for grace and help to Jehovah is answered at last by that which turns mourning into dancing, takes off the sackcloth garment, and girds the loins for glad activity in praise.
The expression, “that glory may psalm to Thee,” is not to be reduced to the commonplace of most expositors: another psalmist has declared that “surely His salvation is nigh them that fear Him, that glory may dwell in our land” (Psa 85:9). This is the display of God Himself in the midst of Israel, in the very time to which we have now reached. This will bear blessed witness to what He is, waking up all nature in accompaniment of praise. This is what glory psalming to Him may well mean. The whole land -the whole earth in measure -responds in harmony, as an instrument to the skilled fingers of the player. Alas, it has found none hitherto to bring out its dormant capacities. Now it awakes, to be silent no more.
We can understand then how this psalm is “for the dedication of the house,” -the sanctuary which the end of Daniel’s seventy weeks will see anointed to Jehovah. The end of salvation is that God and man may be at last together.
Fuente: Grant’s Numerical Bible Notes and Commentary
Psa 30:1. Thou hast lifted me up Hebrew, , dillitani, evexisti me, Buxtorff. Dr. Waterland renders it, Thou hast drawn me up, namely, out of the deep pit, or waters, to which great dangers and afflictions are frequently compared. The verb is used, in its original meaning, to denote the reciprocating motion of the buckets of a well; one descending as the other rises, and vice versa; and it is here applied with admirable propriety to point out the various reciprocations and changes of Davids fortunes, as described in this Psalm, as to prosperity and adversity; and particularly that gracious reverse of his afflicted condition, which he now celebrates, God having raised him up to great honour and prosperity: for, having built his palace, he perceived that the Lord had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom, for his people Israels sake, 2Sa 5:21. Chandler.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The title is, a psalm and song. Chrysostom, in his prologue, understands it of a song set to the organ, or a concert of music, and sung when David dedicated his palace in the city of Zion. Here his heart, his grateful heart, sings of all that grace had done for him.
Psa 30:12. That my glory may sing praise to thee; that is, all the glory conferred on me, and on my kingdom. David would thus, not only dedicate his house, but his person, and all his wealth and glory to the Lord, and praise and magnify his name for ever.
REFLECTIONS.
It is allowed by the theology of all ages, that there generally is a vast variation in the frames and feelings of believers; even the most established will allow, that they are not at all times equally happy. This variation is here expressed by six epithetslife, comfort, favour, the light of Gods countenanceby anger, and the hiding of his face, followed by trouble.
The habits and tempers of men, whether cheerful or gloomy, contribute very much towards this variation of feeling: so also do prosperity and adversity in exterior affairs. This may be accounted for by the consideration, that while looking at adverse circumstances we are apt to cease exercising trust and confidence in God, which bring down life and heaven into the heart. Now, as God is always the same source of light and joy, whatever be our exterior situation, we should always have the same confidence in his wisdom and love; and could we see how his counsel is managing all our trials for our advantage we should still rejoice, though the fig-tree does not blossom, and clouds envelope our fairest hopes. Some men talk lightly of frames and feelings, and would magnify Christ; but where Christ is properly embraced, it is impossible that love and comfort should be long withheld from the heart.
Under the hidings of Gods face we should carefully investigate the cause. Perhaps, like David, we forget him in prosperity. Perhaps we disregard the motions and drawings of his Spirit to prayer, to acts of faith and love. Perhaps we have dallied with some besetting sin, or have failed to pay our vows to the Lord. Deu 31:16; Deu 31:18. Yet God may for a moment hide his face to try and prove us, and to make us esteem his comforts more than life itself. Yea sometimes, as appears from this psalm, he may strike and afflict us to bring us to recollection, and to the place where we ought to be.
When under the hidings of Gods face we are not to sink into hopeless dejection; but to weep and pray for his restoring grace. So Job 13:23; Job 13:28. So Psa 73:1; Psa 73:10. And this grace we may soon find: his anger is but for a moment. Therefore while we revere the afflicting hand, or frowning spirit of the Lord, let us hope; for as is his majesty so is his mercy. Above all let us try to live and walk in the light of his countenance, that we may dwell in him, and he in us; to this we are called by Christ Jesus, whose Spirit dwelleth in us, and seals the heirs of heaven.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
XXX. Trust in God, not in Self.The Ps. was not intended originally, as the title suggests, for the purification and dedication of the Temple in 165 B.C. after its pollution by Antiochus Epiphanes (p. 104). Rather it is the hymn of an individual, who (Psa 30:1-5) thanks Yahweh for deliverance in sickness which threatened death.
Psa 30:3 b. Read mg.
Psa 30:6-10. He had made too sure of his prosperity, and was taught by pain his dependence on God. The Hebrew horror of death (Psa 30:9) arose chiefly from the belief that in death all intercourse with God ceased. This differentiates the Hebrew fear of death from that of, e.g., the Greeks.
Psa 30:11 f. He renews his thanksgiving.my glory: i.e. my soul as the seat of honour and dignity.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
PSALM 30
The deliverance of Jehovah on behalf of the godly when in the depth of their distress.
The blessings of Israel, in contrast to those of the Christian, are mainly earthly and material, rather than heavenly and spiritual. In the days of their prosperity Israel has trusted in their material blessings rather than in the God that gave them. The godly man in this psalm gives the experience of his history and the exercises of his soul by which he learned that all true blessing is the result of the favour of the Lord.
(vv. 1-3) The opening verses give the result of his experiences, the remaining portion of the psalm the experiences by which this end is reached. The psalmist is brought to praise the Lord, because in the depth of his distress – when surrounded by enemies and brought near to the grave – he was lifted up above his foes, and kept from going down to the pit.
(vv. 4-5) Others are called to rejoice with him; for though the Lord may chasten His saints, for their good, it is only for a short while. A moment is passed in his anger, a life in his favour (JND). The night of weeping will end in the morning of joy.
(vv. 6-10) The verses that follow give the experiences of the psalmist. In the day of his prosperity, trusting in his circumstances, and in forgetfulness of God, he had said, I shall never be moved. He learned, however, that if his circumstances were as firm as a mountain, it was entirely owing to the favour of the Lord. The Lord had but to hide His face, and in a moment he found himself in trouble in spite of the apparent security of his circumstances.
In his prosperity he had forgotten the Lord; in his trouble he remembered the Lord, cried to the Lord, and made supplication. He found that in the presence of death prosperous circumstances were of no avail. In that sore strait only the mercy and help of the Lord would avail.
(vv. 11-12) In his distress he learned the deliverance of the Lord, who turned his night of sorrow into the morning of gladness, to the end that he might sing praise and give thanks to Jehovah.
Fuente: Smith’s Writings on 24 Books of the Bible
30:1 [A Psalm [and] Song [at] the dedication of the {a} house of David.] I will extol thee, O LORD; {b} for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.
(a) After Absalom had polluted it with most filthy fornication.
(b) He condemns them for great ingratitude who do not praise God for his benefits.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Psalms 30
David had emerged from an experience of chastening by the Lord for some sin he had committed, and he praised Him that His anger is temporary but His favor is permanent.
"This psalm is a quite clear example of the thanksgiving song, which Westermann labels as a declarative narrative. [Note: Claus Westermann, The Psalms: Structure, Content, and Message, chs. 2 and 4.] That is, the psalm tells the story of going into the trouble and coming out of the trouble." [Note: Brueggemann, p. 126.]
The title of this psalm is subject to two interpretations. It may mean that the psalmist composed it for the occasion of the dedication of the Lord’s house. This would not be the dedication of Solomon’s temple since David had already died when Solomon dedicated it. It could mean the tent that David erected in Jerusalem to house the ark of the covenant when he brought it into the city (2Sa 6:17). Or perhaps this occasion was the dedication of the temple site (1Ch 21:26; 1Ch 22:1). The Lord’s chastening of the king preceded both of these events. The writer referred to this discipline in the psalm. Another possibility is that the title did not refer to the occasion of writing but to those occasions on which the Israelites were to use this psalm in national worship. This seems less likely to me in view of the references to chastening. There is evidence from the Talmud, however, that the Jews recited this psalm during Hanukkah, their commemoration of the rededication of the temple in 165 B.C. [Note: VanGemeren, p. 257.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
1. David’s deliverance from God’s chastening 30:1-5
The psalmist began by acknowledging the Lord’s deliverance of him, and he called on the congregation of Israel to praise Him. Promises to praise the Lord frame this individual thanksgiving psalm (Psa 30:1; Psa 30:12).
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The reason David wanted to praise God was that the Lord had restored him (cf. Isa 38:10-20). Had God not done this, the psalmist believed his enemies would have been able to rejoice over his death.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 30:1-12
THE title of this psalm is apparently a composite, the usual “Psalm of David” having been enlarged by the awkward insertion of “A Song at the Dedication of the House,” which probably indicates its later liturgical use and not its first destination. Its occasion was evidently a deliverance from grave peril; and, whilst its tone is strikingly inappropriate if it had been composed for the inauguration of temple, tabernacle, or palace, one can understand how the venerable words, which praised Jehovah for swift deliverance from impending destruction, would be felt to fit the circumstances and emotions of the time when the Temple, profaned by the mad acts of Antiochus Epiphanes, was purified and the ceremonial worship restored. Never had Israel seemed nearer going down to the pit; never had deliverance come more suddenly and completely. The intrusive title is best explained as dating from that time and indicating the use then found for the song.
It is an outpouring of thankfulness, and mainly a leaf from the psalmists autobiography, interrupted only by a call to all who share Jehovahs favour to help the single voice to praise Him (Psa 30:4-5). The familiar arrangement in pairs of verses is slightly broken twice, Psa 30:1-3 being linked together as a kind of prelude and Psa 30:8-10 as a repetition of the singers prayer. His praise breaks the barrier of silence and rushes out in a flood. The very first word tells of his exuberant thankfulness, and stands in striking relation to Gods act which evokes it. Jehovah has raised him from the very sides of the pit, and therefore what shall he do but exalt Jehovah by praise and commemoration of His deeds? The song runs over in varying expressions for the one deliverance, which is designated as lifting up, disappointment of the malignant joy of enemies, healing, rescue from Sheol and the company who descend thither, by restoration to life. Possibly the prose fact was recovery from sickness, but the metaphor of healing is so frequent that the literal use of the word here is questionable. As Calvin remarks, sackcloth (Psa 30:11) is not a sick mans garb. These glad repetitions of the one thought in various forms indicate how deeply moved the singer was, and how lovingly he brooded over his deliverance. A heart truly penetrated with thankfulness delights to turn its blessings round and round, and see how prismatic lights play on their facets. as on revolving diamonds. The same warmth of feeling, which glows in the reiterated celebration of deliverance, impels to the frequent direct mention of Jehovah. Each verse has that name set on it as a seal, and the central one of the three (Psa 30:2), not content with it only, grasps Him as “my God,” manifested as such with renewed and deepened tenderness by the recent fact that “I cried loudly, unto Thee, and Thou healedst me.” The best result of Gods goodness is a firmer assurance of a personal relation to Him. “This is an enclosure of a common without damage: to make God mine own, to find that all that God says is spoken to me” (Donne). The stress of these three verses lies on the reiterated contemplation of Gods fresh act of mercy and on the reiterated. invocation of His name, which is not vain repetition, but represents distinct acts of consciousness, drawing near to delight the soul in thoughts of Him. The psalmists vow of praise and former cry for help could not be left out of view, since the one was the condition and the other the issue of deliverance, but they are slightly touched. Such claiming of God for ones own and such absorbing gaze on Him are the intended results of His deeds, the crown of devotion, and the repose of the soul.
True thankfulness is expansive, and joy craves for sympathy. So the psalmist invites other voices to join his song, since he is sure that others there are who have shared his experience. It has been but one instance of a universal law. He is not the only one whom Jehovah has treated with lovingkindness, and he would fain hear a chorus supporting his solo. Therefore he calls upon “the favoured of God” to swell the praise with harp and voice and to give thanks to His “holy memorial,” i.e., the name by which His deeds of grace are commemorated. The ground of their praise is the psalmists own case generalised. A tiny mirror may reflect the sun, and the humblest persons history, devoutly pondered, will yield insight into. Gods widest dealings. This, then, is what the psalmist had learned in suffering, and wishes to teach in song: that sorrow is transient and joy perennial. A cheerful optimism should be the fruit of experience, and especially of sorrowful experience. The antitheses in Psa 30:5 are obvious. In the first part of the verse “anger” and “favour” are plainly, contrasted, and it is natural to suppose that “a moment” and “life” are so too. The rendering, then, is, “A moment passes: in His anger, a life [i.e., a lifetime] in His favour.” Sorrow is brief; blessings are long. Thunderstorms occupy but a small part of summer. There is usually less sickness than health in a life. But memory and anticipation beat out sorrow thin, so as to cover a great space. A little solid matter, diffused by currents, will discolour miles of a stream. Unfortunately we have better memories for trouble than for blessing, and the smart of the roses prickles lasts longer in the flesh than its fragrance in the nostril or its hue in the eye. But the relation of ideas here is not merely that of contrast. May we not say that just as the “moment” is included in the “life,” so the “anger” is in the “favour”? Probably that application of the thought was not present to the psalmist, but it is an Old Testament belief that “whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth,” and Gods anger is the aversion of holy love to its moral opposite. Hence comes the truth that varying and sometimes opposite Divine methods have one motive and one purpose, as the same motion of the earth brings summer and winter in turn. Since the desire of God is to make men partakers of His holiness, the root of chastisement is love, and hours of sorrow are not interruptions of the continuous favour which fills the life.
A like double antithesis moulds the beautiful image of the last clause. Night and morning are contrasted, as are weeping and joy; and the latter contrast is more striking, if it be observed that “joy” is literally a “joyful shout,” raised by the voice that had been breaking into audible weeping. The verb used means to lodge for a night, and thus the whole is a picture of two guests, the one coming, sombre-robed, in the hour befitting her, the other, bright-garmented, taking the place of the former, when all things are dewy and sunny, in the morning. The thought may either be that of the substitution of joy for sorrow, or of the transformation of sorrow into joy. No grief lasts in its first bitterness. Recuperative forces begin to tell by slow degrees. “The low beginnings of content” appear. The sharpest cutting edge is partially blunted by time and what it brings. Tender green drapes every ruin. Sorrow is transformed into something not undeserving of the name of joy. Griefs accepted change their nature. “Your sorrow shall be turned into joy.” The man who in the darkness took in the dark guest to sit by his fireside finds in the morning that she is transfigured, and her name is Gladness. Rich vintages are gathered on the crumbling lava of the quiescent volcano. Even for irremediable losses and immedicable griefs, the psalmists prophecy is true, only that for these “the morning” is beyond earths dim dawns, and breaks when this night which we call life, and which is wearing thin, is past. In the level light of that sunrise, every raindrop becomes a rainbow, and every sorrow rightly-that is. submissively-borne shall be represented by a special and particular joy.
But the thrilling sense of recent deliverance runs in too strong a current to be long turned aside, even by the thought of others praise; and the personal element recurs in Psa 30:6, and persists till the close. This latter part falls into three well-marked minor divisions: the confession of self-confidence, bred of ease and shattered by chastisement, in Psa 30:6-7; the prayer of the man startled into renewed dependence in Psa 30:8-10; and the closing reiterated commemoration of mercies received and vow of thankful praise, which echoes the first part, in Psa 30:11-12.
In Psa 30:6 the psalmists foolish confidence is emphatically contrasted with the truth won by experience and stated in Psa 30:5. “The law of Gods dealings is so, but I-I thought so and so.” The word rendered “prosperity” may be taken as meaning also security. The passage from the one idea to the other is easy, inasmuch as calm days lull men to sleep, and make it hard to believe that “tomorrow shall” not “be as this day.” Even devout hearts are apt to count upon the continuance of present good. “Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God.” The bottom of the crater of Vesuvius had once great trees growing, the produce of centuries of quiescence. It would be difficult to think, when looking at them, that they would ever be torn up and whirled aloft in flame by a new outburst. While continual peril and change may not foster remembrance of God, continuous peace is but too apt to lull to forgetfulness of Him. The psalmist was beguiled by comfort into saying precisely what “the wicked said in his heart”. {Psa 10:6} How different may be the meaning of the same words on different lips! The mad arrogance of the godless mans confidence, the error of the good man rocked to sleep by prosperity and the warranted confidence of a trustful soul are all expressed by the same words; but the last has an addition which changes the whole: “Because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.” The end of the first mans boast can only be destruction; that of the thirds faith will certainly be “pleasures for evermore”; that of the seconds lapse from dependence is recorded in Psa 30:7. The sudden crash of his false security is graphically reproduced by the abrupt clauses without connecting particles. It was the “favour” already celebrated which gave the stability which had been abused. Its effect is described in terms of which, the general meaning is clear, though the exact rendering is doubtful. “Thou hast [or hadst] established strength to my mountain is harsh, and the proposed emendation (Hupfeld, Cheyne, etc.), “hast set me on strong mountains,” requires the addition to the text of the pronoun. In either case, we have a natural metaphor for prosperity. The emphasis ties on the recognition that it was Gods work, a truth which the psalmist had forgotten and had to be taught by the sudden withdrawal of Gods countenance, on which followed his own immediate passage from careless security to agitation and alarm. The word “troubled” is that used for Sauls conflicting emotions and despair in the witchs house at Endor, and for the agitation of Josephs brethren when they heard that the man who had their lives in his hand was their wronged brother. Thus alarmed and filled with distracting thoughts was the psalmist. “Thou didst hide Thy face,” describes his calamities in their source. When the sun goes in, an immediate gloom wraps the land, and the birds cease to sing. But the “trouble” was preferable to “security,” for it drove to God. Any tempest which does that is better than calm which beguiles from Him; and, since all His storms are meant to “drive us to His breast,” they come from His “favour.”
The approach to God is told in Psa 30:8-10, of which the two latter are a quotation of the prayer then wrung from the psalmist. The ground of this appeal for deliverance from a danger threatening life is as in Hezekiahs prayer, {Isa 38:18-19} and reflects the same conception of the state of the dead as Psa 6:5. If the suppliant dies, his voice will be missed from the chorus which sings Gods praise on earth. “The dust” (i.e., the grave) is a region of silence. Here, where life yielded daily proofs of Gods “truth” (i.e., faithfulness), it could be extolled, but there dumb tongues could bring Him no “profit” of praise. The boldness of the thought that God is in some sense advantaged by mens magnifying of His faithfulness, the cheerless gaze into the dark realm, and the implication that to live is desired not only for the sake of lifes joys, but in order to show forth Gods dealings, are all remarkable. The tone of the prayer indicates the imperfect view of the future life which shadows many psalms, and could only be completed by the historical facts of the Resurrection and Ascension.
Concern for the honour of the Old Testament revelation may, in this matter, be stretched to invalidate the distinctive glory of the New, which has “brought life and immortality to light”:
With quick transition, corresponding to the swiftness of the answer to prayer, the closing pair of verses tells of the instantaneous change which that answer wrought. As in the earlier metaphor weeping was transformed into joy, here mourning is turned into dancing, and Gods hand unties the cord which loosely bound the sackcloth robe, and arrays the mourner in festival attire. The same conception of the sweetness of grateful praise to the ear of God which was presented in the prayer recurs here, where the purpose of Gods gifts is regarded as being mans praise. The thought may be construed so as to be repulsive, but its true force is to present God as desiring hearts love and trust, and as “seeking such to worship Him,” because therein they will find supreme and abiding bliss. “My glory,” that wonderful personal being, which in its lowest debasement retains glimmering reflections caught from God, is never so truly glory as when it “sings praise to Thee,” and never so blessed as when, through a longer “forever” than the psalmist saw stretching before him, it “gives thanks unto Thee.”