Psalm 30

1 I will exalt thee, O Lord; for thou hast lifted me up, and not caused mine enemies to rejoice over me.

2 O Lord my God, I cried to thee, and thou didst heal me.

3 O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from Hades, thou hast delivered me from among them that go down to the pit.

4 Sing to the Lord, ye his saints, and give thanks for the remembrance of his holiness.

5 For anger is in his wrath, but life in his favour: weeping shall tarry for the evening, but joy shall be in the morning.

6 And I said in my prosperity, I shall never be moved.

7 O Lord, in thy good pleasure thou didst add strength to my beauty: but thou didst turn away thy face, and I was troubled.

8 To thee, O Lord, will I cry; and to my God will I make supplication.

9 What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to destruction? Shall the dust give praise to thee? or shall it declare thy truth?

10 The Lord heard, and had compassion upon me; the Lord is become my helper.

11 Thou hast turned my mourning into joy for me: thou hast rent off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;

12 that my glory may sing praise to thee, and I may not be pierced with sorrow. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to thee for ever.

Psalm 30 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 30

\\<>\\. This is the first time that a psalm is called a song; some psalms are called by one name, some by another, and some by both, as here; and some are called hymns: to which distinction of them the apostle refers in Eph 5:19. A psalm was sung upon musical instruments, a song with the voice; it may be this psalm was sung both ways: the occasion of it was the dedication of David's house: the Targum interprets it of the house of the sanctuary, the temple; and so most of the Jewish commentators {i}; which might be called his house, because it was his intention to build it; his heart was set upon it, he provided materials for it, and gave his son Solomon the form of it, and a charge to build it; and, as is thought, composed this psalm to be sung, and which was sung by the Levites at the dedication of it: others, as Aben Ezra, are of opinion it was his own dwelling house, made of cedar, which he dedicated according to the law of Moses, with sacrifices and offerings, prayer and thanksgiving, \2Sa 5:11 7:2 De 20:5\; so Apollinarius calls it a new house David built; but since there is nothing in the whole psalm that agrees with the dedication, either of the temple, or of David's own private house, it seems better, with other interpreters, to understand it of the purging of David's house from the wickedness and incest of his son Absalom, upon his return to it, when the rebellion raised by him was extinguished; which might be reckoned a new dedication of it; see 2Sa 20:3; and to a deliverance from such troubles this psalm well agrees. Theodoret interprets it of the restoration of the human nature by Christ, through his resurrection from the dead. {i} Jarchi, Kimchi, & Abdendana.