Psalm 30:3

3 Lord, you brought me up from the edge of the grave. You kept me from going down into the pit.

Psalm 30:3 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 30:3

O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave
When his life being in danger, was near unto it, ( Job 33:22 Job 33:28 ) ; otherwise the soul dies not, nor does it lie and sleep in the grave; or "thou hast brought up my soul from hell" ^F13; that is, delivered him from those horrors of conscience and terrors of mind, by reason of sin, which were as hell itself unto him; see ( Psalms 116:3 ) ( Jonah 2:4 ) ;

thou hast kept me alive:
preserved his corporeal life when in danger, and maintained his spiritual life; and quickened him by his word, under all his afflictions, and kept him from utter and black despair;

that I should not go down to the pit;
either of the grave or hell. There is in this clause a "Keri" and a "Cetib"; a marginal reading, and a textual writing: according to the latter it is, "from them that go down to the pit"; which some versions ^F14 follow; that is, thou hast preserved me from going along with them, and being where and as they are: our version follows the former; the sense is the same.

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FOOTNOTES:

F13 (lwav Nm) "ab inferno", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Gejerus, Michaelis; so Ainsworth.
F14 So Sept. V. L. Pagninus, Musculus, Gejerus, Michaelis, Ainsworth.

Psalm 30:3 In-Context

1 Lord, I will give you honor. You brought me out of deep trouble. You didn't give my enemies the joy of seeing me die.

2 LORD my God, I called out to you for help. And you healed me.

3 Lord, you brought me up from the edge of the grave. You kept me from going down into the pit.

4 Sing to the Lord, you who are faithful to him. Praise him, because his name is holy.

5 His anger lasts for only a moment. But his favor lasts for a person's whole life. Sobbing can remain through the night. But joy comes in the morning.