Psalms 30:1-11

1 I will exalt you, LORD, for you rescued me. You refused to let my enemies triumph over me.

2 O LORD my God, I cried to you for help, and you restored my health.

3 You brought me up from the grave, O LORD . You kept me from falling into the pit of death.

4 Sing to the LORD, all you godly ones! Praise his holy name.

5 For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime! Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.

6 When I was prosperous, I said, “Nothing can stop me now!”

7 Your favor, O LORD, made me as secure as a mountain. Then you turned away from me, and I was shattered.

8 I cried out to you, O LORD . I begged the Lord for mercy, saying,

9 “What will you gain if I die, if I sink into the grave? Can my dust praise you? Can it tell of your faithfulness?

10 Hear me, LORD, and have mercy on me. Help me, O LORD .”

11 You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy,

Psalms 30:1-11 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew from Sheol.