Psalm 30
Title
מִזְמ֡וֹר שִׁיר חֲנֻכַּ֖ת הַבַּ֣יִת לְדָוִֽד
1I will extol you, Yahweh, for you have raised me up, and have not made my foes to rejoice over me. 2Yahweh my God, I cried to you, and you have healed me. 3Yahweh, you have brought up my soul from Sheol. You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. 4Sing praise to Yahweh, you saints of his. Give thanks to his holy name. 5For his anger is but for a moment. His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may stay for the night, but joy comes in the morning. 6As for me, I said in my prosperity, “I shall never be moved.” 7You, Yahweh, when you favored me, made my mountain stand strong; but when you hid your face, I was troubled. 8I cried to you, Yahweh. I made supplication to the Lord: 9“What profit is there in my destruction, if I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise you? Shall it declare your truth? 10Hear, Yahweh, and have mercy on me. Yahweh, be my helper.” 11You have turned my mourning into dancing for me. You have removed my sackcloth, and clothed me with gladness, 12to the end that my heart may sing praise to you, and not be silent. Yahweh my God, I will give thanks to you forever!
Introduction
Psalms 30
This is a psalm of thanksgiving for the great deliverances which God had wrought for David, penned upon occasion of the dedicating of his house of cedar, and sung in that pious solemnity, though there is not any thing in it that has particular reference to that occasion. Some collect from divers passages in the psalm itself that it was penned upon his recovery from a dangerous fit of sickness, which might happen to be about the time of the dedication of his house. I. He here praises God for the deliverances he had wrought for him (Psa 30:1-3). II. He calls upon others to praise him too, and encourages them to trust in him (Psa 30:4, Psa 30:5). III. He blames himself for his former security (Psa 30:6, Psa 30:7). IV. He recollects the prayers and complaints he had made in his distress (Psa 30:8-10). With them he stirs up himself to be very thankful to God for the present comfortable change (Psa 30:11, Psa 30:12). In singing this psalm we ought to remember with thankfulness any like deliverances wrought for us, for which we must stir up our selves to praise him and by which we must be engaged to depend upon him.
A psalm and song at the dedication of the house of David.
Cross-references: Ps 30:1 · Ps 30:4 · Ps 30:5 · Ps 30:6 · Ps 30:7 · Ps 30:8 · Ps 30:11 · Ps 30:12