PSALM 30 [1]

 

 

1 I will extol You, O Yahweh, for You have lifted me up,

And have not let my enemies rejoice over me.

 

 

2 O Yahweh my God,

I cried to You for help,

and You healed [2] me.

3 O Yahweh, You have brought up my soul from Sheol;

You have kept me alive,

that I would not go down to the pit.

 

 

4 Sing praise to Yahweh, you His godly ones,

And give thanks to His holy name.

5 For 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.  [3] [4] [5]

 

 

6 Now as for me, I said in my prosperity,

“I will never be moved.” [6]

 

 

7 O Yahweh, by Your favor

You have made my mountain to stand strong;

You hid Your face, I was dismayed.

 

 

8 To You, O Yahweh, I called,

And to Yahweh I made supplication:

9 “What profit is there in my blood,

if I go down to the pit?

Will the dust praise You?

Will it declare Your faithfulness?

10 “Hear, O Yahweh, and be gracious[7] to me;

O Yahweh, be my helper.”

 

 

11 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;

You have loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness,

12 That my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent.

O Yahweh my God, I will give thanks to You forever. [8]

 

 

 

 

 


[1]  “In the superscription to Ps 30 [“A Psalm; a Song at the Dedication of the House. A Psalm of David”] the nom. חֲנוּכַּת is a liturgical direction that the psalm be sung every year at the Feast of Hanukkah. The superscription, however, contains some features that clearly indicate that it has been added at a later date to an already existing psalm” (Jackie A. Naudé, NIDOTTE 2:201).  However, others view this and the other superscriptions as indicating Davidic authorship, “As Israel’s poet laureate, there is good reason to suppose David composed the dedicatory prayer for the temple (Ps 30) just as he designed and prepared beforehand for its building (1 Chron 28)” (Bruce K. Waltke, NIDOTTE 4:1101).

 

[2] “In the Psalms רָפָא is virtually always used with reference to literal, physical healing” (NIDOTTE III:1166).

 

[3] I’ve highlighted the antithetic parallelism of emotion and time with boxes.

 

[4]

And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,
and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:3-4)

they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.
And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever. (Revelation 22:4-5)

 

[5] “Sadly, for those who are not saints, Scripture makes it clear that it is weeping, not rejoicing, that will come in the morning (Matt. 8:12; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30), and God’s favor will remain only for a night” (John Frame, The Doctrine of God: A Theology of Lordship, 468),

 

“As sheep they are appointed for Sheol; Death shall be their shepherd; And the upright shall rule over them in the morning, And their form shall be for Sheol to consume So that they have no habitation” (Psalm 49:14).

 

[6] “The reason for the divine anger that occasioned his desperate sickness was the sin of hubris.  Arrogant self-satisfaction with his comfortable lot, his prosperity and wellbeing, had blinded him to the sober realities of life, and had deluded him into believing that he was invulnerable and that his good fortune would last forever” (Nahum Sarna, On the Book of Psalms pp.144f.).  Yahweh warned against such forgetful arrogance in Deuteronomy 8:11-19.

 

[7] The plea ḥonnēnı̂, “be gracious to me,” appears nineteen times in the Psalms. (TWOT 302).  It is probably rooted in God’s statement to Moses, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” (Exodus 33:19) and the Aaronic benediction, “The LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you” (Numbers 6:25).

 

[8] “Morning” (v.5) is the hope of “forever” (v.12); morning is an image of new beginnings, a new creation, and an empty tomb (cf. Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1,22; John 20:1).  The phrase “Day of Yahweh” is also connected with the eschatological use of morning (Geerhardus Vos, The Pauline Eschatology, “Eschatology of the Psalter” pp.335-337).

 

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