Big Idea: Life’s pendulum swings from sorrow to joy, and faith’s lintel is inscribed with “weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning” (30:5).
Understanding the Text
Like other psalms that straddle two or more genres, Psalm 30 is sometimes classified as an individual psalm of thanksgiving, or, as Kraus advocates, a prayer song of the sick (30:1–3, 8–9).[1] The more traditional form-critical classification is an individual psalm of lament (it contains complaints against God [30:5a, 7] and against enemies [30:1c]),[2] which also borders on an individual psalm of trust, since the element of trust is so pervasive.[3] The psalmist laments the divine anger he has experienced (30:5, 7), perhaps looking back over a lifetime, and celebrates God’s deliverance (30:11–12).[4]
Craigie proposes a cultic setting for the psalm, taking the form of a ceremony of thanksgiving, apparently held in the temple.[5] While the contents of the psalm do not mention sacrifice and the payment of vows, the reference to “saints” (30:4; NIV: “you his faithful people”) suggests a tabernacle/temple setting where the congregation participates.
Wilson calls this psalm “a fitting summation of the group of psalms extending from Psalms 23 through 29,”[6] especially in view of the group’s featured theme of the temple. Here we have one illustration of how the book of Psalms came into being. Sometimes a group of psalms came to be associated by a common theme, as well as authorship (e.g., the Korah psalms [42–49] that begin Book 2), and the editor kept the group together and incorporated it into the collection.
Outline/Structure
1. Introduction: Reason for praise (30:1–3)
2. Call to “saints” to join the psalmist’s praise (30:4–5)
3. Narrative of the psalmist’s circumstances (30:6–10)
a. The psalmist’s sense of security (30:6–7a)
b. The fall into disfavor (30:7b)
c. Prayer for God’s mercy (30:8–10)
i. Report of prayer for mercy (30:8)
ii. Content of prayer for mercy (30:9–10)
4. God’s response recounted (30:11–12)
Historical and Cultural Background
The title “for the dedication of the house” (NIV: “temple”) could imply the dedication of David’s royal palace (2 Sam. 5:11), which was a point at which David realized that the Lord had established his kingdom, certainly a reason to reflect and celebrate. At the same time, it could also reference the dedication of the tent that David erected for the ark in Jerusalem (2 Sam. 6:17), which would connect well with the psalmist’s dancing (Ps. 30:11/2 Sam. 6:16), if we are to take that literally. It is possible, of course, to view it metaphorically, the “wailing” and “dancing” describing the extremes of David’s life, while the parallel terms, “sackcloth” and “joy,” constitute a metaphor of transition to the joyful occasion. In that case, the sickness that brought the psalmist to the brink of death (30:2–3, 9) would be a fitting metaphor for David’s biography.
Of course, in view of David’s preparations for the temple project (1 Chron. 22), there is the possibility that the psalm was written for the dedication of Solomon’s temple, perhaps even written by David in anticipation of that occasion, or later applied to that occasion, and noted by the title. Moreover, the Talmud gives witness to the psalm’s use in the rededication of the temple (ca. 164 BC) after Antiochus Epiphanes had desecrated it in 167 BC.[7] If the phrase “dedication of the house” belongs to a time later than David, the psalm still could be composed by David, since psalms were reused for liturgical purposes on various occasions.[8]
Interpretive Insights
Title A psalm. For the designation “A psalm” (mizmor), see the comments on the title for Psalm 3.
30:1 I will exalt you, Lord, for you lifted me out . . . my enemies gloat over me. The verb “exalt” comes from the Hebrew verb rum, “to be high.” While human beings cannot raise God any higher than he already is, they can indeed acknowledge his unsurpassable greatness. The verb “lifted out” describes drawing water from a well (Exod. 2:16, 19; Prov. 20:5), and the imagery is that of pulling a drowning person out of the water.[9] The verb “gloat” is the Hebrew verb “rejoice” (smh) and refers to the rejoicing of his enemies had they triumphed over him (also 35:19, 24, 27; 38:16; the same root is used for “joy” in 30:11).
30:2 you healed me. The verb implies that some illness was involved. Rashi says this is a metaphor for forgiveness[10] (see “Historical and Cultural Background” for the view that this is a metaphor for the psalmist’s life, rather than for a specific experience).
30:3 You, Lord, brought me up from the realm of the dead. The “realm of the dead” is the word she’ol in Hebrew and is parallel to “pit” at the end of the verse (see the sidebar “Sheol” in the unit on Ps. 6).
30:4 Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people; praise his holy name. The imperative verbs are plural, addressing the congregation. “Make music” and “give thanks” are better translations of these two verbs (respectively), and they occur again at the end of the psalm (30:12). In Hebrew “his faithful people” is literally “his saints.” Coming from the same Hebrew root as hesed (“loving-kindness”), a covenant term, the word hasidim (“saints”) designates members of the worshiping community who have experienced God’s loving-kindness as a result of their incorporation into God’s covenant family. “His holy name” is literally “memorial of his holiness.” Calvin holds open the possibility that this may refer to the tabernacle, since the ark of the covenant was the memorial of God’s presence. However, he prefers to consider “memorial” as a synonym for “name,”[11] as does the NIV.
30:5 For his anger . . . in the morning. The first half of the verse represents the general principle of the psalm (God’s anger and favor), illustrated by the second half of the verse (weeping and rejoicing). Both 30:5 and Exodus 20:5–6 make a character statement about Yahweh, whose “anger” against sin is short-lived compared to his favor. The NIV has “lifetime” for “life” (hayyim). The contrast works well in the English translation (“a moment,” “a lifetime”), but unfortunately hayyim does not elsewhere mean “a lifetime.”[12] In view of the parallelism, however, it seems to demand that sense here.[13]
The Hebrew verb for “stay for the night” implies “spend the night.” The noun “rejoicing” (rinnah) comes from the Hebrew verb “to rejoice” (rnn), and means a “shout of joy,”[14] like the exuberant “shout of joy” (NIV: “songs of joy”) coming from the exiles returning from Babylonian captivity (Ps. 126:2). The Hebrew phrase is striking in its simplicity: “at dawn, a shout of joy.”[15] Note the parallelism between the contrasting pairs.
30:6 When I felt secure, I said, “I will never be shaken.” This begins the psalmist’s account of his experience, logged from the time he enjoyed the Lord’s secure favor, through divine abandonment, and finally to joyful restoration. Note that his confidence ostensibly has assured him against any trauma. The negative framing of the verb “be shaken” occurs in other psalms to indicate a spiritual and ethical steadfastness (15:5; 16:8; 17:5).
30:7 when you favored me, you made my royal mountain stand firm. Now the suppliant explains why he felt so secure—the Lord “favored” him (lit., “in your favor”). The clause “you made my royal mountain stand firm” is difficult. While the exact translation may be elusive, the sense of the statement, in contrast to the feeling of dismay that the psalmist experienced, is clear. The JB gives the attractive rendering: “Your favour, Yahweh, stood me on a peak impregnable.” It may be a metaphor for the security and expansiveness of David’s kingdom established in time.[16]
but when you hid your face, I was dismayed. The hiding of God’s face means a loss of divine favor on which the psalmist had leaned so heavily (see Ps. 27:9). The Niphal of the verb “was dismayed” suggests “terrified out of one’s senses.”[17] The absence of the conjunction “and” in Hebrew makes the sequence of the verbs more emphatic:[18]“you made my mountain stand strong; you hid your face; I was dismayed” (ESV).
30:9 What is gained if I am silenced . . . ? Will the dust praise you? In the mood of Psalms 6:5 and 88:10–12, the suppliant poses these rhetorical questions to ask what profit his death would be to God, especially since there would be one fewer of his faithful to praise him (see also Job 7:21).
30:10 Hear, Lord. In a petition similar to Psalm 27:7, the psalmist prays for God’s help.
30:11 you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy. Sackcloth was worn as a sign of mourning and deep sorrow. God replaces the suppliant’s mourning clothes with a festal garment.[19]
30:12 that my heart may sing. The syntax is difficult. The NIV renders the Hebrew noun for “glory” (kabod), the obvious subject of the verb, as “my heart.” Wilson makes the very attractive proposal to take “glory” as an exclamation, just as it is in 29:9. Thus the psalmist ends by shouting, “Glory!” just as the temple worshipers were doing in Psalm 29.[20] This would require, however, amending the verb from the third masculine singular to the first singular (perhaps following the Syriac): “that I may sing, ‘Glory!’ and not keep silent.”
Theological Insights
Psalm 30 is a reflection on David’s personal recovery from a crisis, and the heading of the psalm links the poem to the “dedication of the house” (NIV: “temple”; see “Historical and Cultural Background”). How do we draw the trajectory from one to the other? Certainly the presentation of life as opposites is a feature of the psalm. Despite its general nature, Wilson observes: “It is not often that we find such a clear and linear description of the circumstances behind lament and thanksgiving.”[21] Kidner understands this trajectory to suggest the life-and-death struggle that marked David’s long reign as king.[22] On a national scale, Israel’s history could be charted along a path between extremes. The “dedication of the house,” whether it be the temple or the palace, would be the positive pole of history’s wide vacillations. In fact, the writer of Samuel remarks that David’s building of his palace marked that point when he “knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel” (2 Sam. 5:11–12).
A metaphorical interpretation of the psalm makes a lot of sense, since it can be viewed as charting the broad swings of David’s life. In fact, sometimes we record our autobiography best when we observe the extremities of life’s pendulum (here mainly 30:6–7), filled in with the bare details that authenticate the story.
We may also observe that the mood of this poem is basically joy, summarized in the aphoristic statement of 30:5, which is so beautifully expressed in the KJV: “weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” The psalm is framed by and centered on the idea of joy (30:2b, 5, 11). Moreover, the psalmist calls for a musical celebration of life’s extremities (30:4, 12).
Teaching the Text
We can begin our lesson or sermon by observing that in Psalm 30 we hear David’s story in terms of the extremes of his life, which match up quite well to our own lives, noting that they move from the negative pole to the positive: from sickness to healing (30:2), from death to life (30:3), from God’s anger to God’s favor (30:5, 7), from weeping to joy (30:5), from sackcloth to gladness (30:11), from silence to praise (30:12). Taking verse 5 as the theme of the psalm, we need to stress that the framework of the psalm is joy (30:1 and 11; for the vocabulary, see the comments on these verses, above):
At the beginning (30:1): “For you lifted me out of the depths
and did not let my enemies gloat [lit., “rejoice”] over me.”
At the middle (30:5): “Weeping may stay for the night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning.”
At the end (30:11): “You turned my wailing into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy.”
The natural instrument of joy is music, and David twice calls for a celebration of life’s extremities in song (30:4, 12). Sometimes the only human language that can tune itself to the farthest boundaries of joy and sorrow is music.
To expand on this, we may point out that if we opened up the chapter of David’s life titled “From Weeping to Joy,” we would likely read the story of his adultery with Bathsheba and his confidence in God’s forgiveness (Ps. 51:17), the account of his innocent son’s life weighed in the balances of uncertainty (2 Sam. 12:22), and the narrative of the loss of his adult son Absalom (2 Sam. 18:33). We may also point out David’s boldness in reminding God of the obvious, that he would get more praise from the living than from the dead (Ps. 30:9). It is here also that we can insert our own personal autobiography, most of which reveals the same pattern, and this psalm can be a word of admonition for those who are somewhere on the spectrum of “weeping to joy.”
Our autobiography cannot be written without emphasizing the extremities—that is the nature of life—but neither can we forget that there is an energizing power that spans the difference. Note the verbs that describe God’s effective power: “you lifted,” “you healed,” “you brought up,” “you spared” (30:1–3). God is the subject of the suppliant’s autobiography, as he should be the subject of ours. Life is about us in a secondary sense of the word; it is about God in the primary. God went beyond the process of deliverance and shaped an outcome of joy: “You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy” (30:11). Yet in the Psalms the praise of God is not merely an outcome of deliverance but a goal of life, and that goal, when reached, is a life of joy. The writer to the Hebrews even describes the Savior’s journey to the cross as underwritten by joy (“For the joy set before him he endured the cross,” Heb. 12:2).
Illustrating the Text
From lament to praise
History: Natan Sharansky, a noted Jewish dissident who became a member of the Israeli parliament, tells the story of his imprisonment by the KGB in the Soviet Union. During those years his one constant companion was a book of Psalms that his wife had given him. Not a particularly religious man himself, he nevertheless found that the laments in the Psalms and their hope of deliverance became an encouragement to him. When his nine years in prison were over, he was taken to an airport outside Moscow to be flown to East Germany and then to freedom. The Soviets had made sure that photographers were on hand to capture this act of “humanitarianism” as the authorities led him out of the car to the waiting airplane. As this exchange took place, Sharansky asked, “Where’s my Psalm book?” A KGB officer responded that he had received everything that was permitted, and he ordered that the prisoner be put on the plane. But Sharansky boldly proclaimed, “I won’t move until you give me back my Psalm book.” When nothing happened, he fell down in the snow and started shouting, “Give me back my Psalm book!” The photographers were aghast and pointed their cameras toward the sky. After a brief consultation, he was given his Psalm book. On the plane Sharansky opened his book to fulfill a promise that he had made to himself while in prison: his first act of freedom would be to read Psalm 30.[23]
The pendulum of life
Personal Stories: When facing times of difficulty, many people quickly grow discouraged, largely because their expectation is that life should be void of hardship. Why, if God really loves me and is in control, am I going through this life challenge? The reality is that all of us struggle in our lives. Using a pendulum to illustrate (e.g., you could use a timepiece on a string), talk about some of the highs and lows from your own life. Describe times you have struggled and how God has taught and encouraged you through those times. Also, talk about times of great joy and peace in your life. It is important to emphasize that everyone goes through hard times and good times. The truth is that we will get through most of the challenges and periods of suffering we will face in life. Also, after times of struggling there typically do come periods of peace. This can be a great encouragement for people who are presently going through a life challenge.