Psalms 30:1-12
1 I will extol thee, O LORD; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.
2 O LORD my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.
3 O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.
4 Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.
5 For his angera endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
6 And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.
7 LORD, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled.
8 I cried to thee, O LORD; and unto the LORD I made supplication.
9 What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?
10 Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me: LORD, be thou my helper.
11 Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;
12 To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.
XXX. Trust in God, not in Self. The Ps. was not intended originally, as the title suggests, for the purification and dedication of the Temple in 165 B.C. after its pollution by Antiochus Epiphanes (p. 104). Rather it is the hymn of an individual, who (Psalms 30:1) thanks Yahweh for deliverance in sickness which threatened death.
Psalms 30:3 b. Read mg.
Psalms 30:6. He had made too sure of his prosperity, and was taught by pain his dependence on God. The Hebrew horror of death (Psalms 30:9) arose chiefly from the belief that in death all intercourse with God ceased. This differentiates the Hebrew fear of death from that of, e.g., the Greeks.
Psalms 30:11 f. He renews his thanksgiving. my glory: i.e. my soul as the seat of honour and dignity.