Psalms 30:1-12

Title.—(RV) 'A Psalm; a Song at the Dedication of the House; a Psalm of David.' There is no obvious connexion between the contents of this Ps. and its title. It is a thanksgiving for recovery from an illness which had threatened to be fatal, and in itself may very well have been written by David. But it is difficult to find in his life an occasion corresponding to the title, though the dedication of David's own palace, or of the site of the Temple, has been suggested. It is more likely that the words, 'A Song at the Dedication of the House,' were inserted into the title at a later time, when the Ps. was adopted for use at the dedication of Solomon's Temple, or of the second Temple, or at the re-dedication of the latter after it had been polluted by Antiochus Epiphanes (the origin of the Feast of Dedication mentioned in John 10:22. See Intro, to Daniel). The Ps. opens with praise for the writer's restoration 1 (Psalms 30:1), tells next of his troubles and his prayer (Psalms 30:6), and concludes with another thanksgiving (Psalms 30:11).