7 LORD, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled.
Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.
Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us?
And now, LORD, thou art God, and hast promised this goodness unto thy servant: Now therefore let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may be before thee for ever: for thou blessest, O LORD, and it shall be blessed for ever.
Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit.
When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness. My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me. I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, and I cried in the congregation. I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls. My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat. My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep.
For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.
Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?
Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great. Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip.
For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto them.
For thou art the glory of their strength: and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 30
Commentary on Psalms 30 Matthew Henry Commentary
Psalm 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.
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.
Psa 30:1-5
It was the laudable practice of the pious Jews, and, though not expressly appointed, yet allowed and accepted, when they had built a new house, to dedicate it to God, Deu. 20:5. David did so when his house was built, and he took possession of it (2 Sa. 5:11); for royal palaces do as much need God's protection, and are as much bound to be at his service, as ordinary houses. Note, The houses we dwell in should, at our first entrance upon them, be dedicated to God, as little sanctuaries. We must solemnly commit ourselves, our families, and all our family affairs, to God's guidance and care, must pray for his presence and blessing, must devote ourselves and all ours to his glory, and must resolve both that we put away iniquity far from our tabernacles and that we and our houses will serve the Lord both in the duties of family worship and in all instances of gospel obedience. Some conjecture that this psalm was sung at the re-dedication of David's house, after he had been driven out of it by Absalom, who had defiled it with his incest, and that it is a thanksgiving for the crushing of that dangerous rebellion. In these verses,
Psa 30:6-12
We have, in these verses, an account of three several states that David was in successively, and of the workings of his heart towards God in each of those states-what he said and did, and how his heart stood affected; in the first of these we may see what we are too apt to be, and in the other two what we should be.