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Psalms 30 1 979 BC -- Psalm 30 -- I will extol you, O LORD, fo Choose a Translation

Psalm 30:1

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A Psalm and Song at the dedication of the house of David. I will extol thee, O LORD; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my

foes to rejoice over me.

Psalm 30 Commentaries: Barnes Calvin Clarke Darby Gill Geneva Guzik JFB Keil / Delitzsch KJV Translators' Henry's Concise Matthew Henry Scofield TSK Treasury of David Wesley

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

I will extol thee - literally, "I will exalt thee;" that is,he would make God first and supreme in histhoughts and affections; he would do what hecould to make Him known; he would elevate Himhigh in his praises.

For thou hast lifted me up - To wit, from the stateof danger in which I was Psalm 30:2-3 . The

Hebrew word used here means properly to drawout, as from a well; and then, to deliver, to setfree. As God had thus lifted him up, it was properthat he should show his gratitude by "lifting up" orextolling the name of God.

And hast not made my foes to rejoice over me -Hast not suffered them to triumph over me; thatis, thou hast delivered me from them. He refersto the fact that he had been saved from a

dangerous illness, and that his enemies had notbeen allowed to exult over his death. Comparethe notes at Psalm 41:5 .

Clarke's Commentary on the Bible

I will extol thee - for thou hast lifted me up - I willlift thee up, for thou hast lifted me up. Thou hast


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made me blessed, and I will make thee glorious.Thou hast magnified me in thy mercy; and I willshow forth thy praise, and speak good of thyname.

I have made some remarks on this Psalm in theIntroduction.

In this Psalm we find seven different states ofmind distinctly marked: -

1. It is implied, in the first verse, that David hadbeen in great distress, and nearly overwhelmedby his enemies.

2. He extols God for having lifted him up, andhaving preserved him from the cruelty of hisadversaries, Psalm 30:1-3 .

3. He is brought into great prosperity, trusts inwhat he had received, and forgets to dependwholly on the Lord, Psalm 30:4-6 .

4. The Lord hides his face from him, and he isbrought into great distress, Psalm 30:7 .

5. He feels his loss, and makes earnest prayerand supplication, Psalm 30:8-10 .

6. He is restored to the Divine favor, and filledwith joy, Psalm 30:11 .

7. He purposes to glory in God alone, and to trustin him for ever, Psalm 30:12 .

As it is impossible for any man to have passed

through all these states at the same time; it issupposed that the Psalm, like many others of thesame complexion, has been formed out of thememoranda of a diary. See this point illustrated inthe Introduction.

Thou hast lifted me up - Out of the pit into which Ihad fallen: the vain curiosity, and want of trust in


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God, that induced me to number the people.Bishop Horsley translates, Because thou hastdepressed me. I thank God for my humiliationand afflictions, because they have been themeans of teaching me lessons of great profit and

importance.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

I will extol thee, O Lord,.... Or "lift thee up on high"(k). The Lord is high in his name, he is the mostHigh; and in his nature, there is none besideshim, nor like unto him; and in place, he dwells inthe high and holy place; he is above all, angelsand men; he is above all gods; he is the King ofkings, and Lord of lords; he cannot be higherthan he is: to extol him, therefore, is to declarehim to be what he is; to exalt him in high praisesof him, which the psalmist determined to do, forthe following reasons;

for thou hast lifted me up; or "drawn me up", or"out" (l); from the pit of nature; the low estate ofunregeneracy; the pit wherein is no water: the

horrible pit, the mire and clay of sin and misery, inwhich all men, while unconverted, are; and out ofwhich they cannot lift themselves, being withoutstrength, yea, dead in sin: this is God's work; hetakes out of this pit, he draws out of it by hisefficacious grace; he raises up the poor out ofthe dust, and lifts up the beggar from the dunghill;and this is an instance of his grace and mercy,and requires a new song of praise: or this mayregard some great fall by sin, from which he wasrestored, through the grace and power of God; ordeliverance from great troubles, compared towaters, out of which he was drawn, Psalm 18:16 ;and was lifted up above his enemies; and agreesvery well with his being brought to his palace andthrone again, upon the defeat of Absalom;


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and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me;as Satan does over unregenerate sinners, whenhe possesses their hearts, and keeps the houseand goods in peace; and as the men of the worlddo over fallen saints, when forsaken by the Lord,and afflicted by him, and are under the frowns ofhis providence; but the conspirators againstDavid were not suffered to succeed and rejoiceover him, which they otherwise would have done;and for this he praises the Lord.

(k) "superexaltabo te", Cocceius; "elevabo te",Michaelis. (l) "me sursum extraxisti", Cocceius;so Michaelis; "thou hast drawn me up",

Ainsworth.

The Treasury of David

1 I will extol thee, O Lord; for thou hast lifted meup, and hast not made my foes to rejoice overme.

2 O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thouhast healed me.

3 O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from thegrave: thou hast kept me alive that I should not godown to the pit.

Psalm 30:1

"I will extol thee." I will have high and honourableconceptions of thee, and give them utterance inmy best music. Others may forget thee, murmur

at thee, despise thee, blaspheme thee, but "I willextol thee," for I have been favoured above allothers. I will extol thy name, thy character, thineattributes, thy mercy to me, thy greatforbearance to my people; but, especially will Ispeak well of thyself; "I will extol thee," OJehovah, this shall be my cheerful and constantemploy. "For thou hast lifted me up." Here is an


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antithesis, "I will exalt thee, for thou hast exaltedme." I would render according to the benefitreceived. The Psalmist's praise was reasonable.He had a reason to give for the praise that wasin his heart. He had been drawn up like a

prisoner from a dungeon, like Joseph out of thepit, and therefore he loved his deliverer. Gracehas uplifted us from the pit of hell, from the ditchof sin, from the Slough of Despond, from the bedof sickness, from the bondage of doubts andfears: have we no song to offer for all this? Howhigh has our Lord lifted us? Lifted us up into thechildren's place, to be adopted into the family;lifted us up into union with Christ, "to sit togetherwith him in heavenly places." Lift high the name ofour God, for he has lifted us above the stars."And hast not made my foes to rejoice over me."This was the judgment which David most fearedout of the three evils; he said, let me fall into thehand of the Lord, and not into the hand of man.Terrible indeed were our lot if we were deliveredover to the will of our enemies. Blessed be theLord, we have been preserved from so dire afate. The devil and all our spiritual enemies havenot been permitted to rejoice over us; for wehave been saved from the fowler's snare. Ourevil companions, who prophesied that we shouldgo back to our old sins, are disappointed. Thosewho watched for our halting, and would fain say,"Aha! Aha! So would we have it!" have watchedin vain until now. O happy they whom the Lordkeeps so consistent in character that the lynxeyes of the world can see no real fault in them. Is

this our case? let us ascribe all the glory to himwho has sustained us in our integrity.

Psalm 30:2

"O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hasthealed me." David sent up prayers for himselfand for his people when visited with the


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pestilence. He went at once to headquarters, andnot roundabout to fallible means. God is the bestphysician, even for our bodily infirmities. We dovery wickedly and foolishly when we forget God. Itwas a sin in Asa that he trusted to physicians and

not to God. If we must have a physician, let it beso, but still let us go to our God first of all; and,above all, remember that there can be no powerto heal in medicine of itself; the healing energymust flow from the divine hand. If our watch is outof order, we take it to the watchmaker; if body orsoul be in an evil plight, let us resort to him whocreated them, and has unfailing skill to put themin right condition. As for our spiritual diseases,nothing can heal these evils but the touch of theLord Christ if we do but touch the hem of hisgarment, we shall be made whole, while if weembrace all other physicians in our arms, theycan do us no service. "O Lord my God." Observethe covenant name which faith uses - "my God."Thrice happy is he who can claim the Lordhimself to be his portion. Note how David's faithascends the scale; he sang "O Lord" in the firstverse, but it is "O Lord my God," in the second.Heavenly heart-music is an ascending thing, likethe pillars of smoke which rose from the altar ofincense. "I cried unto thee." I could hardly pray,but I cried; I poured out my soul as a little childpours out its desires. I cried to my God: I knew towhom to cry; I did not cry to my friends, or to anyarm of flesh. Hence the sure and satisfactoryresult - "Thou hast healed me." I know it. I amsure of it. I have the evidence of spiritual health

within me now: glory be to thy name! Everyhumble suppliant with God who seeks releasefrom the disease of sin, shall speed as well asthe Psalmist did, but those who will not so muchas seek a cure, need not wonder if their woundsputrefy and their soul dies.

Psalm 30:3


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"O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from thegrave." Mark, it is not, "I hope so;" but it is, "Thouhast; thou hast; thou hast" - three times over.David is quite sure, beyond a doubt, that God hasdone great things for him, whereof he isexceeding glad. He had descended to the brinkof the sepulchre, and yet was restored to tell ofthe forbearance of God; nor was this all, heowned that nothing but grace had kept him fromthe lowest hell, and this made him doubly thankful.To be spared from the grave is much: to bedelivered from the pit is more; hence there isgrowing cause for praise, since bothdeliverances are alone traceable to the gloriousright hand of the Lord, who is the only preserverof life, and the only Redeemer of our souls fromhell.

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old

Testament

(Heb.: 30:2-4) The Psalm begins like a hymn.The Piel (from Arab. dl , , to hold

anything long, loose and pendulous, whetherupwards or downwards, conj. V Arab. tdll equals, to dangle) signifies to lift or draw up, like abucket ( Greek , , Latin tollo, tolleno inFestus). The poet himself says what that depth isinto which he had sunk and out of which God haddrawn him up without his enemies rejoicing overhim ( as inPsalm 25:2 ), i.e., without allowingthem the wished for joy at his destruction: he wasbrought down almost into Hades in consequenceof some fatal sickness. (never: to call intobeing out of nothing) always means to restore tolife that which has apparently or reallysuccumbed to death, or to preserve anythingliving in life. With this is easily and satisfactorily

joined the Ker (without Makkeph in thecorrect text), ita ut non descenderem; the


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infinitive of in this instance following theanalogy of the strong verb is , like , ,and with suffix jordi (like josdi, Job 38:4 ) or

jaaredi, for here it is to be read thus, and not jordi(vid., on Psalm 16:1 ; Psalm 86:2 ).

(Note: The Masora does not place the wordunder (Introduction 28b), as one would expect to find itif it were to be read mijordi, and proceeds on theassumption that mij rdi is infinitive like (read am dcha) Obadiah 1:11 , not participle(Ewald, S. 533).)

The Chethb might also be the infinitive,

written with Cholem plenum, as an infinitiveGenesis 32:20 , and an imperative Numbers23:8 , is each pointed with Cholem instead ofKamtez chatuph; but it is probably intended to beread as a participle, : Thou hast revived mefrom those who sink away into the grave ( Psalm28:1 ), or out of the state of such (cf. Psalm22:22 ) - a perfectly admissible and pregnantconstruction.

Geneva Study Bible

> I will extol thee, O LORD; {b} for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.

(a) After Absalom had polluted it with most filthyfornication.

(b) He condemns them for great ingratitude whodo not praise God for his benefits.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

PSALM 30

Ps 30:1-12. Literally, "A Psalm-Song"-a


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composition to be sung with musical instruments,or without them-or, "Song of the dedication," &c.specifying the particular character of the Psalm.Some suppose that of David should beconnected with the name of the composition, and

not with "house"; and refer for the occasion tothe selection of a site for the temple (1Ch21:26-30; 22:1). But "house" is never usedabsolutely for the temple, and "dedication" doesnot well apply to such an occasion. Though thephrase in the Hebrew, "dedication of the houseof David," is an unusual form, yet it is equallyunusual to disconnect the name of the author andthe composition. As a "dedication of David'shouse" (as provided, De 20:5), the scope of thePsalm well corresponds with the state of reposeand meditation on his past trials suited to such anoccasion (2Sa 5:11; 7:2). For beginning with acelebration of God's delivering favor, in which heinvites others to join, he relates his prayer indistress, and God's gracious and prompt answer.

1. lifted me up-as one is drawn from a well (Ps40:2).

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

30:1-5. The great things the Lord has done forus, both by his providence and by his grace, bindus in gratitude to do all we can to advance hiskingdom among men, though the most we can dois but little. God's saints in heaven sing to him;why should not those on earth do the same? Notone of all God's perfections carries in it moreterror to the wicked, or more comfort to the godly,than his holiness. It is a good sign that we are insome measure partakers of his holiness, if wecan heartily rejoice at the remembrance of it. Ourhappiness is bound up in the Divine favour; if wehave that, we have enough, whatever else wewant; but as long as God's anger continues, so


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long the saints' weeping continues.

Matthew Henry's Whole Bible Commentary

PSALM 30

This is a psalm of thanksgiving for the greatdeliverances which God had wrought for David,penned upon occasion of the dedicating of hishouse of cedar, and sung in that pious solemnity,though there is not any thing in it that hasparticular reference to that occasion. Somecollect from divers passages in the psalm itselfthat it was penned upon his recovery from adangerous fit of sickness, which might happen tobe about the time of the dedication of his house.I. He here praises God for the deliverances hehad wrought for him (v. 1-3). II. He calls uponothers to praise him too, and encourages them totrust in him (v. 4, 5). III. He blames himself for hisformer security (v. 6, 7). IV. He recollects theprayers and complaints he had made in hisdistress (v. 8-10). With them he stirs up himselfto be very thankful to God for the presentcomfortable change (v. 11, 12). In singing thispsalm we ought to remember with thankfulnessany like deliverances wrought for us, for whichwe must stir up our selves to praise him and bywhich we must be engaged to depend upon him.

A psalm and song at the dedication of the houseof David.

Verses 1-5

It was the laudable practice of the pious Jews,and, though not expressly appointed, yet allowedand accepted, when they had built a new house,to dedicate it to God, Deu. 20:5. David did sowhen his house was built, and he tookpossession of it (2 Sa. 5:11); for royal palacesdo as much need God's protection, and are asmuch bound to be at his service, as ordinary


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houses. Note, The houses we dwell in should, atour first entrance upon them, be dedicated toGod, as little sanctuaries. We must solemnlycommit ourselves, our families, and all our familyaffairs, to God's guidance and care, must pray

for his presence and blessing, must devoteourselves and all ours to his glory, and mustresolve both that we put away iniquity far fromour tabernacles and that we and our houses willserve the Lord both in the duties of familyworship and in all instances of gospel obedience.Some conjecture that this psalm was sung at there-dedication of David's house, after he hadbeen driven out of it by Absalom, who had defiledit with his incest, and that it is a thanksgiving forthe crushing of that dangerous rebellion. In theseverses,

I. David does himself give God thanks for thegreat deliverances he had wrought for him (v. 1):"I will extol thee, O Lord! I will exalt thy name, willpraise thee as one high and lifted up, I will dowhat I can to advance the interest of thy kingdomamong men. I will extol thee, for thou hast lifted

me up, not only up out of the pit in which I wassinking, but up to the throne of Israel." He raisethup the poor out of the dust. In consideration ofthe great things God has done to exalt us, bothby his providence and by his grace, we arebound, in gratitude, to do all we can to extol hisname, though the most we can do is but little.Three thing magnify David's deliverance:-1. Thatit was the defeat of his enemies. They were not

suffered to triumph over him, as they would havedone (though it is a barbarous thing) if he haddied of this sickness or perished in this distress:see Ps. 41:11. 2. That it was an answer to hisprayers (v. 2): I cried unto thee. All theexpressions of the sense we have of ourtroubles should be directed to God, and every crybe a cry to him; and giving way, in this manner, to


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our grief, will ease a burdened spirit. "I cried tothee, and thou hast not only heard me, but healedme, healed the distempered body, healed thedisturbed and disquieted mind, healed thedisordered distracted affairs of the kingdom."

This is what God glories in, I am the Lord thathealeth thee (Ex. 15:26), and we must give himthe glory of it. 3. That it was the saving of his life;for he was brought to the last extremity, droppinginto the grave, and ready to go down into the pit,and yet rescued and kept alive, v. 3. The moreimminent our dangers have been, the moreeminent our deliverances have been, the morecomfortable are they to ourselves and the moreillustrious proofs of the power and goodness ofGod. A life from the dead ought to be spent inextolling the God of our life.

II. He calls upon others to join with him in praise,not only for the particular favours God hasbestowed upon him, but for the general tokens ofhis good-will to all his saints (v. 4): Sing unto theLord, O you saints of his! All that are truly saintshe owns for his. There is a remnant of such in

this world, and from them it is expected that theysing unto him; for they are created andsanctified, made and made saints, that they maybe to him for a name and a praise. His saints inheaven sing to him; why should not those onearth be doing the same work, as well as theycan, in concert with them? 1. They believe him tobe a God of unspotted purity; and therefore letthem sing to him; "Let them give thanks at the

remembrance of his holiness; let them praise hisholy name, for holiness is his memorialthroughout all generations." God is a holy God;his holiness is his glory; that is the attribute whichthe holy angels, in their praises, fasten mostupon, Isa. 6:3; Rev. 4:8. We ought to be much inthe mention and remembrance of God's holiness.It is a matter of joy to the saints that God is a holy


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God; for then they hope he will make them holy,more holy. None of all God's perfections carriesin it more terror to the wicked, nor more comfortto the godly, than his holiness. It is a good signthat we are in some measure partakers of his

holiness if we can heartily rejoice and give thanksat the remembrance of it. 2. They haveexperienced him to be a God gracious andmerciful; and therefore let them sing to him. (1.)We have found his frowns very short. Though wehave deserved that they should be everlasting,and that he should be angry with us till he hadconsumed us, and should never be reconciled,yet his anger endureth but for a moment, v. 5.When we offend him he is angry; but, as he isslow to anger and not soon provoked, so whenhe is angry, upon our repentance and humiliationhis anger is soon turned away and he is willing tobe at peace with us. If he hide his face from hisown children, and suspend the wonted tokens ofhis favour, it is but in a little wrath, and for a smallmoment; but he will gather them with everlastingkindness, Isa. 54:7, 8. If weeping endureth for anight, and it be a wearisome night, yet as sure asthe light of the morning returns after the darknessof the night, so sure will joy and comfort return ina short time, in due time, to the people of God;for the covenant of grace is as firm as thecovenant of the day. This word has often beenfulfilled to us in the letter. Weeping has enduredfor a night, but the grief has been soon over andthe grievance gone. Observe, As long as God'sanger continues so long the saints' weeping

continues; but, if that be but for a moment, theaffliction is but for a moment, and when the lightof God's countenance is restored the affliction iseasily pronounced light and momentary. (2.) Wehave found his smiles very sweet; In his favour islife, that is, all good. The return of his favour toan afflicted soul is as life from the dead; nothing


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can be more reviving. Our happiness is bound upin God's favour; if we have that, we have enough,whatever else we want. It is the life of the soul, itis spiritual life, the earnest of life eternal.

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