Psalms 30:1-5

Psalm 30 ¹ 

A psalm – a song used at the dedication of the temple; ²  by David.

30:1 I will praise you, O Lord, for you lifted me up, ³ 

and did not allow my enemies to gloat ⁴  over me.

30:2 O Lord my God,

I cried out to you and you healed me. ⁵ 

30:3 O Lord, you pulled me ⁶  up from Sheol;

you rescued me from among those descending into the grave. ⁷ 

30:4 Sing to the Lord, you faithful followers ⁸  of his;

give thanks to his holy name. ⁹ 

30:5 For his anger lasts only a brief moment,

and his good favor restores one’s life. ¹⁰ 

One may experience sorrow during the night,

but joy arrives in the morning. ¹¹ 

[30:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 30. The author thanks the Lord for delivering him from death and urges others to join him in praise. The psalmist experienced divine discipline for a brief time, but when he cried out for help the Lord intervened and restored his favor.

[30:1]  ² tn Heb “a song of the dedication of the house.” The referent of “house” is unclear. It is possible that David wrote this psalm for the dedication ceremony of Solomon’s temple. Another possibility is that the psalm was used on the occasion of the dedication of the second temple following the return from exile, or on the occasion of the rededication of the temple in Maccabean times.

[30:1]  ³ tn Elsewhere the verb דָּלָה (dalah) is used of drawing water from a well (Exod 2:16, 19; Prov 20:5). The psalmist was trapped in the pit leading to Sheol (see v. 3), but the Lord hoisted him up. The Piel stem is used here, perhaps suggesting special exertion on the Lord’s part.

[30:1]  ⁴ tn Or “rejoice.”

[30:2]  ⁵ sn You healed me. Apparently the psalmist was plagued by a serious illness that threatened his life. See Ps 41.

[30:3]  ⁶ tn Or “my life.”

[30:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “you kept me alive from those descending into the pit.” The Hebrew noun בוֹר (bor, “pit, cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead. The translation follows the consonantal Hebrew text (Kethib); the marginal reading (Qere) has, “you kept me alive so that I did not go down into the pit.”

[30:4]  ⁸ tn A “faithful follower” (חָסִיד) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 12:1; 16:10; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).

[30:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “to his holy remembrance.” The noun זֵכֵר (zekher, “remembrance”) here refers to the name of the Lord as invoked in liturgy and praise. Cf. Pss 6:5; 97:12.The Lord’s “name” is “holy” in the sense that it is a reminder of his uniqueness and greatness.

[30:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “for [there is] a moment in his anger, [but] life in his favor.” Because of the parallelism with “moment,” some understand חַיִּים (khayyim) in a quantitative sense: “lifetime” (cf. NIV, NRSV). However, the immediate context, which emphasizes deliverance from death (see v. 3), suggests that חַיִּים has a qualitative sense: “physical life” or even “prosperous life” (cf. NEB “in his favour there is life”).

[30:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in the evening weeping comes to lodge, but at morning a shout of joy.” “Weeping” is personified here as a traveler who lodges with one temporarily.