Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from Ps 30:1 and following. Indeed, like the second half of Ps 22(22-32), the first three verses of Ps 30 can be placed in Christ’s mouth after His resurrection: It’s always considered in the psalms as a deliverance made by God (John 10:14-18). “A moment in his anger… a life in his favor… ». True of the remnant of Israel, verses 2 to 6 are apt to encourage all the redeemed, reminding them that if they have to go through a “slight affliction of a moment,” it operates for them “an eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor 4:16-18). To the tears that are the part of many in the dark night of this world, will soon be followed by the songs of joy, on the morning of the eternal day. But in the very night, in the midst of trials, he who knows the Lord possesses an inner joy that allows him to sing (Ps 42:7-9; Job 35:9-13). He thus gives around him the most powerful testimony (Acts 16:16-26).
Because getting discouraged in the ordeal is a danger. On the other hand, a believer in prosperity risks relying on it (my mountain, says the Psalmist), forcing God to shake its foundations to bring the faithful to seek Him: Prosperity in the world easily becomes an obstacle to communion with the Lord; it is then advantageous that we are stripped of it. What is the way to escape these dangers? Look beyond the present night, and higher than “our Mountain”; consider all things from the perspective of Blessed Eternity. This psalm can be read as the hymn of praise sung by the risen Jesus to celebrate the One who has now delivered him from death: He somehow exhorts the saints to assist him in this praise; it recalls something of what he went through, when, embraced by the anguish of death, he raised his cry to God (Heb. 5:7). Then he sings praise again because the resurrection has opened his lips and awakened his soul (Ps. 116).
But in a sense the resurrection of the Lord Jesus is a pledge of Israel’s future deliverance according to its heart, and therefore of its national resurrection: This must be remembered by reading this psalm. That is why there is a connection between Psalms 28, 29 and 30. For Psalm 28 is the cry of the pious man who begs to be saved from death, or from the power of the pit; Psalm 29 is God’s response that delivers the captive, as if by an earthquake (Mat 28:2; Rev 6:11, 16; Ps. 18:8). In Ps 30, the delivered faithful sing praise, recognizing that just as God, after being silent, spoke in a powerful voice, so it is appropriate that his redeemed no longer be silent, but burst into songs of praise (Ps 28:1 with Ps 30:13).
“I exalt you, O Lord, … As David had been brought from the tomb with a life-giving air, he promised to glorify the name of God. For it is He who lifts us up with His own hand when we have been plunged into a deep abyss; and that is why it is our duty on our part to sing his praises with our tongues. Through the enemies who, he says, have failed to rejoice in him, we can understand the national and foreign enemies. Although wicked and ill-intentioned people flatter him with servile adulation, at the same time they maintain a secret hatred against him and are ready to speak to him as soon as the opportunity arises. In the second verse, he concludes that he was preserved by God’s favor, alleging as proof of this, that when he was about to die, he addressed his supplications to God alone, and that he immediately felt that he had not done in vain. For when God hears our prayers, it is a proof that allows us to conclude with certainty that He is the author of our salvation and the deliverance we obtain.
This sometimes means restoring, or reinstalling, and moreover applies to an altar or a house when it is said that they are repaired or rebuilt, and can rightly mean here all deliverance: The life of man is in danger in many other ways than mere illness; and we know that this is a form of discourse that occurs everywhere in the Psalms, to say that David was restored to life every time the Lord delivered him from all grave and extreme danger. For the sake of amplification, he immediately adds, ‘You have brought my soul out of the abode of the dead.’ He felt that he could not express enough in words the extent of the favor that God had bestowed upon him, unless he compared the darkness of that time to a tomb and a pit, into which he had been forced to throw himself in haste, to protect his life by hiding, until the flame of insurrection was extinguished. As a restored to life, he therefore proclaims that he had been wonderfully delivered from the present death, as if he had been restored to life after his death. And certainly, it emerges from sacred history, how completely overwhelmed he was with despair on all sides.
‘That my heart may sing to you and not be mute.’ In this verse, he expresses more fully his gratitude for the purpose for which God had saved him from death, and that he would take care to return to him a true return of gratitude. It is a blessing worthy of being celebrated with the public praise of all men. Its meaning, therefore, is, O Lord, as I know that you have preserved me for this purpose, so that your praises may resound from my tongue, I will faithfully perform this service for you, and I will do my part unto death. It is as if he had said: My tongue will not be mute, nor will it deprive God of his praise; and he will devote himself instead to the celebration of his glory.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
Lord, you have revived me:
· Imploring God, crying out to God, examples
Ex 14:10 Pharaoh was approaching. The children of Israel looked up, and behold, the Egyptians were walking behind them. And the children of Israel were in great fear, and cried out to the Lord. Jg 4:3 The children of Israel cried out to the Lord, for Jabin had nine hundred iron chariots, and he had been violently oppressing the children of Israel for twenty years. Ps 34:6 When one looks to him, one is radiant with joy, and the face is not covered with shame. Lm 2:18 Their hearts cry out to the Lord… Wall of the daughter of Zion, pour out torrents of tears day and night! Do not give you any relaxation, and let your eye have no rest!
· Providence sustains, it preserves the faithful
Dt 3:24 Lord Eternal, you have begun to show your servant your greatness and mighty hand; for what god is there, in heaven and on earth, who can imitate your works and your great deeds? Ps 31:24 Love the Lord, you who have godliness! The Lord guards the faithful, and He severely punishes the proud. Pr 28:27 He who gives to the poor does not experience scarcity, but he who closes his eyes is laden with curses. 2 Tim 4:18 The Lord will deliver me from all evil work, and He will save me to bring me into His celestial kingdom. To him be the glory to the centuries of the centuries! Amen!
· Joy promised to believers
Ps 16:11 Thou shalt make known to me the path of life; There are abundant joys before your face, Eternal delights to your right. Ps 30:6 For his wrath lasts for a moment, but his grace all his life; In the evening come the tears, and in the morning the joy. Jn 16:24 So far you have not asked for anything on my behalf. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be perfect. Rom 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy, through the Holy Spirit.
· Dance for God
Ex 15:20 Mary, the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women came after her, with tambourines and dancing. 2 Sam 6:14 David danced with all his might before the Lord, and he was surrounded by a linen ephed. Ps 149.3 Let them praise his name with dances, Let them celebrate him with the tambourine and the harp! Ps 150.4 Rent it with the tambourine and with dances! Rent it with the string instruments and the torch!
From all the above, we note that in Ps 30 we find the contrast between trust in prosperity, even given by God, and trust in God himself. For He intervened; he raised up the poor and did not abandon him to his enemies. His favor is life; his wrath is only for a moment and for the good of his saints: his favor is forever. If the lamentation has remained at home in the evening, the song of joy is there in the morning. Perhaps he would let them go down to the gates of the tomb, but this is in order to manifest his power in his infallible deliverance. For his part, the pious man- Israel itself as a people – he had entrusted himself in the prosperity that had been given to him; Now, in the midst of adversity, he has found Jehovah in deliverance. For to overcome definitively the power of evil is better than the uncertain good that one can lose. We are safe under the blessing and in the arms of the Lord who is for us: for it is he who is the Liberator. We see clearly here that the people in question are a living people who must be blessed on earth; and although there may be analogous graces in all times, for there is a government of God for Christians too, there would be danger in applying this Psalm to the saints of today: It is a temporal deliverance to enjoy peace in this world. For no mountain, even when we recognize that it has been made strong by the Lord, is like the Lord himself, even though we would be at the gates of the tomb: my heart, if it is occupied with it, says of it: it is “my mountain”, and this brings to it a certain character of weakness. May the Lord preserve us. Our prayers are with you all.
PRAYER FOR ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to respond to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow “the happiness of being forgiven.”
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.