Psalm 30 - Remembering the Greatness of God at a Great Event

[Music] we take a look now at psalm 30 which i would says has the theme of remembering the greatness of god at a great event now the psalm has a unique title in the hebrew text if we take a look at the words that appear before verse 1 in the english version it says this a psalm a song at the dedication of the house of david now the title of the psalm as at least it's rendered in the english translation indicates that it was written for the dedication of david's palace the house of david but there are some such as charles spurgeon adam clark and a few other commentators who thought that it was actually written prophetically for the dedication of the temple which david prayed for but solomon his son actually built and so they they would refer to that as the house of david being the ultimate temple that was built now despite the opinions of guys like adam clark and charles spurgeon whom we generally have a great respect for that we don't agree with on every single point we would take this psalm or at least i would is being written for the dedication of david's palace now it says nothing about the house itself you won't find anything about the dimensions of the house or the building materials for the house or any other such thing rather the focus is on god and the greatness of god's deliverance at the dedication of david's house david wanted god to be praised not himself or the architect or the builder by the way where it says there in the title of the psalm a song at the dedication of the house of david the puritan commentator matthew poole says about that phrase a song he says this hebrew word sheer may be taken not simply for a song but for a joyful song as it is in genesis 31 uh verse 27 exodus chapter 15 verse 1 and psalm 33 verse 3. so matthew poole says that the implication behind that word song in the introduction to the psalm or the preface to the psalm the title for it in the hebrew has the idea of a joyful song okay with considering that let's take a look now at verse one of psalm 30. here we go i will extol you o lord for you have lifted me up and have not let my foes rejoice over me now notice this at the dedication of his own house david did not extol himself rather he says i will extol you o lord what might have been understood as the achievement of a man look at me the strength the stability the wealth of my kingdom and look at the palace i was able to build because of all those things what might have been a monument to man's achievement instead became the occasion for praising god now if you want to find in the history books of the bible the story of the completion of david's palace you can find it in second samuel chapter 5 verses 11 and 12. first chronicles chapter 14 verses 1 and 2 say essentially the same thing but here's what we read in those verses from 2nd samuel chapter 5. we read this then hiram king of tires sent messengers to david and cedar trees and carpenters and masons and they built david a house so david knew that the lord had established him as king over israel and that he had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people israel you see david understood that yes god brought people and workers and carpenters and masons together but really this work was the story of how god had established his throne and his royal position now in this statement that david makes in verse 1 we see that david understood three things that made his reign great and by the way i would say every godly leader should know these three things very well three things that made the reign of david great number one look at it here in verse one david knew that the lord had established him as king over israel i mean that's what it says right there in the text of first samuel he understood that it was the lord that had established him as king over israel number two and again we're taking it from that second samuel text chapter five he understood that god had exalted his kingdom david knew that the kingdom belonged to god it was his kingdom in other words he had exalted his kingdom his meaning the lord's kingdom but then finally it says there for the sake of the people of israel david knew that god wanted to use him as a channel to bless his people it was not for david's sake or even directly the sake of david's family that he was lifted up but for the sake of the people of israel what a beautiful thing we have here reflected in 2nd samuel chapter 5 these wonderful verses telling us about the establishment of david's house that's why we see that heart here in psalm 30 verse 1 i will extol you o lord notice here verse 1 for you have lifted me up this explains the core reason for david's praise david knew that his security and his status were the work of god it wasn't as if god did it all as david just sat passively no david was a man of energy he was a man of action nevertheless it was god's work far more than it was david's own work and even the work that david was able to do he did it because god had lifted him up charles spurgeon in his great commentary on the psalms the treasury of david you could say that spurgeon only wrote one proper commentary and it's magnificent it is thousands of pages upon the psalms called the treasury of david um it's in three different volumes at least in the edition that i have and and when he's writing about psalm 30 in these particular verses spurgeon says this quote grace has lifted us up from the pit of hell from the ditch of sin from the slow of despawn from the bed of sickness from the bondage of doubts and fears have we no song to offer for all of this well david understood that god had lifted him up and he had a song to sing a song to proclaim because of this and continuing on the last part of verse 1 and have not let my foes rejoice over me for david this was a very significant part of god's victory on his behalf he was constantly confronted by foes enemies and god protected him and made him the winner in regard to those foes now under verse 2 he's going to thank the lord for healing we see here verse 2 oh lord my god i cried out to you and you healed me david lived in this prayerful dependence upon god that verse 2 describes i cried out to you god helped him but david cried out and david prayed unto the lord and what was the result look at verse 2 and you healed me now again there were no doubt many times when david received healings from god both from illness and from injury yet the idea of healing is also broad enough in the mind of the ancient hebrew language here to include the sense of god's help and rescue from any great need in other words it may not have been directly physical healing that david is speaking of though very well may have been we just can't say precisely but but many commentators most believe that david here is remembering a time when god saved him from a life-threatening illness and he thanks the lord for it at the dedication of his own palace now verse three he's going to thank the lord for preserving his life he says oh lord you have brought up my soul from the grave you have kept me alive that i should not go down to the pit now we don't know if david is describing here what we might call in modern terminology a near death experience or maybe it was something more like a narrow escape from death either way in david's life as a soldier and as a leader more than once he had the experience when death was very near and god had rescued his soul from death continuing on in verse three you you've kept me alive that i should not go down to the pit now david wasn't immortal he knew that one day his daughty body i should say would die and he would pass from this life to the next yet there were many occasions when god delayed his eventual death not allowing him to go down to the pit before he had fulfilled everything that god wanted him to fulfill now matthew poole points out that to the pit there refers to the grave the grave is often called the pit it's in psalm 28 verse 1 psalm 69 verse 15. psalm 88 verse 4 isaiah 38 verse 17. in all these different places the the grave is called the pit and it's interesting isn't it as we think of this psalm being sung at the dedication ceremony for david's palace it was very instructive for david to say to everybody it's as if he said this you you see the strength of my kingdom you see the splendor of this palace that's being dedicated here today all seems good and secure on a day like today yet no one should forget that there were many times when my life was in great danger and i was close to death and praise the god who delivered me from illness from my foes from the grave now he's going to continue on with this same atmosphere of praise into verse 4 where he says this sing praise to the lord you saints of his and give thanks at the remembrance of his holy name david remembered that not only the great works of god that caused him to praise but it caused him to compel other people to praise and that's fitting because those other people were saints of his his special people so he says sing praise to the lord you saints of his it's as if david's heart was so filled with praise that it wasn't enough for him just to praise god he said i gotta get you to praise god with me there's an overflow in my heart so you join right along with me in the praise and then he says in the second part of verse 4 to give thanks at the remembrance of his holy name again giving thanks to god is another way to praise god for his goodness and by the way it's also good manners god does something good for you it's just good manners for you to thank him now verse 5 david's going to continue with reasons for this praise unto god verse 5 for his anger is but for a moment his favor is for life weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning notice that verse 5 his anger is but for a moment his favor is for life after calling god's people to praise in verse 4 king david then went to give them reasons for why they should praise god and here he's rejoicing that the anger of god may be real but momentary while the favor of god that is god's acceptance his pleasure that's lasting it's even for life what a wonderful contrast that is between the momentary nature of god's anger with his people and the lasting favor that he holds them in if we were to put this idea of david in verse 5 in a new testament vocabulary we might say the correction or discipline of god is for a moment but his grace abides forever and then to reinforce the thought david says in verse 5 weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning now almost certainly david said this as a testimony from his own life he experienced many tearful nights followed by joyful mornings but perhaps with the recognition that the mercies of god to his people are new every morning that's in lamentations chapter 3 and a verse i love to quote every new day no weeping may endure for the night but joy comes in the morning the commentator willem van gameren said that that thought of weeping may endure for a night is literally weeping will spend the night and he said that it's a poetic expression of how weeping personified may spend the night with us only to be gone by morning and james montgomery boyce said i like this by itself this passage could mean merely in each life a little rain must fall or every cloud has a silver lining or you've got to take the bad with the good or cheer up things will get better but and i'm continuing on with the quote from james montgomery boyce but what david is talking about is god's disfavor versus his favor expressed in the experiences of life his conviction is that the favor of god always outweighs the disfavor for god's people and brothers and sisters that's an important thought for us to meditate on just for a moment that this is not just an inspirational thought from king david weeping may endure for the night but but but joy comes in the morning no that's just not the idea no no no no the simple idea is that god's goodness will continue to be expressed to his people and even when god must show severity to his people in some way or another the outpouring of his grace will always be greater there's an emphasis here on the certainty of god's comfort and joy to his people now mourning always follows night i mean we know that right now as i'm making this video it's night outside i know this that morning is going gonna follow this night it's not gonna be dark forever outside and just as certainly the weeping believer may be confident that as they keep their focus on god he will bring them once again to joy nights are not forever the morning will come and if you feel like you've been in the quicksand of of um of sadness and and uh and and weeping don't despair god has a mourning to follow this night that you feel yourself in now david's going to continue on and give sort of a testimony here in verses six and seven check this out he says this now in my prosperity i said i shall never be moved lord by your favor you have made my mountain stand strong you hid your face and i was troubled okay interesting here in verse six david said that there was a time when in his prosperity he said i shall never be moved you know i wonder if david said or sung this to an assembly at the dedication of his palace and he smiled at this line you know there was a time when i was over confident in my prosperity that there was a time when i just said listen i'll never have any problems look how blessed i am but as charles spurgeon cited a writer named struther in his treasury of david that's one of the great things about this commentary spurgeon wrote on the psalms is he quotes so many other excellent writers struther cited in spurgeon says this we are never in greater danger than in the sunshine of prosperity to always be indulged of god and never to taste of trouble is rather a token of god's neglect than of his tender love so he said yeah there was a time where in my prosperity i said i shall never be moved but look now at verse 7 lord by your favor you have made my mountain stand strong david confessed that the strength of his life the strength of his kingdom was not due to his prosperity but it was due to the favor of god you know the palace of king david in jerusalem which has been discovered by archaeologists you can go to jerusalem today and walk through the palace remains the archaeological excavations all centered around there the palace of david that that palace is situated in the great hills of jerusalem and you can almost see david making a gesture towards the mountains that surround this area and telling everybody that that it was god's favor that made my mountain stand strong matter of fact he continues on in verse seven you hid your face and i was troubled you see without the constant sustaining work of god david was deeply troubled now this isn't to imply that god was playing a hiding game with david constantly hiding and then revealing himself oh i hid your face and now i'm revealed no that's not the idea the idea is that david was completely dependent upon the presence of god he was completely dependent upon fellowship with him and on the favor of god so if god were to hide his face in any way even if it was just in the feelings of david then david was troubled now continuing on we see here in verses 8 9 and 10 a prayer from this time of trouble he says this i cried out to you oh lord and to the lord i made supplication what profit is there in my blood when i go down to the pit will the dust praise you will it declare your truth hear o lord and have mercy on me lord be my helper here david is crying out to the lord verse 8 i cried out to you oh lord now in verse 2 of this very psalm king david already said that he cried out to god but perhaps the the content of his prayer on more than one of these occasions i'm crying out to you god and this is what he said verse 9 what prophet is there in my blood when i go down to the pit will the dust praise you this was david's prayer in a life-threatening situation he made rational arguments to god knowing listen god for certain i will praise you if i escape death in this situation but if i die it's uncertain if i can praise you from the pit or the dust of the grave now when we read these words of king david in verses 8 9 and 10 what prophet is there my blood when i go down to the pit will the dust praise you those words of king david honestly sound strange to the reader of the new testament it seems very different from the triumphant confidence of the apostle paul do you remember what paul wrote in philippians chapter 1 verse 21 paul said to live as christ and to die is gain that's not david's attitude here david says i don't see any gain in my death at all what profit is it to you oh god if i go down to the pit david seemed to see no gain in death as the apostle paul later would declare and therefore he pleaded to god that god would preserve his life so he'd say what's up with this how come david doesn't understand to live as christ or to live as the messiah to die his gain why doesn't david get that well this is due to the admittedly shadowy understanding of the afterlife in the old testament now there are certainly moments of triumphant fate faith i should say from old testament saints such as when job said i know that my redeemer lives and he shall stand at last on the earth and after my skin is destroyed this i know that in my flesh i shall see god that's in job chapter 19 verses 25 and 26 this is one of these summit peaks of faith in the afterlife and in the resurrection proclaimed from the mouth of a man who was a great sufferer the man job yet alongside these moments in the old testament where we have triumphant declarations of confidence in the life beyond there are also moments of uncertainty such as we read here in psalm 30 verses 8 and 9. we need to understand that it wasn't until the new testament that god revealed more clearly the fate of those who trust god from this life to the next second timothy chapter 1 verse 10 says this is now been revealed by the appearing of our savior jesus christ who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel let me say that one more time that jesus christ has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel that's in second timothy chapter 1 verse 10. do you understand what that says it says that the whole concept of life and immortality was shadowy in the old testament but jesus christ brought it to light through the gospel so we understand why there's not the same confidence in the old testament that that waits for the new testament because of all this david logically and rightly according to the revelation he had only knew with certainty that he could praise god on this side of death and that was a valid reason to bring before god in prayer saying lord rescue me i know i can praise you on this side of the grave i don't know what's going to happen on the other side of the grave in verse 10 he continues hear o lord and have mercy on me now david prayed with rational reasons but in an even greater sense he simply relied on the mercy of god it's as if david said this lord there's a lot of good reasons for you to answer my prayer yet beyond all the good reasons i simply ask for your mercy i simply ask for you to be my helper and by the way isn't that a wonderful wonderful prayer lord be my helper i'll read you another quote from spurgeon again from his treasury of david that phrase lord be my helper spurgeon says this about it he says it's another compact expressive ever fitting prayer it is suitable to hundreds of the cases of the lord's people it is well becoming in the minister when he's going to preach to the sufferer upon a bed of pain to the worker in the field of service to the believer under temptations to the man of god under adversity when god helps difficulties vanish i love that little quote from charles spurgeon lord be my helper as spurgeon said it's good for the person where there's going to preach just pray that lord be my helper when you're suffering lord be my helper when you're working for the lord lord be my helper when you're tempted lord be my helper whenever you face any kind of adversity cry out lord be my helper what a great prayer to remember and in verse 11 he's going to speak of the very joyful answer to his prayer ready for this he says this you have turned for me my morning into dancing you have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness now he says you've turned for me my morning into dancing the dedication of david's palace was a happy event listen you don't dedicate a palace with a sad event no it was joyful but without specifically mentioning the dedication of the house david used it as a reason to remember all the times god had brought him from sadness to joy from mourning to dancing and lord here at the dedication of my palace i glorify you for doing this matter of fact he says you've put off my sackcloth and you've clothed me with gladness again verse 11 the first line pretty much says the same thing as the second line and the second line is the first line this is using the hebrew literary tool of repetition for the sake of emphasis he's just repeating the idea of a transition from sadness to gladness you know that dedication day of david's palace it was a happy day but you know god had also been faithful to david on the hard days and don't you love that isn't that the kind of faith we really want to have in the lord yes we want to have the faith that can celebrate the happy days praise the lord for those but listen when we have the difficult days we praise the lord even on those days as well i like what a bishop horn the anglican bishop george horn who wrote this in his commentary he said this quote this might be true of david delivered from his calamity it was true of christ arising from the tomb to die no more it is true of the repentant one exchanging a sackcloth for the garments of salvation and it will be true in us all on the last day when we shall put off the dishonors of the grave to shine in glory everlasting you know he pulls off the sackcloth but gladness is fastened tight around us nobody can ever take it away from us and that's why we come to the very last last verse of this wonderful psalm psalm 30 verse 12 we read to the end that my glory may sing praise to you and not be silent o lord my god i will give thanks to you forever i love that phrase to the end that my glory may sing praise to you king david revealed the primary reason for god's transforming work in his life it was not primarily to give him palaces even though this song was composed and sung on the dedication of david's palace no it wasn't about palaces it was so that david could praise the lord and not be silent god worked in david's life so that he would bring himself glory and appropriate praise though it clearly was of benefit to david no doubt the palace was pretty nice but it was primarily for god's own glory that he did this this principle means that god has a special reason to bring his transforming work into lives that will give him praise i could almost say this and i'm gonna say it maybe it's a crazy thing to say but i'm gonna say it anyway you should give praise to god for selfish reasons god loves to work in the lives of people who will praise him who will give him the honor will give him the glory as it says there in that first line of verse 12 that my glory may sing praise you see david saying those praises with passion and exuberance it weld forth from whatever glory was associated with him as a man with him as a soldier with him as a king and david did all this to sing praise david understood that in some special way god regards and receives praise that is presented to him in song we sense that for david it would be a sin to be silent let me give you that phrase from verse 12 once again to the end that my glory may sing praise to you and not be silent it's as if if everybody else was singing and david was silent goes no that's not from me my glory is going to sing praise unto you o god now we do know and i hope you know this that there are many ways to praise and worship and give glory to god apart from singing we do it in prayer we do it in in proclamation we we do it in our actions we we do it in surrender before him there's many ways for us to give worship and praise and honor to god apart from singing but don't ever forget that singing is a way that is especially precious in the eyes of god verse 12 the second line says this o lord my god i will give thanks to you forever king david closed this song for the dedication of his house his palace with the determination to thank god forever you know when you build a palace it seems like a permanent thing but even the greatest of palaces eventually crumble you go to the site of david's palace today in jerusalem and it's not much to look at i mean it's fascinating the archaeological remains and what they're discovering and continue to discover but you wouldn't want to live there it like every palace built by men will crumble you'll yet god will rightly be thanked and praised forever he begins the psalm praising the lord he ends the psalm praising the lord all the while while dedicating his palace unto god all right let's uh conclude with this how does psalm 30 point to jesus let me tell you one way and then i'm going to add three more one way is david dedicated his house unto the lord did you know that the bible tells us that jesus has a house jesus has a house that he dedicates jesus is building a house and no doubt it's dedicated unto god and there's going to be singing on that final dedication day do you know what the house is that jesus is building it's his people you and i are living stones being built up into god's house how beautiful how powerful how glorious this is david the king of israel built a house and glorified god because of it jesus the son of david the king of kings is building a house among his people and he gives glory to his god and father for the building of that house but as well we also see that jesus is the one with the soul that was brought up out of the grave did you remember that in verse 3 oh lord you brought my soul up from the grave well of course that was true from david david was rescued from death but in an ultimate and perfect sense jesus is the one whose soul and by the way his body also was brought up out of the grave it wasn't just the soul of um jesus now of course he's using soul david is here in verse three as a represent for the whole person but let's just make it very clear that we're talking about body and soul together the entire person was brought up out of the grave this was the deliverance of god and glorious in god's eyes jesus is that one brought up out of the grave so first david built a house jesus is building house second david was brought up his soul out of the grave jesus was brought up out of the grave and now third and finally jesus is the ultimate one who could say that as it says in verse 11 god has clothed me with gladness we're well aware of what it says about our savior jesus christ in isaiah chapter 53 where it says that he was a man of sorrows well acquainted with grief we shouldn't take that to mean that jesus was depressed and morose you know sad all the time no it just he knew the griefs and sorrows of life and he knew them intimately but can i tell you that after jesus rose from the dead and especially since he ascended to heaven the man of sorrows sorrows no more if there was ever anyone who in the ultimate sense has been clothed with gladness it is jesus christ our savior ascended on high glorifying god the father forevermore and completely at peace with god's plan as it works out through the ages brothers and sisters what a beautiful savior we serve and may everything that we do and have be dedicated unto the lord with praise and thanksgiving the same way that david dedicated his house unto the lord father that's my prayer for everybody who views this or listens to this that you would give them the marvelous empowering by your grace to dedicate everything unto you and to do it with praise with do it to an eye for your glory and not our own glory we say not to us o lord but unto you be the glory and lord would you do it would you fulfill what you fulfilled in a lesser sense for david in a perfect sense for jesus christ we believe there's some sense in which you want to do it in our lives when you want to take off the sackcloth and give us gladness you want to turn our mourning our sadness into dancing do it lord for your glory and by the power of jesus we pray this in jesus name amen [Music] you

Channel: David Guzik

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Keywords: david guzik, guzik, enduring word, psalm 30, Remembering the Greatness of God at a Great Event, david, god, lord, victory, enemies, healing, praise, prayer

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Length: 37min 0sec (2220 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 08 2020