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Psalm 30[a]

Thanksgiving for Deliverance

A psalm. A song for the dedication of the Temple.[b] Of David.

I

I praise you, Lord, for you raised me up
    and did not let my enemies rejoice over me.
O Lord, my God,
    I cried out to you for help and you healed[c] me.
Lord, you brought my soul up from Sheol;
    you let me live, from going down to the pit.[d](A)

II

Sing praise to the Lord, you faithful;
    give thanks to his holy memory.
For his anger lasts but a moment;
    his favor a lifetime.
At dusk weeping comes for the night;
    but at dawn there is rejoicing.

III

Complacent,[e] I once said,
    “I shall never be shaken.”
Lord, you showed me favor,
    established for me mountains of virtue.
But when you hid your face
    I was struck with terror.(B)
To you, Lord, I cried out;
    with the Lord I pleaded for mercy:
10 [f]“What gain is there from my lifeblood,
    from my going down to the grave?
Does dust give you thanks
    or declare your faithfulness?
11 Hear, O Lord, have mercy on me;
    Lord, be my helper.”

IV

12 You changed my mourning into dancing;
    you took off my sackcloth
    and clothed me with gladness.(C)
13 So that my glory may praise you
    and not be silent.
O Lord, my God,
    forever will I give you thanks.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 30 An individual thanksgiving in four parts: praise and thanks for deliverance and restoration (Ps 30:2–4); an invitation to others to join in (Ps 30:5–6); a flashback to the time before deliverance (Ps 30:7–11); a return to praise and thanks (Ps 30:12). Two sets of images recur: 1) going down, death, silence; 2) coming up, life, praising. God has delivered the psalmist from one state to the other.
  2. 30:1 For the dedication of the Temple: a later adaptation of the Psalm to celebrate the purification of the Temple in 164 B.C. during the Maccabean Revolt.
  3. 30:3 Healed: for God as healer, see also Ps 103:3; 107:20; Hos 6:1; 7:1; 11:3; 14:5.
  4. 30:4 Sheol…pit: the shadowy underworld residence of the spirits of the dead, here a metaphor for near-death.
  5. 30:7 Complacent: untroubled existence is often seen as a source of temptation to forget God, cf. Dt 8:10–18; Hos 13:6; Prv 30:9.
  6. 30:10 In the stillness of Sheol no one gives you praise; let me live and be among your worshipers, cf. Ps 6:6; 88:11–13; 115:17; Is 38:18.