the lord, the helper psalm 30:1-12 - bible study...

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Commentary by Clyde M. Miller Questions by John C. Sewell

The Lord, The Helper

Psalm 30:1-12

Landmark Publications, Inc., 1045 Maynor Street, Nashville, TN 37216, U.S.A., John C. Sewell, Ph.D., Editor.

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The Lord, The Helper

Clyde M. Miller Text: Psalm 30:1-12, 1. I will exalt you, O LORD, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me. 2. O LORD my God, I called to you for help and you healed me. 3. O LORD, you brought me up from the grave; you spared me from going down into the pit. 4. Sing to the LORD, you saints of his; praise his holy name. 5. For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morn-ing. 6. When I felt secure, I said, "I will never be shaken." 7. O LORD, when you favored me, you made my mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was dismayed. 8. To you, O LORD, I called; to the Lord I cried for mercy: 9. "What gain is there in my destruction, in my going down into the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your faithful-ness? 10. Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me; O LORD, be my help." 11. You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sack-cloth and clothed me with joy, 12. that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever. (NIV) Introduction: I. In form, Psalm 30 is a psalm of thanksgiving.




A. These psalms are much like praise hymns, but they differ in that they usually give evidence of celebrating a deliverance granted by God.

1. Reference may be made to the problem, as in laments, but they differ in that here there is rejoicing because deliv-erance has come 2. Reference may also be made to the prayer for deliver-ance, which has now been answered. 3. These psalms frequently exhort fellow worshipers to join in the celebration.

B. The psalmist may also share a didactic lesson learned from his experience.

II. These psalms can be subdivided into individual and community psalms of thanksgiving.

A. Psalms 30, 32, 34, 40, 52, 66, 116 and 138 are individual psalms of thanksgiving expressing deliverance from individual concerns.

III. Framework:

A. Psalm 30 is structured with an opening (1a) and a closing (12b) vow of praise that form the outer frame of the psalm.

B. The opening (1b-3) and closing (11a-12a) declarations of de-liverance form the inner frame of the psalm. C. Scriptures:




1. Psalm 30:1-3, I will exalt you, O LORD, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me. O LORD my God, I called to you for help and you healed me. O LORD, you brought me up from the grave; you spared me from going down into the pit. (NIV)

2. Psalm 30:11, 12, You turned my wailing into danc-ing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever. (NIV)

IV. Inner Core:

A. The inner core (4-10) invites others to join in praise (4) and gives the reason in a topic statement (5).

B. He describes his past problem (6-7), and his prayer for deliv-erance (8-10). C. Scriptures:

1. Psalm 30:4-10, Sing to the LORD, you saints of his; praise his holy name. For his anger lasts only a mo-ment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may re-main for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. When I felt secure, I said, "I will never be shaken." O LORD, when you favored me, you made my mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was dis-mayed. To you, O LORD, I called; to the Lord I cried for mercy: "What gain is there in my destruction, in my going down into the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your faithfulness? Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me; O LORD, be my help." (NIV)




V. The title to Psalm 30 includes a historical notation, “For the dedica-tion of the temple”. A. Several other psalms also contain historical notations.

B. The word for “temple” is bayit, which literally means “house”. C. It can refer to a dwelling house, the tabernacle, the temple, or in this case to David’s palace (NIV n.) D. David gathered much material that was to be used in the building of the temple (1 Chron. 22:1-5), but he was forbidden to do the building (1 Kings 5:3-5).

1. 1 Chronicles 21:1-5, Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel. So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, "Go and count the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan. Then report back to me so that I may know how many there are." But Joab replied, "May the LORD multiply his troops a hundred times over. My lord the king, are they not all my lord's subjects? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?" The king's word, however, overruled Joab; so Joab left and went throughout Israel and then came back to Jerusalem. Joab reported the number of the fighting men to David: In all Israel there were one million one hundred thou-sand men who could handle a sword, including four hundred and seventy thousand in Judah. (NIV)

2. 1 Kings 5:3-5, "You know that because of the wars waged against my father David from all sides, he could not build a temple for the Name of the LORD his God until the LORD put his enemies under his feet. But now




the LORD my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or disaster. I intend, therefore, to build a temple for the Name of the LORD my God, as the LORD told my father David, when he said, 'Your son whom I will put on the throne in your place will build the temple for my Name.' (NIV)

E. His son Solomon was designated by God to build the temple, and Solomon uttered a beautiful lengthy dedicatory oration at its conclusion (1 Kings 8:22-53).

1. 1 Kings 8:22-53, Then Solomon stood before the al-tar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Is-rael, spread out his hands toward heaven and said: "O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below—you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. You have kept your prom-ise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have ful-filled it—as it is today. "Now LORD, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, 'You shall never fail to have a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons are careful in all they do to walk before me as you have done.' And now, O God of Israel, let your word that you promised your servant David my father come true. "But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! Yet give attention to your servant's prayer and his plea for mercy, O LORD my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, this place of which you said, 'My Name shall be




there,' so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray to-ward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive. "When a man wrongs his neighbor and is required to take an oath and he comes and swears the oath before your altar in this temple, then hear from heaven and act. Judge be-tween your servants, condemning the guilty and bring-ing down on his own head what he has done. Declare the innocent not guilty, and so establish his innocence. "When your people Israel have been defeated by an en-emy because they have sinned against you, and when they turn back to you and confess your name, praying and making supplication to you in this temple, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Is-rael and bring them back to the land you gave to their fathers. "When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and confess your name and turn from their sin because you have af-flicted them, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance. "When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when an enemy besieges them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, and when a prayer or plea is made by any of your peo-ple Israel—each one aware of the afflictions of his own heart, and spreading out his hands toward this temple- then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive and act; deal with each man according to all he does, since you know his heart (for you alone know the hearts of all men), so that they will fear you all the time they




live in the land you gave our fathers. "As for the for-eigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name- for men will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when he comes and prays toward this temple, then hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name. "When your people go to war against their ene-mies, wherever you send them, and when they pray to the LORD toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name, then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause. "When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you become angry with them and give them over to the enemy, who takes them cap-tive to his own land, far away or near; and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held cap-tive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their conquerors and say, 'We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly'; and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and pray to you toward the land you gave their fathers, toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name; then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause. And for-give your people, who have sinned against you; forgive all the offenses they have committed against you, and cause their conquerors to show them mercy; for they are your people and your inheritance, whom you brought out of Egypt, out of that iron-smelting furnace. "May your eyes be open to your servant's plea and to




the plea of your people Israel, and may you listen to them whenever they cry out to you. For you singled them out from all the nations of the world to be your own inheritance, just as you declared through your ser-vant Moses when you, O Sovereign LORD, brought our fathers out of Egypt." (NIV)

F. Either the word “David” here means a Davidic king, or more likely, the dedication is the occasion of David’s recovering the ark from the Philistines and placing it in a special tent just out-side Jerusalem (2 Sam. 6:17-19).

1. 2 Samuel 6:17-19, They brought the ark of the LORD and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the LORD. After he had fin-ished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship of-ferings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD Almighty. Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each person in the whole crowd of Israelites, both men and women. And all the people went to their homes. (NIV)

Opening Declaration

Psalm 30:1-3, I will exalt you, O LORD, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me. O LORD my God, I called to you for help and you healed me. O LORD, you brought me up from the grave; you spared me from going down into the pit. (NIV) I. The psalmist uses five expressions to say three things: 1) God has spared his life (1a, 3a,b) and 2) and “healed” him (2b), so that 3) his enemies cannot “rejoice over” him (1b).




A. “Has drawn me up” (1a) is extended in the expressions “has brought up my soul from Sheol” (3a) and “restored me to life” (3b).

1. These expressions are metaphors of God’s sparing him from death.

Psalm 30:1, I will exalt you, O LORD, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me. (NIV) I. The key to the entire psalm lies in the third line of this climactic triplet.

A. The reference to “my enemies” defines the nature of the prob-lem discussed. B. “Exalt” in the first line renders yarum, which carries the idea of lifting up. C. “Lifted me out”, in the second line, states the reason for his praise in a word play on the idea of lifting God’s name on high. D. “Depths” is a figurative expression referring to drawing out of a pit of destruction. E. The psalmist wants to be delivered from the defeat of his enemies because defeat would make it appear that God had for-saken him. F. Pagan people believed that wars were between national gods, and the gods of the victors were considered superior to those of the defeated armies.

Psalm 30:2, O LORD my God, I called to you for help and you healed me. (NIV)




I. “Healed” does not designate the problem as physical sickness.

A. It rather, as indicated above, refers to healing from the shame of defeat that would belittle the name of God.

Psalm 30:3, I will exalt you, O LORD, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me. (NIV) I. “Grave” translates Sheol that has many varied meanings.

A. It often refers to the unseen state or place of the dead.

B. “The pit” is also often used in the same sense. C. Here Sheol and the pit form word pairs with similar meanings. D. The author had feared premature death at the hands of his enemies.

Invitation to Praise Psalm 30:4, 5, Sing to the LORD, you saints of his; praise his holy name. For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a life-time; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. (NIV) I. Vows of praise are often connected with exhortations to praise in the psalms. II. The psalmists were teachers of the highest rank, and they quite naturally wanted to share their faith and its blessings with others.




Psalm 30:4, Sing to the LORD, you saints of his; praise his holy name. (NIV) I. The psalmist wants God’s name to be glorified in the form of praise hymns or thanksgiving songs.

A. “Sing” and “praise” are word pairs. B. “Saints” renders chasidhah, which derives from chesedh, meaning enduring covenant love.

1. In biblical Hebrew, therefore, saints are those who keep God’s covenant requirements out of a love responsive to God’s love for us.

C. “Name” translates zeker, which means, “remembrance, me-morial”, and may be used in parallel with the word sh?m, “name” (Ex. 3:15; Job 18:17; Ps. 135:13).

1. Exodus 3:15, God also said to Moses, "Say to the Is-raelites, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation. (NIV)

2. Job 18:17, The memory of him perishes from the earth; he has no name in the land. (NIV)

3. Psalm 135:13, Your name, O LORD, endures for-ever, your renown, O LORD, through all generations. (NIV)




Psalm 30:5, For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. (NIV) I. Two double contrasts are involved in verse five.

A. First, God’s “anger” and “favor” and the consequent human reaction, “weeping” and “joy”, are contrasted. B. Second, temporal expressions are contrasted: “a moment” with “a lifetime” and “a night” with “in the morning”. C. “Night” is a metaphor of divine anger and its consequence, and “morning” is a metaphor of divine favor and its conse-quence. D. Weeping is short-lived, but joy is long-lived, taking up a more permanent abode.

Description of Adversity

Psalm 30: 6, 7, When I felt secure, I said, "I will never be shaken." O LORD, when you favored me, you made my mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was dismayed. (NIV) Psalm 30:6, When I felt secure, I said, "I will never be shaken." (NIV) I. His former arrogance in feeling self secure caused him to decide that he would never meet an adversity greater than he could handle by himself.

A. Thus, God was left out of the picture.




Psalm 30:7, O LORD, when you favored me, you made my moun-tain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was dismayed. (NIV) I. God’s varied actions toward him and his consequent reactions brought the psalmist to his knees and humbled his heart.

A. Now he realizes that it was God’s favor, not his own strength, which brought him success. B. “Hid your face” means God disregarded his circumstances and failed to come to his aid. C. This caused him to be dismayed. D. These impressive lessons turned his heart and life to depend-ence on God.

Description of Supplication

Psalm 30:8-10, To you, O LORD, I called; to the Lord I cried for mercy: "What gain is there in my destruction, in my going down into the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your faith-fulness? Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me; O LORD, be my help." (NIV) Psalm 30:8, To you, O LORD, I called; to the Lord I cried for mercy: (NIV) I. He elaborates the dismay experienced and states the exact words of his supplication.

A. “I cried for mercy” (NIV) is literally “I made supplication”, Aethchannan, which word is a derivative of ch?n, “grace”.




Psalm 30:9, "What gain is there in my destruction, in my going down into the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your faithfulness? (NIV) I. Shockingly, he maintains that there is no meaningful fellowship with God in the world of the dead.

A. His rhetorical questions expect negative answers. B. The Old Testament does not reveal as clearly as does the New Testament man’s state after death.

1. That was left for Christ to make known (2 Tim. 1:9-10).

a. 2 Timothy 1:9, 10, who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. (NIV)

C. “Gain” means profit and “destruction” is literally “if I am si-lenced” (NIV n.).

1. For the second time, he expresses the fear of premature death (cf. v. 3).

Psalm 30:10, Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me; O LORD, be my help." (NIV) I. “Be merciful to me” is literally “be gracious to me”, chann?ni.




A. It is from the same root as “I made supplication” (v. 8, ASV, ESV, RSV, NRSV, NKJV).

Closing Declaration

Psalm 30:11-12, You turned my wailing into dancing; you re-moved my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever. (NIV) I. Verses 11-12 are structured in a single sentence involving extended parallelism consisting of six lines.

A. “Wailing” and being clothed in “sackcloth” were common means of expressing intense sorrow and/or pain. B. All his dismay (v. 7) has now been changed into “joy”. C. The result is that his former fear of the silence of death (9a, NIV n.) can be turned into a joyous song of thanksgiving. D. He ends the psalm with an extension of the vow of praise with which he began (1a). E. He extends the thought of exalting the LORD by defining the form that it will take. F. “Forever”, leU)lam, here means “all my life”.

Application: I. “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6).

A. One of the most practiced forms of pride is to think that we can solve our problems without God’s help.




B. When we realize our helplessness and turn to God for help, we will find resolutions to our problems.




Questions

Psalm 30:1-12

(Questions based on NIV text.) 1. “I will ____________ you, O _____________, for you __________ me out of the _________________ and did not let my _____________ ______________ over _______________.” 2. “O ________________ my _______________, I _______________ to you for _______________ and you _______________ me.” 3. What is the significance of the word healed in verse 2? _________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4. “O ____________, you brought me up from the _______________, you _____________ me from _______________ _______________ into the _______________.” 5. Why should the Lord’s saints sing to the Lord and praise his holy name? __________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 6. Who are the Lord’s saints? ________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________




________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 7. “For his ________________ lasts only a _______________, but his _______________ lasts a _______________; _______________ may remain for a _______________, but _______________ comes in the _______________.” 8. What changed the psalmist’s emotional attitude from one of secu-rity to dismay? ___________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 9. The psalmist argued that his destruction would not glorify God. How do you think God responded to this prayer of the psalmist? ____ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 10. “_______________, O _______________, and be ____________ to me; O _______________, be my _______________.” 11. “You _____________ my _______________ into ____________; you _______________ my _______________ and _______________ me with __________________, that my ________________ may _________________ to you and not be __________________. O _________________ my _______________, I will _______________ you _______________ _______________.”




12. In _____________, Psalm 30 is a ___________ of ____________. How are psalms of thanksgiving different than praise hymns? ______ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 13. How can psalms of thanksgiving be subdivided? ______________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 14. Of what do this psalm’s outer and inner frames consist? ________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 15. Of what does this psalm’s inner core consist? ________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 16. How are Psalm 30 and its author related to the temple? ________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________




17. The psalmist uses five expressions to say three things; viz., (1) ___ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (2) _____________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ (3)______________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ 18. What are these five expressions of question 17? ______________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 19. What is the key to this entire psalm? Be specific. Give details. __ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 20. Of what healing did the psalmist speak in verse 2? ____________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 21. “_________________ of ________________ are often connected with _______________ to ______________ in the _______________. The _____________ were _______________ of the ______________ _______________, and they quite _________________ wanted to




_______________ their _______________ and its _______________ with _______________.” 22. Define name as used in verse 4 and specify how it is used in Scrip-ture. ___________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 24. What two double contrasts are involved in verse 5? ___________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 25. Night and morning are metaphors depicting what? ____________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 26. Was the psalmist arrogant at any time? If so, what did it profit him? ___________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 27. What caused the psalmist to change his attitude? ______________




________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 28. Is there a meaningful fellowship with God in the world of the dead? Support your answer with Scripture. How did the psalmist feel about this? _______________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 29. “______________ ________________ the _______________ but ________________ __________________ to the _______________.” 30. For you and me, will rejoicing come in the morning? __________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________



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