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“…but when You hid your face, I
was dismayed. To You, Lord, I called; to the Lord I cried for mercy: What
is gained if I am silenced, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise You? Will
it proclaim Your faithfulness? Hear, Lord, and be merciful to me; Lord, be
my help.” (Psalm 30:7b-10, NIV)
Upon reading Psalm 30:7b-10, wonder arises about what David
dealt with when he wrote this psalm. Could it come from a difficult time he had
before this psalm’s writing? Why did David beg for God’s mercy? What did David
mean when he wrote these words? Effective Bible study involves reading the entire
chapter from which a passage comes and its surrounding chapters. Let’s study
this passage and Psalm 30 in its entirety.
Whether a devotional guide gives these memory verses to read
and meditate upon or you find Psalm 30:7b-10 on your own, the depth of David’s
dismay is obvious. David perceived, though erroneously, that the Lord departed from
him, leaving him to handle his hard times alone. He said it seemed like God hid
His face from him (vs. 7b). For that reason, he experienced dismay and fear.
Without the Lord, who chose, anointed, and protected him throughout his life,
David knew his adversaries would have defeated him. He also realized God would
not have used him as His king to unify His people, Israel.
Verse eight shows the depths of David’s despair. David considered
God had ignored him. He felt like God’s mercy had left him and he was alone. To
this, David pled to God in verses nine and ten. He reasoned with God in verse
nine. David reminded God, as if God needed reminding, that if he was silenced
by death, he could not praise God and proclaim His faithfulness. In verse ten,
David begged God for mercy and help.
If a person reads just verses 7b-10, despair could overtake him.
A reader facing difficulties would gain no strength or trust in a faithful God.
Instead of gaining strength to endure, the person might experience discouragement
and hopelessness. Yet, readers must consider the whole chapter.
When reading the whole chapter from its beginning, the
introduction to the chapter should be read because it gives the reader a first
impression of the intent, topic, or scope of the chapter. The introduction to
Psalm 30 shows David wrote the psalm as a “dedication of the temple”. This
introduction causes a question to arise since David did not build the temple.
David’s son, Solomon, built it. How can this psalm be for a dedication if it
has a dismayed David pleading with God at its center? Remember, a Bible passage
must be read in context with the entire chapter.
After reading the chapter at least once, a student of this
psalm should consider a Bible commentary or other scholars’ teachings on the
text. Samuel Barth of the Jewish Theological Seminary studied and wrote about
this psalm in his article titled Psalm 30: Dedication of the ‘Inner Temple’
(Psalm 30: Dedication of the “Inner Temple” - Jewish
Theological Seminary. Barth gave two possibilities for how this
psalm, that includes David’s dismay, could be a dedicatory psalm for the
temple. He first stated that Psalm 30 leads the reader to go from the mental
study of God’s word to soul praise of who God is and what He has done throughout
the ages.
—From mental study
to soul praise—
For today’s particular study, Barth offered a second
possible reason for the Psalm 30 introduction: a dedication of the temple. He stated
the “temple” in the introduction is not a physical earthly structure. Barth wrote,
“The psalm is not about dedicating any earthly structure, but that each
individual might be seen as a bayit (the Hebrew word for vessel.)
that can, if we so choose, be dedicated to the service of God.” This means each
person who sees himself as a vessel God can use gives his life to God to become
a temple dedicated to Him.
--not an earthly
structure but a bodily structure--
Barth’s second thought about the introduction to the psalm
is what we will consider today with this study of Psalm 30. David’s dismay in
verses 7b-10 is not intended to discourage a person, but to lead a person to
God and cause the person to worship Him. How can that be since the middle
verses, usually considered the main point of a chapter, cause discouragement in
people? How does David’s dismay lead a person to dedicate himself to God for
His purposes?
How does a reader shift from feeling discouraged by Psalm
30:7b-10 to worshiping God, as David’s introduction intends? Consider the
verses before and after verses 7b-10. With verses 1-7a, David praised
God for redeeming him from situations and enemies. He recited as a reminder for
himself and his readers who God had been in his life. David praised God for who
God is and for His faithfulness to and favor upon him. He reminded himself and
the readers that he never needs to fear; his life was a testimony of who God is
and what He had done: He is good, faithful, almighty, and provider. By
recalling what God had done for David, it would lead people to recall for
themselves who God had been in their lives and what He had done in their lives.
These people could praise God for redeeming them, like David did. People could
dedicate themselves as God’s temple for Him to use, like David did.
Transitioning from verses 1-7a onward into verses 7b-10
enables David and his readers to carry the joy from the first section of the
psalm into the challenging days. With the joy and reminder of God’s
faithfulness and mercy to them, they would feel more able to endure whatever
hardship they would meet. Verses 7b-10 also become reminders to the readers and
hearers of God’s redeeming David from his dismay and distress. They would be
enabled to remember and rejoice because of God’s faithfulness to them. God, through
this psalm, reminded David of His own great mercy, faithfulness, and favor
towards him. He also reminded His children over many millennia since David’s
time. From the first part of Psalm 30, God brought to mind His triumph over His
children’s struggles so they would remember to trust in and praise Him. Because
of God’s victorious triumph and who He is, a child of God can praise God more
readily and choose to dedicate himself to Him, to be His living temple.
Psalm 30:11-12 tells of what God did inside of David. God changes
not only circumstances; He changes the heart, mind, and spirit of each person
who calls on Him. In this psalm, David went from wailing to dancing with joy
when remembering God’s great favor, faithfulness, and mercy towards him (vs.
11). He sang praises to God and reminded himself never to stay silent, but
outwardly to praise God. God’s redemption of David from his dismay caused his
heart and mind to praise God, his body to dance, and his spirit to be renewed
in faith. God can and will effect this change in His children's hearts, minds, spirits,
and bodies when they call upon Him, like He did in David. David cried out to
God and God heard and responded with His presence, help, guidance, and
strength. When any of God’s children cry out to Him, He will respond to them similarly
so that they dance with joy in praise to God. God’s redemption of His children
from struggles can cause that person’s heart, mind, spirit, and body to praise
God and dance with joy. They can experience a renewed faith in Him.
David did not intend the middle section of Psalm 30 to cause
dismay to its readers and hearers. He meant for it to tell of God’s goodness to
him and to all who seek Him in humility. This psalm’s purpose is to lead
hearers and readers to recall God’s faithfulness, favor, and mercy even when
times seem dark. David’s psalm causes each person to renew hope in God and
praise Him—to renew his dedication to God as His temple.
The temple of God within each of His children is what they
dedicate to God whenever they praise Him or pray to Him. From this temple
within each of God’s children, the psalm elicits hope as they remember God’s
faithfulness to David and themselves. Remembering God’s love, mercy, favor, and
faithfulness to them may cause them to dance with joy and lift their hands in
praise, too.
This leads us to agree with Barth. Barth is correct on both
his points about Psalm 30; the introduction to Psalm 30 does both possibilities,
not one of the other. It causes a person to go from mind study to soul praise.
It also causes the person—child of God—to renew his faith and trust in God by
recalling from the past who God has been as He helped him. This latter will
cause soul praise that leads to bodily praise, such as dancing with joy. Both
of these, David experienced in God’s inspiring him to write Psalm 30, like we
each may have experienced as we read of David’s struggle in the middle part of
this psalm.
David’s psalm should cause two things to happen. The psalm,
as a reminder and as a song to and about God, causes us to go from the study of
our circumstances and God’s word to the rededication of ourselves as God’s
children—His temple—to whom He is ever faithful. This dedication of ourselves
will take us beyond ourselves and circumstances to soul praise to God and dancing
with joy.
The psalms are to lead us to worship God in easy and hard
times. David shows us how to praise God in hard times and praise Him later as
we recall God’s actions towards and for us. Today, remember when God was by
your side during tough times, and how His faithfulness helped you overcome
challenges; then praise and thank Him.
If you have not become a child of God, today is the day to
seek His mercy and grace. You do this by believing in Jesus as your Lord and your
Savior and by confessing and repenting of your sins (Romans 10:9-10). Today,
will you choose to live with God now and forever?
Give
thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever. (Psalm
107:1, NIV)
