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| A Study of Psalm 30:1-12 | |
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| Introduction We will be celebrating Thanksgiving this week. After the Revolutionary War, the new nation’s congress asked its first president to officially declare Thanksgiving as a national holiday. Here is George Washington’s official proclamation on that occasion. "WHEREAS, It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor: "WHEREAS, Both the houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me ‘to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness’! "Now, therefore, I do recommend next, to be devoted by the people of the states to the service of that great and glorious being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be, that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country." We think of Thanksgiving as a typically American holiday where we take time out from our busy schedules to thank God for all the good things that he has done for us. But about 3000 years ago David wrote Psalm 30 – a psalm of thanksgiving to God. I want to examine this psalm, and see how we should also be thankful to our Lord. Verse 1 I will extol thee, O Lord, for thou hast drawn me up, and hast not let my foes rejoice over me. We give thanks and extol the Lord because he has lifted us up, or as the New International Version says, "lifted me out of the depths." He has taken us out from our depths of sin and despair and raised us up to the heavenly realm. This should cause us to give thanks to God – to extol his name. Barnes comments, "The Hebrew word here used means properly to draw out, as from a well; and then, to deliver, to set free. As God had thus lifted him up, it was proper that he should show his gratitude by lifting up or extolling the name of God." Verse 2 O Lord my God, I cried to thee for help, and thou hast healed me. We give thanks because God has healed us. God healed us from the sickness of sin when he saved us, but he has also healed us from bodily afflictions. How many times have we had to turn to God in our weakness, and he has come to our aid and strengthened us. Many commentators believe David may have written this psalm as a thanksgiving for healing from some sickness which brought him to death’s door. If you are facing illness, don’t be discouraged. God is in the healing business. He will help you just as he helped the psalmist, just as he helped me and my family, and countless other Christians down through the centuries. Verse 3 O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from Sheol, restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit. We give thanks because God has rescued us from death. When I was 13 years old, I can remember facing death. I was in the hospital, and I was not expected to survive. I remember feeling like I was dying. A thought suddenly came in my mind, and I remember distinctly thinking of my Mom and Dad, my brothers and my sister, and deciding that I did not want to leave them. In some mysterious way I felt that they needed me, and I can remember the moment when I decided not to die. It was at that moment that God reached down to me in that hospital bed and raised me up from the pit. You see, he knew that someday he was going to need me to pastor a small church over a thousand miles away. So I give thanks to my God. He restored my life from among those gone down to the pit of death. How many times has God kept you from danger or death? I would guess it is much more often than we can ever imagine. Verse 4 Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name. We give thanks by singing praises to the Lord. As we sang the songs of thanksgiving this morning, we were singing our thanks to our Savior. Singing praises to God has been around as long as man has been around. When we look to our Creator with true gratitude in our heart, we cannot help but sing to him our praise. As Spurgeon wrote, "Let your songs be grateful songs, in which the Lord’s mercies shall live again in joyful remembrance. The very remembrance of the past should tune our harps, even if present joys be lacking." MacDonald comments, "Psalm 30 teaches us that we should not only thank God ourselves, but that we should share our exuberance by inviting the saints to join us in praise; let the solo become a choir!" Verse 5 For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. We give thanks because his favor is for a lifetime. How many times do we fail God and deserve his anger? But instead, he patiently reaches out to us in mercy, and slowly explains to us the way in which we should walk. His mercy will always be there throughout our whole lifetime, during every time we yield to temptation, during every time we dishonor his name, during every time we fail to obey his word. It may be that we go through dark nights of affliction, when we feel God is far away and not to be found – when all hope seems to have left us. But God has promised that weeping may last for the night but joy comes in the morning. Our times of darkness and confusion will not last long. The Holy Spirit will fill our hearts with joy and lift the dark clouds that have threatened to smother us. For every time that God brought us through a dark time, we can thank him and tell him we love him. Barnes points out, "...if we have the friendship of God, sorrow will always be temporary, and will always be followed by joy. The morning will come; a morning without clouds; a morning when the sources of sorrow will disappear. This often occurs in the present life; it will always occur to the righteous in the life to come. The sorrows of this life are but for a moment, and they will be succeeded by the light and the joy of heaven." Verse 6 As for me, I said in my prosperity, "I shall never be moved." Because of God’s mercy, we will never be moved. God provides for all our needs. We can stand firm in our faith with gratitude to God because he is always with us and always ready to take care of us.
Verse 7 By thy favor, O Lord, thou hadst established me as a strong mountain; thou didst hide thy face, I was dismayed. We give thanks because God has established us as a strong mountain. Even though there may be times when we feel dismayed and it seems like God has hidden his face from us, he has established us as the mountains. We can be strong and immovable. Because we are standing on the firm foundation of Jesus Christ. Verse 8 To thee, O Lord, I cried; and to the Lord I made supplication. We give thanks because God allows us to come to him in prayer – to tell him our hurts, our sorrows, our fears. How many times have we faced the darkest battles of our life, only to find the light of his love shining through after we spend some quiet time alone with him in prayer. Men of God have always been men of prayer. Two of my favorite commentators on the psalms wrote in the 19th Century – Albert Barnes and Charles Haddon Spurgeon. Both strongly believed in the power of prayer. Barnes wrote in 1864, "Afflictions are always, sooner or later, effectual in bringing good men back to God. The sinner is often driven from God by trial; the good man is brought back to find his strength and comfort in God. The one complains, and murmurs, and is wretched; the other prays, and submits, and is made more happy than he was in the days of his prosperity." In 1876 Spurgeon remarked, "Prayer is the unfailing resource of God’s people. If they are driven to their wits’ end, they may still go to the mercy-seat. When an earthquake makes our mountain tremble, the throne of grace still stands firm, and we may come to it. Let us never forget to pray, and let us never doubt the success of prayer." Verse 9 What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the Pit? Will the dust praise thee? Will it tell of thy faithfulness? When in despair, we cry to the Lord. Even though we may be facing death, we know God is faithful. We give thanks because we can praise God and tell of his faithfulness. Verse 10 Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me! O Lord, be thou my helper! We give thanks because God is our helper. Does it seem like everyone has turned away from you and there is no one to come to your aid? If you do, turn to God because he is a helper to those who are in need. He helps us when we are discouraged, when we are sick, when we are facing financial trouble, when we are overwhelmed with pressures on the job. When we need help with our children, with our spouse, or with our parents, God is there to give us answers and teach us patience. He is always ready to help us. This is something to be thankful for. Spurgeon wrote, "It is suitable to hundreds of the cases of the Lord’s people; it is well becoming in the minister when he is going to preach, to the sufferer upon the bed of pain, to the toiler in the field of service, to the believer under temptation, to the man of God under adversity; when God helps, difficulties vanish. He is the help of his people, a very present help in trouble." Verse 11 Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing; thou hast loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness. We give thanks because God has turned our mourning into dancing. Things that we thought were so awful have turned out for our good. Think back over your own life. Remember all those times you faced what seemed like insurmountable problems. Looking back, can you now see how God was there helping you through the difficulty? Time after time he has turned our mourning into dancing – he has replaced sorrow with clothing of gladness. It was during some of the most difficult times in my life that I now realize I learned some of my most important lessons from God. They were times of some of my greatest spiritual growth. And yet at the time, they seemed like awful trials to endure. But God changed mourning into dancing. He placed a song in my heart. Has he done the same for you? If he has, then you need to thank him. Verse 12 That my soul may praise thee and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to thee for ever. We will give thanks to God forever. Throughout all eternity, we will sing praises to our heavenly Father. Don’t you think we should start thanking him now? God has done so much for us. Let’s be like David and give thanks to him forever. Alexander Campbell, the founder of our denomination, wrote about 150 years ago, "But it is in the person and mission of the INCARNATE WORD that we learn that God is love. That God gave his Son for us, and yet gives his Spirit to us - and thus gives us himself - are the mysterious and transcendent proofs of the most August proposition in the universe. The gospel, heaven's wisdom and power combined, God's own expedient for the renovation of human nature, is neither more nor less than the illustration and proof of this regenerating proposition. To God our Father, through the great Author of the Christian faith, who has preserved us in health in this day of affliction and great distress, be everlasting thanks for the renewing of our minds by the Holy Spirit, and for the hope of the regeneration of our bodies, of the heavens and of the earth, at the appearance of the Almighty Regenerator, who comes to make all things new! - Amen." Footnotes: This study of Psalm 30 © 1997 by David Humpal. All rights reserved. |
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