"Glory to thee for all the grace

I have not tasted yet."

Throughout this Psalm there are indications that David had been greatly afflicted both personally and relatively, after having, in his presumption, fancied himself secure. When God's children prosper one way, they are generally tried another, for few of us can bear unmingled prosperity. Even the joys of hope need to be mixed with the pains of experience, and the more surely so when comfort breeds carnal security and self-confidence. Nevertheless, pardon soon followed repentance, and God's mercy was glorified. The Psalm is a song, and not a complaint. Let it be read in the light of the last days of David, when he had numbered the people, and God had chastened him, and then in mercy had bidden the angel sheathe his sword. On the floor of Ornan, the poet received the inspiration which glows in this delightful ode. It is the Psalm of the numbering of the people, and of the dedication temple which commemorated the staying of the plague.

Division - In Psalm 30:1, Psalm 30:2, and Psalm 30:3, David extols the Lord for delivering him. Psalm 30:4 and Psalm 30:5 he invites the saints to unite with him in celebrating divine compassion. In Psalm 30:6 and Psalm 30:7 he confesses the fault for which he was chastened, Psalm 30:8 repeals the supplication which he offered, and concludes with commemorating his deliverance and vowing eternal praise.

Hints to Preachers

Title - House dedication, and how to arrange it.

Whole Psalm - In this ode we may see the workings of David's mind before, and under, and after, the affliction.

I. Before the affliction: Psalm 30:6.

II. Under the affliction: Psalm 30:7.

III. After the affliction: Psalm 30:11, Psalm 30:12.

- William Jay.

Psalm 30:1 (first clause) - God and his people exalting each other.

Psalm 30:1 (second clause) - The happiness of being preserved so as not to be the scorn of our enemies.

Psalm 30:1 - The disappointments of the devil.

Psalm 30:2 - The sick man, the physician, the night-bell, the medicine, and the cure; or, a covenant God a sick saint a crying heart a healing hand.

Psalm 30:3 - Upbringing and preservation, two choice mercies; made the more illustrious by two terrible evils, "grave," and "pit "; traced immediately to the Lord, "thou hast."

Verse 4 - Song, a sacred service; "saints" especially called to it; divine holiness, a choice subject for it; Memory, an admirable aid in it.

Psalm 30:5 - The anger of God in relation to his people.

Psalm 30:5 - The night of weeping, and the morning of joy.

Psalm 30:5 - "Life" in God's "favour."

Psalm 30:5 - The transient nature of the believer's trouble, and the permanence of his joy.

Psalm 30:6 - The peculiar dangers of "prosperity."

Psalm 30:6-12 - David's prosperity had lulled him into a state of undue security: God sent him this affliction to rouse him from it. The successive frames of mind are here clearly marked; and must successively be considered as they are here presented to our view.

I. His carnal security.

II. His spiritual dereliction.

III. His fervent prayers.

IV. His speedy recovery.

V. His grateful acknowledgments.

- Charles Simeon.

Psalm 30:7 (first clause) - Carnal security; its causes, dangers, and cures.

Psalm 30:7 (last clause) - The gracious bemoanings of a soul in spiritual darkness.

Psalm 30:8 - In connection with Psalm 30:3, prayer the universal remedy.

Psalm 30:9 (first clause) - Arguments with God for continued life and renewed favour.

Psalm 30:9 (last clause) - The resurrection, a time in which the "dust" shall "praise" God, and "declare" his "truth."

Psalm 30:10 - Two gems of prayer; short, but full and needful.

Psalm 30:10 - "Lord, be thou my helper." I see many fall; I shall fall too except thou hold me up. I am weak; I am exposed to temptation. My heart is deceitful. My enemies are strong. I cannot trust in man; I dare not trust in myself. The grace I have received will not keep me without thee. "Lord, be thou my helper." In every duty; in every conflict; in every trial; in every effort to promote the Lord's cause; in every season of prosperity; in every hour we live, this short and inspired prayer is suitable. May it flow from our hearts, be often on our lips, and be answered in our experience. For if the Lord help us, there is no duty which we cannot perform; there is no foe which we cannot overcome; there is no difficulty which we cannot surmount - James Smith's Daily Remembrancer.

Psalm 30:11 - Transformations. Sudden; complete; divine, "thou." personal, "for me;" gracious.

Psalm 30:11 - Holy dancing open up the metaphor.

Psalm 30:11 - The believer's change of raiment illustrate by life of Mordecai or Joseph; mention all the garbs the believer is made to wear, as a mourner, a beggar, a criminal, etc.

Psalm 30:12 - Our "glory," and its relation to God's glory.

Psalm 30:12 - The end of gracious dispensations.

Psalm 30:12 - Silence - when sinful.

Psalm 30:12 (last clause) - The believer's vow, and the time for making it. See the whole Psalm.

Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings

Title

"A Psalm and Song," etc. It is thought that when these two words of Psalm and Song are both put in the title of a Psalm, it is meant that the sound of instruments was to be joined with the voice when they were sung in the Temple, and that the voice went before when it is said Song and Psalm, and did come after when it is said Psalm and Song. - John Diodati.

Title

At the dedication of it חגבּת חבית. The original word חגך signifies initiari, ἐγκαινίζειν rei novae primam usurpationera. So Cocceius, to initiate, or the first use that is made of anything. It was common, when any person had finished a house and entered into it, to celebrate it with great rejoicing, and keep a festival, to which his friends were invited, and to perform some religious ceremonies, to secure the protection of heaven. Thus, when the second temple was finished, the Priests and Levites, and the rest of the captivity, kept the dedication of the house of God with joy, and offered numerous sacrifices. Ezra 6:16. We read in the New Testament (John 10:22), of the feast of the dedication appointed by Judas Maceabaeus, in memory of the purification and restoration of the temple of Jerusalem, after it had been defiled and almost laid in ruins by Antiochus Epiphanes; and celebrated annually, to the time of its destruction by Titus, by solemn sacrifices, music, songs, and hymns, to the praises of God, and feasts, and everything that could give the people pleasure, for eight days successively. Josephus Ant i xii. @a7 7. Judas ordained, that "the days of the dedication should be kept in their season, from year to year, with mirth and gladness." 1 Mac. 4:59. And that this was customary, even amongst private persons, to keep a kind of religious festival, upon their first entrance into a new house, appears from the order of God (Deuteronomy 20:5), that no person who had built a new house should be forced into the army, "if he had not dedicated the house," i.e., taken possession of it according to the usual ceremonies practised on such occasions; a custom this that hath more or less prevailed amongst all nations. Thus the Romans dedicated their temples, their theatres, their statues, and their palaces and houses. Suet. Octav c xliii. @a7 13; c xxxi. @a7 9. - Samuel Chandler.

Title

The present Psalm is the only one that is called a shir, or song, in the first book of the Psalms, i.e., Psalm 1-41. The word שׁיד shir is found in the titles of Psalm 45, Psalm 46:1-11, Psalm 48:1-14, 65-68, Psalm 75:1-10, 83, Psalm 87:1-7, 88, Psalm 92:1-15, Psalm 108:1-13, 120-124. Psalm 18 is entitled, "a shirah (or song) of deliverance from his enemies," and the present shir may be coupled with it. - Christopher Wordsworth.

Title

As by offering the first fruits to God they acknowledged that they received the increase of the whole year from him, in like manner, by consecrating their houses to God, they declared that they were God's tenants, confessing that they were strangers, and that it was he who lodged, and gave them a habitation there. If a levy for war, therefore, took place, this was a just cause of exemption, when any one alleged that he had not yet dedicated his house. Besides, they were at the same time admonished by this ceremony, that every one enjoyed his house aright and regularly, only when he so regulated it that it was as it were a sanctuary of God, and that true piety and the pure worship of God reigned in it. The types of the law have now ceased, but we must still keep to the doctrine of Paul, that whatsoever things God appoints for our use are still "sanctified by the word of God and prayer." 1 Timothy 4:4, 1 Timothy 4:5. - John Calvin.

Whole Psalm

Calmet supposes it to have been made by David on the dedication of the place which he built on the threshing-floor of Araunah, after the grievous plague which had so nearly desolated the kingdom. 2 Samuel 24:25; 1 Chronicles 21:26. All the parts of the Psalm agree to this: and they agree to this so well, and to no other hypothesis, that I feel myself justified in modelling the comment on this principle alone. - Adam Clarke.

Whole Psalm

In the following verses I have endeavoured to give the spirit of the Psalm, and to preserve the frequent antitheses.

I will exalt thee, Lord of hosts,

For thou'st exalted me;

Since thou hast silenced Satan's boasts,

I'll therefore boast in thee.

My sins had brought me near the grave,

The grave of black despair;

I look'd but there was none to save,

Till I look'd up in prayer.

In answer to my piteous cries.

From hell's dark brink I'm brought:

My Jesus saw me from the skies,

And swift salvation wrought.

All through the night I wept full sore,

But morning brought relief;

That hand, which broke my bones before,

Then broke my bonds of grief.

My mourning he to dancing turns,

For sackcloth joy he gives,

A moment, Lord, thine anger burns,

But long thy favour lives.

Sing with me then, ye favoured men,

Who long have known his grace;

With thanks recall the seasons when

Ye also sought his face.

C.H.S.

Psalm 30:1

"I will extol thee, O Lord; for thou hast lifted me up." I will lift thee up, for thou hast lifted me up. - Adam Clarke.

Psalm 30:1

"Thou hast lifted me up." דלּיתגי. The verb is used, in its original meaning, to denote the reciprocating motion of the buckets of a well, one descending as the other rises, and vice versa; and is here applied with admirable propriety, to point out the various reciprocations and changes of David's fortunes, as described in this Psalm, as to prosperity and adversity; and particularly that gracious reverse of his afflicted condition which he now celebrates, God having raised him up to great honour and prosperity; for having built his palace, he "perceived that the Lord had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for his people Israel's sake." 2 Samuel 5:12. - Samuel Chandler.

Psalm 30:2

"Thou hast healed me." תדפּאגי. The verb is used, either for the healing of bodily disorders (Psalm 103:3), or to denote the happy alteration of any person's affairs, either in private or public life, by the removal of any kind of distress, personal or national. Psalm 107:20; Isaiah 19:22. So in the place before us: "Thou hast healed me," means, Thou hast brought me out of my distresses, hast restored my health, and rendered me safe and prosperous. Under Saul, he was frequently in the most imminent danger of his life, out of which God wonderfully brought him, which he strongly expresses by saying, "Thou hast brought up mg soul from Hades: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit." I thought myself lost, and that nothing could prevent my destruction, and can scarce help looking on the deliverance thou hast vouchsafed me otherwise than as a kind of restoration from the dead: Thou hast revived me, or recovered me to life, from amongst those who go down to the pit; according to the literal rendering of the latter clause. - Samuel Chandler.

Psalm 30:4

"Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his." If it were to sing of another thing, I should require the whole quire of God's creatures to join in the singing; but now that it is to sing of God's "holiness," what should profane voices do in the concert? None but "saints" are fit to sing of "holiness," and specially of God's holiness; but most specially with songs of holiness. - Sir Richard Baker.

Psalm 30:4

"Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his." As God requires outward and inward worship, so a spiritual frame for inward worship may be forwarded by the outward composure. Gazing drowsiness hinders the activity of the soul, but the contrary temper furthers and helps it. Singing calls up the soul into such a posture, and doth, as it were, awaken it: it is a lively rousing up of the heart. Singing God's praise is a work of the most meditation of any we perform in public. It keeps the heart longest upon the thing spoken. Prayer and hearing pass quick from one sentence to another; this sticks long upon it. Meditation must follow after hearing the word, and praying with the minister - for new sentences, still succeeding, give not liberty, in the instant, well to muse and consider upon what is spoken: but in this you pray and meditate. God hath so ordered this duty, that, while we are employed in it, we feed and chew the cud together. "Higgaion," or "Meditation," is set upon some passages of the Psalms, as Psalm 9:16. The same may be writ up the whole duty, and all parts of it; namely, "Meditation." Set before you one in the posture to sing to the best advantage: eyes lifted to heaven, denote his desire that his heart may be there too; he hath before him a line or verse of prayer, mourning, praise, mention of God's works; how fairly now may his heart spread itself in meditation on the thing, while he is singing it over! Our singing is measured in deliberate time not more for music than meditation. He that seeks not, finds not, this advantage in singing Psalms - hath not yet learned what it means. - John Lightfoot, 1602-1675.

Psalm 30:5

"His anger." Seeing God is often angry with his own servants, what cause have those of you who fear him, to bless him that he is not angry with you, and that you do not feel his displeasure! He sets up others as his mark against which he shoots his arrows; you hear others groaning for his departure, and yet your hearts are not saddened as theirs are; your eyes can look up towards heaven with hope, whilst theirs are clouded with a veil of sorrow; he speaks roughly to them, but comfortable words to you; he seems to set himself against them as his enemies, whilst he deals with you as a loving friend; you see a reviving smile in his face and they can discern nothing there but one continued and dreadful frown. O admire, and for ever wonder at the sovereign, distinguishing grace of God. Are you that are at ease better than many of his people that are now thrown into a fiery furnace? Have you less dross than they? Have they sinned, think you, at a higher rate than you have ever done? He is angry with them for their lukewarmness, for their backsliding; and have your hearts always burned with love? Have your feet always kept his way and not declined? Have you never wandered? Have you never turned aside to the right hand or to the left? Surely you have; and therefore, what a mercy is it, that he is not angry with you as well as with them.... Do not presume for all this; for though he is not angry yet with you, he may be so. This was the fault of David: "In my prosperity 1 said, I shall never be moved;" but it immediately follows, "Thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled." The sun shines now upon you, the candle of the Lord does refresh your tabernacle; but you may meet with many storms, and clouds, and darkness before you come to your journey's end. The disciples were once greatly pleased with the glory of the transfiguration; and during the delightful interview between Christ, and Moses, and Elias, they thought themselves as in heaven; but a cloud came and obscured the preceding glory, and then the poor men were afraid. It is true the anger of God endureth but for a moment; but even that moment is very sad, and terrible beyond expression. Weeping endureth for "a night;" but it may be a very bitter and doleful night for all this. It is a night like that of the Egyptians: when they arose they saw all their first-born slain, and there was a hideous, universal cry and mourning throughout all the land. So this night of the anger of the Lord may destroy all our comforts, and make the first-born of our strength, the confidence and pleasure of our hopes to give up the ghost. - Timothy Rogers.

Psalm 30:5

"In his favour is life." - Let us see wherein the weight of the blessing and cursing of sheep and goats doth lie. It is not the gift of eternal life that is our happiness in heaven; but as David saith, "in his favour is life." If a damned soul should be admitted to the fruition of all the pleasures of eternal life without the favour of God, heaven would be hell to him. It is not the dark and horrid house of woe that maketh a soul miserable in hell, but God's displeasure, ite maledicti. If an elect soul should be cast thither, and retain the favour of God, hell would be an heaven to him, and his joy could not all the devils of hell take from him; his night would be turned into day. - Edward Marbury.

Psalm 30:5

As an apprentice holds out in hard labour and (it may be) bad usage for seven years together or more, and in all that time is serviceable to his master without any murmuring or repining, because he sees that the time wears away, and that his bondage will not last always, but he shall be set at large and made a freeman in the conclusion: thus should everyone that groaneth under the burden of any cross or affliction whatsoever, bridle his affections, possess his soul in patience, and cease from all murmuring and repining whatsoever, considering well with himself, that the rod of the wicked shall not always rest upon the lot of the righteous; that weeping may abide at evening, but joy cometh in the morning; and that troubles will have an end, and not continue for ever. - John Spencer.

Psalm 30:5

How often have we experienced the literal truth of that verse, "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning!" How heavily does any trouble weigh on us at night! Our wearied nerve and brain seem unable to bear up under the pressure. Our pulse throbs, and the fevered restless body refuses to help in the work of endurance. Miserable and helpless we feel; and passionately weep under the force of the unresisted attack. At last sleep comes. Trouble, temptation, whatever it be that strives to overcome us, takes the one step too far which overleaps its mark, and by sheer force drives our poor humanity beyond the present reach of further trial. After such a night of struggle, and the heavy sleep of exhaustion, we awake with a vague sense of trouble. Our thoughts gather, and we wonder over our own violence, as the memory of it returns upon us. What was it that seemed so hopeless - so dark? Why were we so helpless and despairing? Things do not look so now - sad indeed still, but endurable - hard, but no longer impossible - bad enough perhaps, but we despair no more. "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." And so, when life with its struggles and toils and sins, bringing us perpetual conflict, ends at last in the fierce struggle of death, then God "giveth his beloved sleep." They sleep in Jesus, and awake to the joy of a morning which shall know no wane - the morning of joy. The Sun of Righteousness is beaming on them. Light is now on all their ways. And they can only wonder when they recall the despair and darkness and toil, and violence of their earthly life, and say, as they have often said on earth, "Weeping has endured only for the night, and now it is morning, and joy has come!" And our sorrows, our doubts, our difficulties, our long looks forward, with despair of enduring strength for so long a night of trial - Where are they? Shall we not feel as is so beautifully described in the words of one of our hymns -

"When in our Father's happy land

We meet our own once more,

Then we shall scarcely understand

Why we have wept before."

Mary B. M. Duncan, 1825-1865.

Psalm 30:5

Psalm 30:1

"I will extol thee." I will have high and honourable conceptions of thee, and give them utterance in my best music. Others may forget thee, murmur at thee, despise thee, blaspheme thee, but "I will extol thee," for I have been favoured above all others. I will extol thy name, thy character, thine attributes, thy mercy to me, thy great forbearance to my people; but, especially will I speak well of thyself; "I will extol thee," O Jehovah, this shall be my cheerful and constant employ. "For thou hast lifted me up." Here is an antithesis, "I will exalt thee, for thou hast exalted me." I would render according to the benefit received. The Psalmist's praise was reasonable. He had a reason to give for the praise that was in his heart. He had been drawn up like a prisoner from a dungeon, like Joseph out of the pit, and therefore he loved his deliverer. Grace has uplifted us from the pit of hell, from the ditch of sin, from the Slough of Despond, from the bed of sickness, from the bondage of doubts and fears: have we no song to offer for all this? How high has our Lord lifted us? Lifted us up into the children's place, to be adopted into the family; lifted us up into union with Christ, "to sit together with him in heavenly places." Lift high the name of our God, for he has lifted us above the stars. "And hast not made my foes to rejoice over me." This was the judgment which David most feared out of the three evils; he said, let me fall into the hand of the Lord, and not into the hand of man. Terrible indeed were our lot if we were delivered over to the will of our enemies. Blessed be the Lord, we have been preserved from so dire a fate. The devil and all our spiritual enemies have not been permitted to rejoice over us; for we have been saved from the fowler's snare. Our evil companions, who prophesied that we should go back to our old sins, are disappointed. Those who watched for our halting, and would fain say, "Aha! Aha! So would we have it!" have watched in vain until now. O happy they whom the Lord keeps so consistent in character that the lynx eyes of the world can see no real fault in them. Is this our case? let us ascribe all the glory to him who has sustained us in our integrity.

Psalm 30:2

"O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me." David sent up prayers for himself and for his people when visited with the pestilence. He went at once to headquarters, and not roundabout to fallible means. God is the best physician, even for our bodily infirmities. We do very wickedly and foolishly when we forget God. It was a sin in Asa that he trusted to physicians and not to God. If we must have a physician, let it be so, but still let us go to our God first of all; and, above all, remember that there can be no power to heal in medicine of itself; the healing energy must flow from the divine hand. If our watch is out of order, we take it to the watchmaker; if body or soul be in an evil plight, let us resort to him who created them, and has unfailing skill to put them in right condition. As for our spiritual diseases, nothing can heal these evils but the touch of the Lord Christ if we do but touch the hem of his garment, we shall be made whole, while if we embrace all other physicians in our arms, they can do us no service. "O Lord my God." Observe the covenant name which faith uses - "my God." Thrice happy is he who can claim the Lord himself to be his portion. Note how David's faith ascends the scale; he sang "O Lord" in the first verse, but it is "O Lord my God," in the second. Heavenly heart-music is an ascending thing, like the pillars of smoke which rose from the altar of incense. "I cried unto thee." I could hardly pray, but I cried; I poured out my soul as a little child pours out its desires. I cried to my God: I knew to whom to cry; I did not cry to my friends, or to any arm of flesh. Hence the sure and satisfactory result - "Thou hast healed me." I know it. I am sure of it. I have the evidence of spiritual health within me now: glory be to thy name! Every humble suppliant with God who seeks release from the disease of sin, shall speed as well as the Psalmist did, but those who will not so much as seek a cure, need not wonder if their wounds putrefy and their soul dies.

Psalm 30:3

"O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave." Mark, it is not, "I hope so;" but it is, "Thou hast; thou hast; thou hast" - three times over. David is quite sure, beyond a doubt, that God has done great things for him, whereof he is exceeding glad. He had descended to the brink of the sepulchre, and yet was restored to tell of the forbearance of God; nor was this all, he owned that nothing but grace had kept him from the lowest hell, and this made him doubly thankful. To be spared from the grave is much: to be delivered from the pit is more; hence there is growing cause for praise, since both deliverances are alone traceable to the glorious right hand of the Lord, who is the only preserver of life, and the only Redeemer of our souls from hell.

5 For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

Psalm 30:4

"Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his." "Join my song; assist me to express my gratitude." He felt that he could not praise God enough himself, and therefore he would enlist the hearts of others. "Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his." David would not fill his choir with reprobates, but with sanctified persons, who could sing from their hearts. He calls to you, ye people of God, because ye are saints: and if sinners are wickedly silent, let your holiness constrain you to sing. You are his saints - chosen, blood-bought, called, and set apart for God sanctified on purpose that You should offer the daily sacrifice of praise. Abound ye in this heavenly duty. "Sing unto the Lord." It is a pleasing exercise; it is a profitable engagement. Do not need to be stirred up so often to so pleasant a service. "And give thanks." 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. "At the remembrance of his holiness." Holiness is an attribute which inspires the deepest awe, and demands a reverent mind; but still give thanks at the remembrance of it. "Holy, holy, holy!" is the song of seraphim and cherubim; let us join it not dolefully, as though we trembled at the holiness of God, but cheerfully, as humbly rejoicing in it.

Psalm 30:5

"For his anger endureth but a moment." David here alludes to those dispensations of God's providence which are the chastisement ordered in his paternal government towards his erring children, such as the plague which fell upon Jerusalem for David's sins; these are but short judgments, and they are removed as soon as real penitence sues for pardon and presents the great and acceptable sacrifice. What a mercy is this, for if the Lord's wrath smoked for a long season, flesh would utterly fail before him. God puts up his rod with great readiness as soon as its work is done; he is slow to anger and swift to end it. If his temporary and fatherly anger be so severe that it had need be short, what must be the terror of eternal wrath exercised by the Judge towards his adversaries? "In his favour is life." As soon as the Lord looked favourably upon David, the city lived, and the king's heart lived too. We die like withered flowers when the Lord frowns, but his sweet smile revives us as the dews refresh the fields. His favour not only sweetens and cheers life, but it is life itself, the very essence of life. Who would know life, let him seek the favour of the Lord. "Weeping may endure for a night:" but nights are not for ever. Even in the dreary winter the day-star lights his lamp. It seems fit that in our nights the dews of grief should fall. When the Bridegroom's absence makes it dark within, it is meet that the widowed soul should pine for a renewed sight of the Well-beloved. "But joy cometh in the morning." When the Sun of Righteousness comes, we wipe our eyes, and joy chases out intruding sorrow. Who would not be joyful that knows Jesus? The first beams of the morning bring us comfort when Jesus is the day-dawn, and all believers know it to be so. Mourning only lasts till morning: when the night is gone the gloom shall vanish. This is adduced as a reason for saintly singing, and forcible reason it is; short nights and merry days call for the psaltery and harp.

7 Lord, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled.

Psalm 30:6

"In my prosperity." When all his foes were quiet, and his rebellious son dead and buried, then was the time of peril. Many a vessel founders in a calm. No temptation is so bad as tranquility. "I said, I shall never be moved." Ah! David, you said more than was wise to say, or even to think, for God has founded the world upon the floods, to show us what a poor, mutable, movable, inconstant world it is. Unhappy he who builds upon it! He builds himself a dungeon for his hopes. Instead of conceiving that we shall never be moved, we ought to remember that we shall very soon be moved altogether. Nothing is abiding beneath the moon. Because I happen to be prosperous today, I must not fancy that I shall be in my high estate tomorrow. As in a wheel, the uppermost spokes descend to the bottom in due course, so is it with mortal conditions. There is a constant revolution; many who are in the dust today shall be highly elevated tomorrow; while those who are now aloft shall soon grind the earth. Prosperity had evidently turned the Psalmist's head, or he would not have been so self-confident. He stood by grace, and yet forgot himself, and so met with a fall. Reader, is there not much of the same proud stuff in all our hearts? let us beware lest the fumes of intoxicating success get into our brains and make fools of us also.

Psalm 30:7

"Lord, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong." He ascribed his prosperity to the Lord's favour - so far good, it is well to own the hand of the Lord in all our stability and wealth. But observe that the good in a good man is not unmingled good, for this was alloyed with carnal security. His state he compares to a mountain, a molehill would have been nearer - we never think too little of ourselves. He boasted that his mountain stood strong, and yet he had before, in Psalm 29:1-11, spoken of Sirion and Lebanon as moving like young unicorns. Was David's state more firm than Lebanon? Ah, vain conceit, too common to us sill How soon the bubble bursts when God's people get conceit into their heads, and fancy that they are to enjoy immutability beneath the stars, and constancy upon this whirling orb. How touchingly and teachingly God corrected his servant's mistake: "Thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled." There was no need to come to blows, a hidden face was enough. This proves, first, that David was a genuine saint, for no hiding of God's face on earth would trouble a sinner; and, secondly, that the joy of the saint is dependent upon the presence of his Lord. No mountain, however firm, can yield us rest when our communion with God is broken, and his face is concealed. However, in such a case, it is well to be troubled. The next best thing to basking in the light of God's countenance, is to be thoroughly unhappy when that bliss is denied us.

"Lord, let me weep for nought for sin!

And after none but thee!

And then I would - O that Imight,

A constant weeper be!"

9 What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?

10 Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me: Lord, be thou my helper.

Psalm 30:8

"I cried to thee, O Lord." 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. The hand which wounds can heal: let us turn to him who smites us, and he will be entreated of us. Prayer is better solace than Cain's building a city, or Saul's seeking for music. Mirth and carnal amusements are a sorry prescription for a mind distracted and despairing: prayer will succeed where all else fails.

Psalm 30:9

In this verse we learn the form and method of David's prayer. It was an argument with God, an urging of reasons, a pleading of his cause. It was not a statement of doctrinal opinions, nor a narration of experience, much less a sly hit at other people under pretence of praying to God, although all these things and worse have been substituted for holy supplication at certain prayer-meetings. He wrestled with the angel of the covenant with vehement pleadings, and therefore he prevailed. Head and heart, judgment and affections, memory and intellect were all at work to spread the case aright before the Lord of love. "What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit?" Wilt thou not lose a songster from thy choir, and one who loves to magnify thee? "Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?" Will there not be one witness the less to thy faithfulness and veracity? Spare, then, thy poor unworthy one for thine own name sake!

Psalm 30:10

"Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me." A short and comprehensive petition, available at all seasons, let us use it full often. It is the publican's prayer; be it ours. If God hears prayer, it is a great act of mercy; our petitions do not merit a reply. "Lord, be thou my helper." 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 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. The two brief petitions of this verse are commended as ejaculations to believers full of business, denied to those longer seasons of devotion which are the rare privilege of those whose days are spent in retirement.

12 To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thank unto thee for ever.

Psalm 30:11

Observe the contrast, God takes away the mourning of his people; and what does he give them instead of it? Quiet and peace? Ay, and a great deal more than that. "Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing." He makes their hearts to dance at the sound of his name. He takes off their sackcloth. That is good. What a delight to be rid of the habiliments of woe! But what then? He clothes us. And how? With some common dress? Nay, but with that royal vestment which is the array of glorified spirits in heaven. "Thou hast girded me with gladness." This is better than to wear garments of silk or cloth of gold, bedight with embroidery and bespangled with gems. Many a poor man wears this heavenly apparel wrapped around his heart, though fustian and corduroy are his only outward garb; and such a man needs not envy the emperor in all his pomp. Glory be to thee, O God, if, by a sense of full forgiveness and present justification, thou hast enriched my spiritual nature, and filled me with all the fulness of God.

Psalm 30:12

"To the end" - namely, with this view and intent - "that my glory" - that is, my tongue or my soul - "may sing praise to thee, and not be silent." It would be a shameful crime, if, after receiving God's mercies, we should forget to praise him. God would not have our tongues lie idle while so many themes for gratitude are spread on every hand. He would have no dumb children in the house. They are all to sing in heaven, and therefore they should all sing on earth. Let us sing with the poet: -

"I would begin the music here,

And so my soul should rise:

Oh for some heavenly notes to bear

My passions to the skies."

"O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever."

"I'll praise him in life; I'll praise him in death;

I'll praise him as long as he lendeth me breath;

Anti say when the death-dew lies cold on my brow.

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