mh_parser/vol_split/19 - Psalms/Chapter 30.xml

<div2 id="Ps.xxxi" n="xxxi" next="Ps.xxxii" prev="Ps.xxx" progress="31.05%" title="Chapter XXX">
<h2 id="Ps.xxxi-p0.1">P S A L M S</h2>
<h3 id="Ps.xxxi-p0.2">PSALM XXX.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ps.xxxi-p1">This is a psalm of thanksgiving for the great
deliverances which God had wrought for David, penned upon occasion
of the dedicating of his house of cedar, and sung in that pious
solemnity, though there is not any thing in it that has particular
reference to that occasion. Some collect from divers passages in
the psalm itself that it was penned upon his recovery from a
dangerous fit of sickness, which might happen to be about the time
of the dedication of his house. I. He here praises God for the
deliverances he had wrought for him, <scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.1-Ps.30.3" parsed="|Ps|30|1|30|3" passage="Ps 30:1-3">ver. 1-3</scripRef>. II. He calls upon others to praise
him too, and encourages them to trust in him, <scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.4-Ps.30.5" parsed="|Ps|30|4|30|5" passage="Ps 30:4,5">ver. 4, 5</scripRef>. III. He blames himself for his
former security, <scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.6-Ps.30.7" parsed="|Ps|30|6|30|7" passage="Ps 30:6,7">ver. 6,
7</scripRef>. IV. He recollects the prayers and complaints he had
made in his distress, <scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.8-Ps.30.10" parsed="|Ps|30|8|30|10" passage="Ps 30:8-10">ver.
8-10</scripRef>. With them he stirs up himself to be very thankful
to God for the present comfortable change, <scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.11-Ps.30.12" parsed="|Ps|30|11|30|12" passage="Ps 30:11,12">ver. 11, 12</scripRef>. In singing this psalm we
ought to remember with thankfulness any like deliverances wrought
for us, for which we must stir up our selves to praise him and by
which we must be engaged to depend upon him.</p>
<scripCom id="Ps.xxxi-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30" parsed="|Ps|30|0|0|0" passage="Ps 30" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ps.xxxi-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.1-Ps.30.5" parsed="|Ps|30|1|30|5" passage="Ps 30:1-5" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.30.1-Ps.30.5">
<h4 id="Ps.xxxi-p1.8">Thanksgiving and Praise.</h4>
<div class="Center" id="Ps.xxxi-p1.9">
<p id="Ps.xxxi-p2">A psalm <i>and</i> song <i>at</i> the dedication of the house of
David.</p>
</div>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.xxxi-p3">1 I will extol thee, <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxxi-p3.1">O
Lord</span>; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes
to rejoice over me.   2 <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxxi-p3.2">O Lord</span>
my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.   3 <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxxi-p3.3">O Lord</span>, thou hast brought up my soul from
the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to
the pit.   4 Sing unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxxi-p3.4">Lord</span>, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the
remembrance of his holiness.   5 For his anger <i>endureth
but</i> a moment; in his favour <i>is</i> life: weeping may endure
for a night, but joy <i>cometh</i> in the morning.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxi-p4">It was the laudable practice of the pious
Jews, and, though not expressly appointed, yet allowed and
accepted, when they had built a new house, to <i>dedicate it to
God,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.20.5" parsed="|Deut|20|5|0|0" passage="De 20:5">Deut. xx. 5</scripRef>. David
did so when his house was built, and he took possession of it
(<scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.5.11" parsed="|2Sam|5|11|0|0" passage="2Sa 5:11">2 Sam. v. 11</scripRef>); for royal
palaces do as much need God's protection, and are as much bound to
be at his service, as ordinary houses. Note, The houses we dwell in
should, at our first entrance upon them, be dedicated to God, as
little sanctuaries. We must solemnly commit ourselves, our
families, and all our family affairs, to God's guidance and care,
must pray for his presence and blessing, must devote ourselves and
all ours to his glory, and must resolve both that we put away
iniquity far from our tabernacles and that we and our houses will
serve the Lord both in the duties of family worship and in all
instances of gospel obedience. Some conjecture that this psalm was
sung at the re-dedication of David's house, after he had been
driven out of it by Absalom, who had defiled it with his incest,
and that it is a thanksgiving for the crushing of that dangerous
rebellion. In these verses,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxi-p5">I. David does himself give God thanks for
the great deliverances he had wrought for him (<scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.1" parsed="|Ps|30|1|0|0" passage="Ps 30:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>): "<i>I will extol thee, O
Lord!</i> I will exalt thy name, will praise thee as one high and
lifted up, I will do what I can to advance the interest of thy
kingdom among men. I will extol thee, for thou hast lifted me up,
not only up out of the pit in which I was sinking, but up to the
throne of Israel." He <i>raiseth up the poor out of the dust.</i>
In consideration of the great things God has done to exalt us, both
by his providence and by his grace, we are bound, in gratitude, to
do all we can to extol his name, though the most we can do is but
little. Three thing magnify David's deliverance:—1. That it was
the defeat of his enemies. They were not suffered to triumph over
him, as they would have done (though it is a barbarous thing) if he
had died of this sickness or perished in this distress: see
<scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.41.11" parsed="|Ps|41|11|0|0" passage="Ps 41:11">Ps. xli. 11</scripRef>. 2. That it was
an answer to his prayers (<scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.2" parsed="|Ps|30|2|0|0" passage="Ps 30:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>): <i>I cried unto thee.</i> All the expressions of the
sense we have of our troubles should be directed to God, and every
cry be a cry to him; and giving way, in this manner, to our grief,
will ease a burdened spirit. "<i>I cried to thee, and thou hast</i>
not only heard me, but <i>healed me,</i> healed the distempered
body, healed the disturbed and disquieted mind, healed the
disordered distracted affairs of the kingdom." This is what God
glories in, <i>I am the Lord that healeth thee</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Exod.15.26" parsed="|Exod|15|26|0|0" passage="Ex 15:26">Exod. xv. 26</scripRef>), and we must give him
the glory of it. 3. That it was the saving of his life; for he was
brought to the last extremity, dropping into the grave, and ready
<i>to go down into the pit,</i> and yet rescued and kept alive,
<scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p5.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.3" parsed="|Ps|30|3|0|0" passage="Ps 30:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. The more
imminent our dangers have been, the more eminent our deliverances
have been, the more comfortable are they to ourselves and the more
illustrious proofs of the power and goodness of God. A life from
the dead ought to be spent in extolling the God of our life.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxi-p6">II. He calls upon others to join with him
in praise, not only for the particular favours God has bestowed
upon him, but for the general tokens of his good-will to all his
saints (<scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.4" parsed="|Ps|30|4|0|0" passage="Ps 30:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>):
<i>Sing unto the Lord, O you saints of his!</i> All that are truly
saints he owns for his. There is a remnant of such in this world,
and from them it is expected that they sing unto him; for they are
created and sanctified, made and made saints, that they may be to
him for a name and a praise. His saints in heaven sing to him; why
should not those on earth be doing the same work, as well as they
can, in concert with them? 1. They believe him to be a God of
unspotted purity; and therefore let them sing to him; "Let them
<i>give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness;</i> let them
praise his holy name, for holiness is his memorial throughout all
generations." God is a holy God; his holiness is his glory; that is
the attribute which the holy angels, in their praises, fasten most
upon, <scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.6.3 Bible:Rev.4.8" parsed="|Isa|6|3|0|0;|Rev|4|8|0|0" passage="Isa 6:3,Re 4:8">Isa. vi. 3; Rev. iv.
8</scripRef>. We ought to be much in the mention and remembrance of
God's holiness. It is a matter of joy to the saints that God is a
holy God; for then they hope he will make them holy, more holy.
None of all God's perfections carries in it more terror to the
wicked, nor more comfort to the godly, than his holiness. It is a
good sign that we are in some measure partakers of his holiness if
we can heartily rejoice and give thanks at the remembrance of it.
2. They have experienced him to be a God gracious and merciful; and
therefore let them sing to him. (1.) We have found his frowns very
short. Though we have deserved that they should be everlasting, and
that he should be angry with us till he had consumed us, and should
never be reconciled, yet <i>his anger endureth but for a
moment,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.5" parsed="|Ps|30|5|0|0" passage="Ps 30:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>.
When we offend him he is angry; but, as he is slow to anger and not
soon provoked, so when he is angry, upon our repentance and
humiliation his anger is soon turned away and he is willing to be
at peace with us. If he hide his face from his own children, and
suspend the wonted tokens of his favour, it is but <i>in a little
wrath,</i> and <i>for a small moment;</i> but he will <i>gather
them with everlasting kindness,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.54.7-Isa.54.8" parsed="|Isa|54|7|54|8" passage="Isa 54:7,8">Isa. liv. 7, 8</scripRef>. If <i>weeping endureth for
a night,</i> and it be a wearisome night, yet as sure as the light
of the morning returns after the darkness of the night, so sure
will joy and comfort return in a short time, in due time, to the
people of God; for the covenant of grace is as firm as the covenant
of the day. This word has often been fulfilled to us in the letter.
Weeping has endured for a night, but the grief has been soon over
and the grievance gone. Observe, As long as God's anger continues
so long the saints' weeping continues; but, if that be but for a
moment, the affliction is but for a moment, and when the light of
God's countenance is restored the affliction is easily pronounced
light and momentary. (2.) We have found his smiles very sweet;
<i>In his favour is life,</i> that is, all good. The return of his
favour to an afflicted soul is as life from the dead; nothing can
be more reviving. Our happiness is bound up in God's favour; if we
have that, we have enough, whatever else we want. It is the life of
the soul, it is spiritual life, the earnest of life eternal.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ps.xxxi-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.6-Ps.30.12" parsed="|Ps|30|6|30|12" passage="Ps 30:6-12" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.30.6-Ps.30.12">
<h4 id="Ps.xxxi-p6.6">Prayer and Praise.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.xxxi-p7">6 And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be
moved.   7 <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxxi-p7.1">Lord</span>, by thy favour
thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy
face, <i>and</i> I was troubled.   8 I cried to thee, <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxxi-p7.2">O Lord</span>; and unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxxi-p7.3">Lord</span> I made supplication.   9 What profit
<i>is there</i> in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the
dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?   10 Hear, <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxxi-p7.4">O Lord</span>, and have mercy upon me: <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxxi-p7.5">Lord</span>, be thou my helper.   11 Thou
hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my
sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;   12 To the end that
<i>my</i> glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent<span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxxi-p7.6">. O Lord</span> my God, I will give thanks unto
thee for ever.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxi-p8">We have, in these verses, an account of
three several states that David was in successively, and of the
workings of his heart towards God in each of those states—what he
said and did, and how his heart stood affected; in the first of
these we may see what we are too apt to be, and in the other two
what we should be.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxi-p9">I. He had long enjoyed prosperity, and then
he grew secure and over-confident of the continuance of it
(<scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.6-Ps.30.7" parsed="|Ps|30|6|30|7" passage="Ps 30:6,7"><i>v.</i> 6, 7</scripRef>): "<i>In
my prosperity,</i> when I was in health of body and God had
<i>given me rest from all my enemies, I said I shall never be
moved;</i> I never thought either of having my body distempered or
my government disturbed, not had any apprehensions of danger upon
any account." Such complete victories had he obtained over those
that opposed him, and such a confirmed interest had he in the
hearts of his people, such a firmness of mind and such a strong
constitution of body, that he thought his prosperity fixed like a
mountain; yet this he ascribes, not to his own wisdom or fortitude,
but to the divine goodness. <i>Thou, through thy favour, hast made
my mountain to stand strong,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.7" parsed="|Ps|30|7|0|0" passage="Ps 30:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. He does not look upon it as his
<i>heaven</i> (as worldly people do, who make their prosperity
their felicity), only his <i>mountain;</i> it is earth still, only
raised a little higher than the common level. This he thought, by
the favour of God, would be perpetuated to him, imagining perhaps
that, having had so many troubles in the beginning of his days, he
had had his whole share and should have none in his latter end, or
that God, who had given him such tokens of his favour, would never
frown upon him. Note, 1. We are very apt to dream, when things are
well with us, that they will always be so, and never otherwise.
<i>To-morrow shall be as this day.</i> As if we should think, when
the weather is once fair, that it will be ever fair; whereas
nothing is more certain than that it will change. 2. When we see
ourselves deceived in our expectations, it becomes us to reflect,
with shame, upon our security, as our folly, as David does here,
that we may be wiser another time and may rejoice in our prosperity
as though we rejoiced not, because the fashion of it passes
away.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxi-p10">II. On a sudden he fell into trouble, and
then he prayed to God, and pleaded earnestly for relief and
succour.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxi-p11">1. His mountain was shaken and he with it;
it proved, when he grew secure, that he was least safe: "<i>Thou
didst hide thy face and I was troubled,</i> in mind, body, or
estate." In every change of his condition he still kept his eye
upon God, and, as he ascribed his prosperity to God's favour, so in
his adversity he observed the hiding of God's face, to be the cause
of it. If God hide his face, a good man is certainly troubled,
though no other calamity befal him; when the sun sets night
certainly follows, and the moon and all the stars cannot make
day.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxi-p12">2. When his mountain was shaken he lifted
up his eyes above the hills. Prayer is a salve for every sore; he
made use of it accordingly. <i>Is any afflicted?</i> Is any
troubled? <i>Let him pray.</i> Though God hid his face from him,
yet he prayed. If God, in wisdom and justice, turn from us, yet it
will be in us the greatest folly and injustice imaginable if we
turn from him. No; let us learn to pray in the dark (<scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.8" parsed="|Ps|30|8|0|0" passage="Ps 30:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>): <i>I cried to thee, O
Lord!</i> It seems God's withdrawings made his prayers the more
vehement. We are here told, for it seems he kept account of it,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxi-p13">(1.) What he pleaded, <scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.9" parsed="|Ps|30|9|0|0" passage="Ps 30:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. [1.] That God would be no gainer
by his death: <i>What profit is there in my blood?</i> implying
that he would willingly die if he could thereby do any real service
to God or his country (<scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Phil.2.17" parsed="|Phil|2|17|0|0" passage="Php 2:17">Phil. ii.
17</scripRef>), but he saw not what good could be done by his dying
in the bed of sickness, as might be if he had died in the bed of
honour. "Lord," says he, "wilt thou sell one of thy own <i>people
for nought and not increase thy wealth by the price?</i>" <scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.44.12" parsed="|Ps|44|12|0|0" passage="Ps 44:12">Ps. xliv. 12</scripRef>. Nay [2.] That, in his
honour, God would seem to be a loser by his death: <i>Shall the
dust praise thee?</i> The sanctified spirit, which returns to God,
shall praise him, shall be still praising him; but the dust, which
returns to the earth, shall not praise him, nor declare his truth.
The services of God's house cannot be performed by the dust; it
cannot praise him; there is none of that device or working in the
grave, for it is the land of silence. The promises of God's
covenant cannot be performed to the dust. "Lord," says David, "if I
die now, what will become of the promise made to me? Who shall
declare the truth of that?" The best pleas in prayer are those that
are taken from God's honour; and then we ask aright for life when
we have that in view, that we may live and praise him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxi-p14">(2.) What he prayed for, <scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.10" parsed="|Ps|30|10|0|0" passage="Ps 30:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. He prayed for mercy to pardon
(<i>Have mercy upon me</i>), and for grace to help in time of
need—<i>Lord, be thou my helper.</i> On these two errands we also
may come boldly to the throne of grace, <scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Heb.4.16" parsed="|Heb|4|16|0|0" passage="Heb 4:16">Heb. iv. 16</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxi-p15">III. In due time God delivered him out of
his troubles and restored him to his former prosperity. His prayers
were answered and his <i>mourning was turned into dancing,</i>
<scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.11" parsed="|Ps|30|11|0|0" passage="Ps 30:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>. God's anger
now endured but for a moment, and David's weeping but for a night.
The sackcloth with which, in a humble compliance with the divine
Providence, he had clad himself, was loosed; his griefs were
balanced; his fears were silenced; his comforts returned; and he
was girded with gladness: joy was made his ornament, was made his
strength, and seemed to cleave to him, as the girdle cleaves to the
loins of a man. As David's plunge into trouble from the height of
prosperity, and then when he least expected it, teaches us to
rejoice as though we rejoiced not, because we know not how near
trouble may be, so his sudden return to a prosperous condition
teaches us to weep as though we wept not, because we know not how
soon the storm may become a calm and the formidable blast may
become a favourable gale. But what temper of mind was he in upon
this happy change of the face of his affairs? What does he say now?
He tells us, <scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.12" parsed="|Ps|30|12|0|0" passage="Ps 30:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>.
1. His complaints were turned into praises. He looked upon it that
God girded him with gladness to the end that he might be the
<i>sweet psalmist of Israel</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.23.1" parsed="|2Sam|23|1|0|0" passage="2Sa 23:1">2
Sam. xxiii. 1</scripRef>), that his <i>glory might sing praise to
God,</i> that is, his tongue (for our tongue is our glory, and
never more so than when it is employed in praising God) or his
soul, for that is our glory above the beasts, that must be employed
in blessing the Lord, and with that we must make melody to him in
singing psalms. Those that are kept from being silent in the pit
must not be silent in the land of the living, but fervent, and
constant, and public, in praising God. 2. These praises were likely
to be everlasting: <i>I will give thanks unto thee for ever.</i>
This bespeaks a gracious resolution that he would persevere to the
end in praising God and a gracious hope that he should never want
fresh matter for praise and that he should shortly be where this
would be the everlasting work. <i>Blessed are those that dwell in
God's house; they will be still praising him.</i> Thus must we
learn to accommodate ourselves to the various providences of God
that concern us, to want and to abound, to sing of mercy and
judgment, and to sing unto God for both.</p>
</div></div2>