1 cried to thee, O Lord; and unto thee I made supplication . The part of his prayer most honourable to David is not recorded by himself, but by the historians. He tells us of his secret wrestlings with God, his complaints and expostulations—his cries and pleadings as they remained in his memory; he passes over the desire to die for his people, which the historians put on record. read more
What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit! What advantage wilt thou derive from my death, if thou killest me, either by the plague, which may as well fasten upon me as upon any one else, or by the misery and mental strain of seeing my subjects, my innocent sheep, suffer? God has "no pleasure in the death of him that dieth" ( Ezekiel 18:32 ), and certainly can obtain no profit from the destruction of any of his creatures. Shall the dust praise thee? (comp. Psalms 6:5 ;... read more
A noble view of life. "Shall the dust praise thee?" etc. We must not take this cry of bitter anguish as an utterance of unbelief or irreligion. On the contrary, it contains a noble and religions view of life. Life, in the psalmist's view, is a scene and season in which to glorify God. His quarrel with death is that it cuts short this opportunity; silences the tongue of testimony and the lips of praise; arrests the busy worker, and buries his vigorous energies in the dust. Here, then, is— ... read more
Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me: Lord, be thou my Helper (comp. Psalms 54:4 ; Hebrews 13:6 ). Here the psalmist's prayer, uttered in his distress, ends, and he proceeds to declare the result. read more
Thou hast turned (rather, thou turnedst ) for me my mourning into dancing . Suddenly, in a moment, all was changed. The angel ceased to slay. God bade him hold his hand. The Prophet Gad was sent with the joyful news to David, and commanded him at once to build an altar at Jehovah. Then the mourning ceased, and a joyful ceremonial was instituted, of which dancing, as so often, formed a part (see Exodus 15:20 ; 1 Samuel 18:6 ; 2 Samuel 6:14-16 ; Psalms 149:3 ; Jeremiah 31:4 ). ... read more
To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee . If we allow the ellipse of the personal pronoun supposed by our translators and Revisers, we must regard David as calling his soul "his glory," as in Psalms 16:9 . But some commentators think that "glory" is here used as we use "royalty," and designates the royal person or the royal office (so Kay and Professor Alexander). And not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever. Great mercies deserve perpetual... read more
I cried to thee, O Lord - That is, when those reverses came, and when that on which I had so confidently relied was taken away, I called upon the Lord; I uttered an earnest cry for aid. The prayer which he uttered on the occasion is specified in the following verses. The idea here is, that he was not driven from God by these reverses, but TO him. He felt that his reliance on those things in which he had put his trust was vain, and he now came to God, the true Source of strength, and sought His... read more
What proof is there in my blood - That is, What profit or advantage would there be to thee if I should die? What would be “gained” by it? The argument which the psalmist urges is that he could better serve God by his life than by his death; that his death, by removing him from the earth, would prevent his rendering the service which he might by his life. The same argument is presented also in Psalms 6:5 (see the notes at that verse), and is found again in Psalms 88:10-12, and in the hymn of... read more
Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me, - etc. This, too, is the prayer which he uttered in the calamities adverted to in Psalms 30:7. It is a cry for mercy founded on the idea referred to in Psalms 30:9. read more
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The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 30:6-12
Vain confidence. "And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved," etc. Three stages here represented in the life of a good man. I. WORLDLY PROSPERITY A SECURITY . "In my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved." 1 . We say this in youth. All our castles in the air, we think, are built upon mountains. We think we can become anything and achieve anything we please. 2 . We say this before we know our sinfulness. The ways of the world harden our hearts about our... read more