Psalms 30

The psalmist returns thanks to God for deliverance from great danger, Psalm 30:1-3 . He calls upon the saints to give thanks to God at the remembrance of his holiness, because of his readiness to save, Psalm 30:4 , Psalm 30:5 . He relates how his mind stood affected before this great trial and how soon an unexpected change took place, Psalm 30:6 , Psalm 30:7 ; mentions how, and in what terms, he prayed for mercy, Psalm 30:8-10 ; shows how God heard and delivered him and the effect it had upon his mind, Psalm 30:11 , Psalm 30:12 .

This Psalm or song is said to have been made or used at the dedication of the house of David, or rather the dedication of a house or temple; for the word David refers not to הבית habbayith , the house, but to מזמור mizmor , a Psalm. But what temple or house could this be? Some say, the temple built by Solomon; others refer it to the dedication of the second temple under Zerubbabel, and some think it intended for the dedication of a third temple, which is to be built in the days of the Messiah. There are others who confine it to the dedication of the house which David built for himself on Mount Sion, after he had taken Jerusalem from the Jebusites; or to the purgation and re-dedication of his own house, that had been defiled by the wicked conduct of his own son Absalom. 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.