This psalm of David speaks of him crying out passionately for deliverance from death. Some suggest it’s speaking of deliverance from some serious illness, Isaiah 38:18-20, others suggest it’s speaking about him coming close to death at the hand of his enemies.
David was continually being hunted down by King Saul and his army, even his son Absalom, time and time again tried to take over his father’s throne. So, David knows what life was all about, he knows what it means to be close to death. He understands what it’s like to be in those places of despair, loneliness, and darkness. He understands what it means to feel hopeless and helpless.
Although the headings aren’t inspired by God, they are important because they give us some understanding of the Psalm and they help us to see why it was written. The headings usually tell us four things.
1. Who wrote them, probably wrote them, or possibly wrote them.
2. Information about the historical background to the Psalm. Why it was written.
3. They tell us of the tune the Psalm was written to.
4. How it was used.
The heading here, simply tells us that this is a psalm or song of David for the dedication of the temple.
I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that David never needs an excuse to worship God. Notice the first thing he does is, exalt God, Psalm 30:1, why? Why does he do that? When was the last time you reflected upon what God has done in your life? Can you remember what your life was like before you became a Christian?
You’re out there working all kinds of hours of the day to make a living when suddenly you realise there has to be more to life than work. You’re out there partying with your friends, getting drunk and getting high on drugs, when suddenly you’re overcome with thoughts of, is this it? Is this what life is all about?
Now notice that David exalted God because God had exalted him, Psalm 30:1. He remembers the impact God has had in his life, he remembers the mess his life was in when he was in those dark gloomy places.
He remembers what his life was like when his enemies just wanted to gloat over him, Psalm 30:1. And so, he cried out to God to help him and ‘God healed him’, Psalm 30:2. He remembers what it was like when he thought he was about to go to ‘the realm of the dead’, Psalm 30:3.
The realm of the dead is Sheol and there are, in fact, three Biblical words, the meanings of which are often confused because people tend to use them very loosely. Two of the words in the New Testament are Greek words. The Third word is an Old Testament Hebrew word.
For instance, in the New Testament, we have the following.
1. ‘Gehenna’, which occurs twelve times, and, in the Authorised Version, it’s always translated ‘hell’.
2. ‘Hades’, which occurs ten times, and which is also always translated, as ‘hell’.
3. The third word is the word ‘Sheol’, found in the Old Testament, and which sometimes is erroneously said to be the word that corresponds to ‘Gehenna’.
You clearly see the confusion that has been created about the meaning of this word when you understand that, in the Authorised Version, out of the sixty-five instances it occurs, thirty-one times it has been translated ‘hell’ and thirty-four times it has been translated ‘the grave’!
Now, although the word ‘Sheol’ literally means ‘The Place of the Dead’, you don’t need much intelligence to recognise that ‘Hell’ and the ‘Grave’ aren’t the same places! When a body is placed in the grave, it hasn’t been consigned to ‘Hell’!
But there is a history behind this inconsistent rendering of the word ‘Sheol’. Whilst the translators of the Authorised Version believed ‘Hell’ to be the place of punishment for the wicked, they withdrew from the idea of saying that good people also go to ‘Sheol’, and so in passages that related to the death of good people, they decided to translate ‘Sheol’ as ‘the grave’!
However, in Hebrew theology and, in Old Testament teaching, ‘Sheol’ is described as the place to which all the dead go, both good and bad. It’s defined as ‘the place of departed souls’. In the account of King Saul’s visit to the medium at Endor, the spirit of the dead prophet Samuel is recorded as saying to Saul, ‘Tomorrow, you and your sons shall be with me’. 1 Samuel 28:19.
Even the Oxford Dictionary is close to the truth as far as the meaning of the word is concerned. It says that ‘Sheol’ is, ‘The abode of the dead’.
Furthermore, in the Old Testament, ‘Sheol’ is described as a gloomy place, in which an individual is farther away from God than he was during his lifetime. We are told that ‘the living know that they will die, but the dead do not know anything,’ Ecclesiastes 9:5, and, according to Psalm 115:17, ‘The dead do not praise Yahweh, nor any who go down into silence.’
We too would do well to remember where we’ve come from and the impact that God has on our lives, 2 Peter 1:5-9. Christians should see the impact God has had in their lives, we should see it in ourselves and we should see it in each other.
David knows the impact God has had in his life, he knows that God has rescued him from his enemies. But there are times when our past way of living leaves us with scars. I’m sure David would have had some scars from all his battles, but not all scars are physical, some are emotional scars, and some are spiritual scars or religious scars.
God saved David’s life and his response was simply praise and thanksgiving, Psalm 30:4, which he encourages everyone to do when they have been saved and healed, Psalm 30:2.
Notice the contrast here, God’s anger only lasts for a moment but His favour lasts for a lifetime, Psalm 30:5. Now make no mistake about it, God was angry at David, especially when he sinned with Bathsheba and murdered Uriah her husband, 2 Samuel 11:1-16 / 2 Samuel 12:1-15.
I’m sure that David felt that anger, I’m pretty sure his relationship with God suffered because of his sinful actions. I’m sure he felt that anger and his relationship with God suffered because of what he wrote in Psalm 51 concerning his sinfulness with Bathsheba, Psalm 51:1-3.
He knew that God was angry with him when he realised it was because he had sinned against God and so here, we read about his repentance, Psalm 30:5. The only reason God gets angry with us is because we sin against Him. But the purpose of that anger is direct our lives back in line with the way He wants us to live for Him.
We may well want to cry our hearts out at night when we realise, we have sinned, but don’t lose sight of the fact that if we repent, then we can rejoice in the morning, Psalm 30:5. God may get angry with us at times, but don’t lose sight of the fact that His anger doesn’t have to last for a lifetime.
Don’t lose sight of the fact that God actually wants us to continue in His favour, Psalm 30:5. In other words, He wants us to feel secure, to enjoy all the blessings which He pours out upon us every day. When David felt secure, he said, I will never be shaken, Psalm 30:6.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following, concerning Psalm 30:6.
‘This refers to a past period of his life, when everything seemed to be prosperous, and when he had drawn around him so many comforts, and had apparently made them so secure, that it seemed as if they could never be taken from him, or as if he had nothing to fear.’
David says when God favoured him, He made David’s royal mountain stand firm but when God hid His face, he was dismayed, Psalm 30:7. Let me point out something important here. Over and over again we read passages in the Bible which speak about people seeing ‘God’s face’, Psalm 30:7.
For example, when Moses stood at the entrance to the tabernacle, Exodus 33:1, says, ‘The Lord would speak to Moses, face to face, as one speaks to a friend.’ These passages aren’t to be taken literally, after all, God doesn’t have a physical face, any more than He has physical arms or legs because God is Spirit, John 4:24.
When the Bible speaks about ‘seeing God’s face’, it’s a Jewish metaphor which simply means they are in the presence of God. And so, when David says there were times in his life when he felt that God hid His face, Psalm 30:7, he’s saying that those were the times when he felt that God wasn’t present in his life. Just because we don’t feel God’s presence doesn’t mean that He’s not nearby, Hebrews 13:5-6.
Because he didn’t feel God’s presence, he cried out for mercy, Psalm 30:8. When David asks these three questions concerning his dying, Psalm 30:9, we must remember that he, like all of those who lived in Old Testament times had no real concept of eternal life. That didn’t come until Jesus came as Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 1:10.
David is saying, God doesn’t gain anything from his death, if he dies, he doesn’t get to praise God in the land of the living, Psalm 30:9. He says he’s looking forward in his life to declaring God’s faithfulness to others, but he knows that this won’t happen if the Lord takes his life, Psalm 30:9. And so, once again he cries for mercy and help from God, Psalm 30:10.
Notice again the contrast between wailing and dancing, between mourning and rejoicing, Psalm 30:11. When God delivers us from our enemies and heals our hidden scars, when God makes His presence known in our lives. The result will not only be praise and thanksgiving to God, but it’ll be also true lasting joy, Psalm 30:11-12.
This again reminds us of the impact that God should have in our lives, Ephesians 2:1-4 / Ephesians 2:12-13. In other words, a new life in Christ begins when the comfortable patterns of the old life are left behind, Hebrews 12:1-2. We must look to the past but we must also leave our former life behind us, we must look to Christ, Philippians 3:13-14, otherwise, we will never move forward in our Christian walk.
When we remember who we were and how we lived, and look at what God has done for us, then our response is only going to be praise, Ephesians 2:5 / Ephesians 2:13. When we look back on our lives, we remember our past condition and when we look at what God has done for us, there’s only one response and that’s praise.
But not only will we praise Him praise, we just can’t stop praising Him and we will want to tell others the reason why we can’t stop praising Him, Psalm 30:12. The time of joy is now, not when we finally make it to heaven. Some Christians have forgotten where they came from because they’ve been Christians for so long. There are way too many Christians who forget that God is blessing us now.
God wants us not only to enjoy life but enjoy life to the full, as Jesus says in John 10:10. He wants us to get the best out of life and to experience what life with God is really about.
When an angel told Joseph that Mary’s child’s name was to be Immanuel, he was being told that ‘God is with us’, Matthew 1:22-25. If God is with us, then that means that we’re always in the presence of God. He dwells in us, as does His Son, John 14:23 / John 15:4, and His Holy Spirit, 1 Corinthians 6:19 / Romans 8:9.
And if those thoughts don’t make our hearts sing for joy, then I don’t know what will. If those thoughts don’t make us dance around with joy, then I don’t know what will. If those thoughts don’t encourage us to tell others about what God has done in our lives, then I don’t know what will.
Not only is the time of joy now, but there’s a time coming when we will eternally be joyfully praising Him for all the things, He’s done for each of us, Revelation 7:9-13.
David wasn’t afraid to look back on his life and admit that he had several scars. We too should be afraid to look back in our lives to remember what we were like before we became a Christian. Don’t forget what God has done for you and don’t lose sight of the fact that one day, He’s coming back for you, so we can all joyfully praise Him for eternity.
Have you got any scars in your life? I know if you’ve been physically abused in the past by a man or woman, you will have scars. I know if you’ve ever been emotionally blackmailed by your parents in the past, you will have scars. I know if you’ve ever been spiritually abused by some church, or by some religious people in the past, you will have scars.
There are some scars that we can’t see, there are some scars that have cut so deep within us, that they still have an impact on our lives years later. The good news is that God not only wants to save us, but He also wants to heal us from those unseen scars.
Remember when Jesus met the man at the pool of Bethesda, who had been disabled for 38 years. Do you remember what Jesus asked him? ‘Do you want to get well?’ John 5:6. I can imagine that man lying there and saying to himself, ‘is this guy for real! I’ve been crippled for thirty-eight years and He’s asking me if I want to get well!’
Let me ask you, wouldn’t you want to get well if you were in his position? He’s thinking about being physically healed, John 5:7. But Jesus has something else in mind. On the surface, this seems like a cruel question but Jesus wasn’t just speaking about his physical condition, He was also speaking about his spiritual condition.
God cares for our healing, He loves us, and surrounds us with people who have also had hidden scars. And when we share those hurtful events from our past with each other, this helps us in the healing process.