Psalm Category: Song of Thanksgiving

Central Thought: Psalm 30 reminds us that God brings about amazing reversals, both in our individual lives and in the scope of redemptive history.

Key Word: Dala (v. 1). Dala is translated as “lifted” (NIV). This verb refers to the action of drawing out. The imagery is of a bucket of water being drawn from a well. What the psalmist is saying is that God extracted him from his trouble like a bucket of water from a well. Regardless of the nature of your present sufferings, be comforted by knowing that your God is more than capable of lifting you out of the depths.

Psalm 30

I enjoy upsets and amazing reversals. That’s one of the reasons I enjoy sports. Amazing reversals, however, are not limited to the world of sports. The Bible is a book of amazing reversals.

In fact, the Bible is the account of the greatest reversal of all. In Genesis 3, all seems lost as Adam, and all humanity in him, falls under the curse; but the remainder of the Bible reveals God’s glorious reversal of that curse through Jesus Christ. It is part of God’s modus operandi to confound the wise by working amazing reversals in history and in our own lives. Psalm 30 is an account of one such reversal.

The Rescue (vv. 1-3 & 6-10): Psalm 30 is a thanksgiving psalm in which the psalmist thanks God for his deliverance. The opening verses describe the nature of the psalmist’s plight before his rescue. Verses 2-3, by referring to the psalmist’s proximity to the “grave” and the “pit,” reveal that his trial was a severe illness that left him vulnerable to his enemies (v. 1) and on the verge of death. Verse 6 takes us back even further in time and reveals the ultimate cause of the psalmist’s suffering. Before his illness, the psalmist declared, “When I felt secure, I said, ‘I will never be shaken.’” Do you see the psalmist’s problem? When he was prospering he became presumptuous and self-confident. He began to attribute his security to his own actions, rather than to God’s favor. Don’t we often do the same thing in times of prosperity?

God responded to the psalmist’s self-confidence by sending him a not-so-subtle reminder of where his true security is found. In verse 7, we learn that God responded to the psalmist’s pride by hiding His face from him. God removed His favor and the psalmist fell into dismay. However, God heard the psalmist’s cry (vv. 8-10) and rescued him.

The Rejoicing (vv. 4-5): Here we learn how the psalmist responded to his dramatic rescue. He turns to the community (“you saints of his”) and calls them to praise God. The psalmist realizes that his rescue is of such magnitude that it requires the praise of all the faithful.

In verse 5, the psalmist reveals the reason that God’s name should be praised. In this comforting verse, the psalmist declares that the believer never truly falls out of the care of God’s covenantal love. He tells the community that God’s anger is like a guest who can lodge in the believer’s life only for a night (only a season) and then is gone in the morning. While the believer will experience momentary suffering and periodic discipline from God, these experiences will be overwhelmed by God’s lifelong, eternal favor (2 Cor. 4:17-18). Even those believers who experience inordinate and extended trials in this age (such as quadriplegic Joni Eareckson Tada) will have those sufferings eclipsed by their eternal reward. For the believer, joy will come in the morning. This is not so for the unbeliever. The unbeliever experiences the flipside of verse 5. For him, God’s favor lasts a moment, but His anger will be eternal (Rom. 2:5).

The Reversal (vv. 11-12): In a psalm replete with reversals, it is fitting that it concludes with three more. In verses 11-12, the psalmist’s wailing is turned to dancing (v. 11), his mourning to joy (v. 11), and his silence to song (v. 12). The psalmist’s experience of reversal is not idiosyncratic. God promises to work reversal in the life of every believer. He will turn your sorrow to joy (Rev. 21:4). However, the most amazing reversal of all is the one He worked through Jesus Christ. The grand reversal is revealed to us in 2 Corinthians 5:21, where we learn that our sins were exchanged for the righteousness of Jesus Christ. That should lead you to praise His holy name!

—Anthony Selvaggio