NOTES for Psa 30:4

⁴Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

The psalmist thanks God because He delivered him of a mortal danger, accompanied with spiritual decline and, probably, with depression. Is not it a completely real situation for us also nowadays? We also tend to call our experiences of troubles hell and to compare the exit from them with return to life.

But the psalm is not simply poetry, vivid expression of one’s feelings. It is prayer, and besides such prayer, on which several generations of believers learned to pray. And real prayer - is not self-expression, but communication, dialogue with God. It remains dialogue even when only Man pronounces words. The apostle Paul talks about such prayer that it is the Holy Spirit who prays in us with “groanings which cannot be uttered”, indeed the Holy Spirit intercedes us every truth. Here also, in the prayer that pronounces the psalmist, opens a truth exceeding his understanding: God really brings up the soul from the grave, He will really resuscitate the deaths. And we know that the fulfillment of this prediction has already begun.

Other notes

For

¹I will extol thee, O LORD; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.

²O LORD my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.

³O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.

⁴Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

⁵For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

⁶And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.

⁷LORD, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled.

⁸I cried to thee, O LORD; and unto the LORD I made supplication.

⁹What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?

¹⁰Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me: LORD, be thou my helper.

¹¹Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;

¹²To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.

The psalmist compares the Lord to a secure fortress whose walls shelter from enemy attacks. But fortress walls... Read more

The psalmist compares the Lord to a secure fortress whose walls shelter from enemy attacks. But fortress walls cannot protect someone who is in no hurry to enter the fortress. There is only one way to enter the fortress and receive its protection: by accepting the Lord and entering into covenant with Him. He is always ready to protect us, but when we move away from Him, we ourselves reject His protection.

Enemies press in from every side and constantly plot evil, but in the face of their threats we can hope in the Lord’s mercy. Yet evil comes not only from external enemies: the psalmist acknowledges that his strength has failed because of his own sins. It is therefore no accident that enemies oppress us; through our sins we strengthen them and bring them upon ourselves.

But even in such sorrowful circumstances, the psalmist continues to hope in the Lord, the reliable protector who hears the prayer even of one who seems rejected in his own eyes. Even in this condition, the one who prays continues to cry out because he remains faithful. And this means that he has already entered within the fortress walls.

Luke 2:22-40

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NOTES for Psa 30:4

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Readings for 2 February 2012

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