Psalm 30

for the dedication of the temple. Of David.

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

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

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

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

5 For his anger endures but a moment; in his favor is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

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

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

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

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

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

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

12 To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee forever.  (KJV)

This psalm of dedication for the Temple came from David’s experiences of daily walking with God. Paul like David also had many incidents in his daily walk with Christ. Oswald Chamber’s devotional for February 6 centered on II Timothy 4:6 where Paul stated, “I am already poured out as a drink offering…”.  Paul knew that his time on earth was near, and that his work for Christ was almost finished.  In this devotional Oswald Chambers reveals three characteristics that will come from our experience of being broken bread and poured out wine.  First God will send you through an unexplainable crisis in private, one where no other person (even those close to you) can help you.  I believe God has given us the book of Job to help us through these times.  For then we go through a time of crisis it is usually like Job’s crisis where no one including Job himself could explain why it was happening.  The second characteristic of this crisis that we must understand is the way we must deal with the crisis.  Sympathy will be showered on us by others when we try to handle the crisis in our own strength.  However, the true work of the crisis does not come until we deal this the crisis with God and God alone.  This process is just like offering a sacrifice, it must go through the fire, be purified and set apart for God’s use.  The third and last characteristic that happens in your life is when another crisis arises, you now realize that God is always presence, even though you might not be able to see him.  Any crisis that is faced after going through this process will no longer touch us like they did in the past.  People will see the change in you but cannot usually explain it unless they have been through this process too.

Reading verse one the words “for you lifted me out of the depths” seem to describe those to whom the Lord uses for his special purposes on this earth.  It is the process of regeneration, of Christ living in us, that transforms us into an instrument that God can use for his ministry.  We are to present ourselves to God as a clean vessel fit for the Lord’s use. As you read this Psalm notice how it is God that makes things happen.  He is the one that lifts me up, heals me, brings me up from the grave, spares me from the pit, who favors me, makes me stand, who turns my wailing into dancing, and removes my sorrow and clothes me with joy.  This psalm reflects the life of one walking in God’s way, who has realized it was God that has given the victory over the ones that seek to destroy their life on this earth.