Psalms 30 · The Lantern

Unto the end. A Psalm of David according to an ecstasy.

In you, Lord, I have hoped; let me never be confounded. In your justice, deliver me.

For as much as someone directs their intention towards the Lord, they elevate the Lord even more, and they themselves are elevated. Hence, he says: I will exalt you, O Lord, for you have lifted me up. For the holy person exalts the Lord, while the sinner humbles Him.

Human nature did not beseech God and look for reprieve from destruction; rather, it constantly fell to wailing and weeping, with death in view and no expectation of resurrection.

Then when he says "O Lord my God," he shows how he was delivered. And first from interior evils. Second from exterior evils, at "O Lord, you have brought up." The interior evil is infirmity, either bodily or spiritual. Both of these could exist in David and in us, but in Christ only bodily, on account of his passibility: and therefore he says, "I cried out," namely David: Ps.

Incline your ear to me. Hasten to rescue me. Be for me a protector God and a house of refuge, so as to accomplish my salvation.

No one is able to exalt God unless God has lifted him up. For we are lifted up on high through the cross of Christ, who said, "When I will have been lifted up, I will draw all to me." We exalt the Lord who himself exalted the Father, and as much as he has been in him, he shows the Father to the ones who believe.

"O Lord, You have brought back My Soul from hell, and You have saved Me from them that go down into the pit" [Psalm 30:3]. You have saved Me from the condition of profound darkness, and the lowest slough of corruptible flesh.

Next he says he was delivered from exterior evils: "O Lord, you have brought up." And first from those that were imminent. Second from those from which he was preserved, at "You have saved." He says therefore, "O Lord, you have brought up," etc. This cannot be understood literally of David: because he was not rescued from hell when he composed this Psalm.

For you are my strength and my refuge; and for the sake of your name, you will lead me and nourish me.

One does not sing to the Lord by simply uttering the words of the psalm with his mouth, but all who send up the psalmody from a clean heart and who are holy, maintaining righteousness toward God, these are able to sing to God, harmoniously guided by the spiritual rhythms. How many stand there, coming from fornication? How many from theft?

"Sing to the Lord, O you saints of His." The prophet seeing these future things, rejoices, and says, "Sing to the Lord, O you saints of His. And make confession of the remembrance of His holiness" [Psalm 30:4]. And make confession to Him, that He has not forgotten the sanctification, wherewith He has sanctified you, although all this intermediate period belong to your desires.

Then when he says, "Sing to the Lord, you his saints," etc., he induces others first to give thanks. Second he commemorates the benefits, at "For there is wrath in his indignation." Where he does two things: first he shows who those are that owe thanks to God. Second, for what, at "Give thanks." He says therefore: "Sing." Behold how it is a Psalm of a canticle.

You will lead me out of this snare, which they have hidden for me. For you are my protector.

In the same way that wrath arises from the indignation of God, so even life is generated from his will. If "life" indicates knowledge, … then wrath denotes lack of knowledge. Death is a turning from life. Wrath, then, indicates death, a deprivation of contemplation.

Now, things turned out like this both in the case of Hezekiah and in the case of the salvation of everyone. After the Assyrians applied those awful threats and moved the city to weeping, they sustained the blow at night, and in the morning they filled with good cheer those whom they had forced to weep.

Second, when he says "For there is wrath," he commemorates the benefits shown to all. Where he does two things. First he proposes these benefits, which pertain to the clemency of God. Second he shows a sign of his clemency, at "In the evening." He says therefore, "For there is wrath," etc. The mercy of God is not without justice; therefore he first sets forth justice.

Into your hands, I commend my spirit. You have redeemed me, O Lord, God of truth.

You have hated those who practice emptiness to no purpose. But I have hoped in the Lord.

God is said to turn away his face when in times of troubles he permits us to be delivered up to trials, in order that the strength of him who is struggling may be known.… We pray always for the face of God to shine on us, in order that we may be in a state becoming to a holy person, gentle and untroubled in every way, because of our readiness for the good.

"O Lord, in Your will You have afforded strength unto my beauty" [Psalm 30:7]. But that this my abundance, O Lord, is not of myself, but that in Your will You have afforded strength unto my beauty, I have learned from this, " You turned away Your Face from me, and I became troubled;" for You have sometimes turned away Your Face from the sinner, and I became troubled, when the i…

I will exult and rejoice in your mercy. For you have looked upon my humility; you have saved my soul from needfulness.

I acknowledge the one responsible and shall not be reluctant to admit that all the good things I have are from you.

"Unto Thee, O Lord, will I cry, and unto my God will I pray" [Psalm 30:8]. And bringing to mind that time of my trouble and misery, and as it were established therein, I hear the voice of Thy First-Begotten, my Head, about to die for me, and saying "Unto Thee, O Lord, will I cry, and unto My God will I pray."

"To you." Next he turns to prayer, when he says, "To you, O Lord, I will cry out," etc. And first he sets forth the prayer. Second he assigns the reason, at "What profit." Third he shows that the prayer was heard, at "The Lord has heard." Concerning the first he does two things. First he prays for the removal of evil.

And you have not enclosed me in the hands of the enemy. You have set my feet in a spacious place.

The Lord's descent to earth was not useless, for it gained the whole world! Nevertheless, even after his coming in the flesh, sinners would rather be without his flesh than profit by it. You see, he took pleasure in our salvation and thought of it as a distinctive victory for himself.

It first predestined, then called; and those whom it called, it also justified; and those whom it justified, it also glorified. Will it be able to abandon those whom it has supported with such great benefits up to rewards? Among so many benefits of God, should we fear any accusations or traps from an accuser? But who would dare to accuse those chosen by divine judgment?

Then when he says, "What profit is there in my blood." He assigns the reason in two ways. First in general. Second in particular, at "Shall the dust confess." He says therefore, "What profit?" If it is explained of Christ, in the blood of Christ there was the greatest profit: Mt.

Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am troubled. My eye has been disturbed by wrath, along with my soul and my gut.

For my life has fallen into sorrow, and my years into sighing. My virtue has been weakened in poverty, and my bones have been disturbed.

The joy of God is not found in just any soul but, if someone has mourned much and deeply his own sin with loud lamentations and continual weepings, as if he were bewailing his own death, the mourning of such a one is turned into joy.… The mourning garment, which he put on when bewailing his sin, is torn, and the tunic of joy is placed around him and the cloak of salvation, thos…

"You have turned My mourning into joy to Me" [Psalm 30:11]. Whom I, the Church, having received, the First-Begotten from the dead, [Revelation 1:5] now in the dedication of Your house, say, "You have turned my mourning into joy to me.

He explains the manner when he says, "You have turned." Insofar as he speaks of Christ, he says two things. For first he shows the change from evils to good, as to interior things. Second, as to exterior things, at "You have torn." Christ had mourning at the time of the passion in himself: because "My soul is sorrowful," etc. Mt. 26. And in his own: Jn.

I have become a disgrace among all my enemies, and even more so to my neighbors, and a dread to my acquaintances. Those who catch sight of me, flee away from me.

When you granted me pardon because of my repentance and led me back into glory, taking away the shame of my sins, for this I shall give praise to you for all eternity. In fact, what space of time could be so great, that it could produce in my soul forgetfulness of such mighty benefits?

We have a basis of high repute in the evidence given by the God of all of his great affection for us: "God so loved the world," Scripture says, "that he has given his only-begotten Son so that all who believe in him may not perish but have eternal life." "O Lord my God, I shall confess to you forever": not only in the present life but also after the resurrection I shall offer h…

Then when he says, "That my glory may sing," the fruit of the hearing is set forth. The fruit is the glory of God; and that it may redound to the glory of God can be understood in two ways: either of the glory of the resurrection of Christ, or of the glory of the saints; hence he says, "My glory," given to me in the resurrection, or to be given to the saints in the fatherland,…

I have become forgotten, like one dead to the heart. I have become like a damaged utensil.

For I have heard the harsh criticism of many who linger in the area. While assembled together against me in that place, they deliberated on how to take away my life.

But I have hoped in you, O Lord. I said, “You are my God.”

My fate is in your hands. Rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from those who are persecuting me.

Shine your face upon your servant. Save me in your mercy.

Do not let me be confounded, Lord, for I have called upon you. Let the impious be ashamed and be drawn down into Hell.

May deceitful lips be silenced: those that speak iniquity against the just, in arrogance and in abusiveness.

How great is the multitude of your sweetness, O Lord, which you keep hidden for those who fear you, which you have perfected for those who hope in you, in the sight of the sons of men.

You hide them in the concealment of your face, from the disturbance of men. You protect them in your tabernacle, from the contradiction of tongues.

Blessed is the Lord. For he has shown his wonderful mercy to me, in a fortified city.

But I said in the excess of my mind: “I have been cast away from the glance of your eyes.” And so, you heeded the voice of my prayer, while I was still crying out to you.

Love the Lord, all you his saints. For the Lord will require truth, and he will abundantly repay those who act with arrogance.

Act manfully, and let your heart be strengthened, all you who hope in the Lord.

Psalms30