Псалом 30

The content of the psalm corresponds to the situation of David during the persecution from Saul. David speaks of his innocence (Ps. 30:2, 6, 19), humiliation and persecution from his enemies (Ps. 30:5–11), and humiliation from the people (Ps. 30:12, 14). David hides in a fortified city (Ps. 30:22), but despite being in the latter, he hates “the worshipers of vain idols” (Ps. 30:7). The last two expressions indicate the fact of David's salvation in Ziklag of the Philistines (see Ps. 15). The addition in the Russian Bible “in times of turmoil” is taken on the basis of Ps.30:23 v. The same addition is found in the Vulgate, LXX and Slav. Bible. Since You, Lord, are the God of truth, I trust in You alone and pray to free me from all the dangers and snares with which my enemies have surrounded me (2–5). I entrust my life to You, I hate idols and for the mercies shown to me I will sing Your praises (6-9). My present troubles are severe; my strength is exhausted, everyone is avoiding me, I hear slander all around and attempts to take my life (10–14). I expect protection from You alone: ​​do not let the enemies triumph over me (15-19). Blessed be the Lord for the mercy with which He rewards His devotees and which He poured out on me in my confusion. Let all who hope in the Lord take courage and be strong (20–25)! Ps.30:2. I trust in You, Lord, that I may never be ashamed; according to Thy righteousness deliver me; “According to Your righteousness, deliver me” - because You, Lord, love righteousness, deliver me from my enemies. Here is David's confession of his complete innocence before God, on which his confidence and request for protection are based. Ps.30:4. for You are my rock and my hedge; for Thy name's sake lead me and rule over me. Ps.30:6. I commend my spirit into Your hand; You have delivered me, O Lord, God of truth. “For Thy name's sake, lead me and rule over me.” The name of God is God of truth. David is pure before Him. So that the name of God would not be condemned and ridiculed by his enemies, David prays to “lead him,” that is, to save him from disasters, since death in the latter could be interpreted by enemies in the sense of indicating the powerlessness of God to save those devoted to Him (6). - “Into Your hand I commend my spirit” - I entrust my life to You. Ps.30:7. I hate worshipers of vain idols, but I trust in the Lord. David fled to Ziklag, under the protection of King Achish and the pagans. But this defense, without depriving David of a grateful feeling for his patrons, could not bind him to them for religious reasons: they worship idols, false gods and thereby offend the one true God - Jehovah. These are the beliefs that David hates, and they cannot bring him closer to the pagans and instill in him love and respect for them. Ps.30:9. and did not deliver me into the hands of the enemy; set my feet in a spacious place. “He set my feet in a spacious place” - he brought me out of a cramped situation to a relatively free and safe place, namely in Ziklag. Ps.30:11. My life was spent in sorrow and my years in lamentation; My strength has failed because of my sins, and my bones have dried up. David prays to God in the subsequent time of persecution, after he left Ziklag, to save him from his enemies. – “My strength has failed from my sins” is an inaccurate translation from Hebrew, it should be said from “disasters”, or as in the Vulgate “in paupertate”, and in the LXX - ἐν πτωχεία. Ps.30:12. From all my enemies I have become a reproach even among my neighbors and a terror to my acquaintances; Those who see me on the street run away from me. David was avoided by those who knew him. This is understandable: he was pursued by Saul as his personal enemy, and a close relationship with David, and relations with him of any of the Jews could have aroused suspicion on the part of Saul of patronizing him and thus incurring the wrath of the king. Ps.30:13. I am forgotten in hearts, as if dead; I am like a broken vessel, “I am forgotten in hearts, like a dead person” - no one remembers me as a dead person with heartfelt, active sympathy. Ps.30:14. for I hear the slander of many; There is horror everywhere as they conspire against me and plot to tear out my soul. “To pluck out a soul” means to take life. Ps.30:18. God! Let me not be ashamed that I cry to You; Let the wicked be put to shame and be silent in hell. “Let me not be ashamed that I call upon You” is synonymous with Art. 4. Ps.30:23. In my confusion I thought: “I am rejected from Thy eyes”; but You heard the voice of my prayer when I cried to You. “In my confusion” - in a difficult, confused state, when David did not see or find protection from people anywhere. Ps.30:24. Love the Lord, all ye His righteous; The Lord protects the faithful and rewards those who act arrogantly in abundance. The help David received from the Lord fills him with a feeling of gratitude to Him. In this fact, he also sees a comforting indication for all the righteous that the Lord will preserve them, and those who act “arrogantly”, guided in their actions not by the instructions of God, but by their own personal considerations, are punished “in abundance”, abundantly, that is, gravely, just as grave is the very offense of disobedience and rejection of God’s guidance. You might be interested in: