The 30th Psalm – Trading My Sorrows A Quick History of the Psalms • The Psalms are the Bible’s songbook. It is a 150-song compilation, written over the span of 1,000 years - from Moses who wrote Psalm 90 in 1400 BC, to Ezra in 444 BC. • In addition to Moses and Ezra, there were several other writers of the various songs, including King David, a couple of the Levitical clans, Asaph and his descendants, the sons of Korah, King Solomon, Ethan the Ezrahite, and 51 of the songs do not have an author listed. • The Psalms is the official songbook of the Jewish faith, having been utilized for centuries in Jewish worship and events/celebrations. And that includes Jesus at His final Passover meal before the cross, when He and His disciples very likely sang 5 of the Psalms known as the “Hallel” (Hebrew for “praise”). Jesus prepared Himself to go to the cross with Psalms of praise on His lips. • Because of it’s multiple authors, and the span of time it took to write and compile this songbook, it covers a really wide range of the human condition, and human emotions, and how we connect to God in our unique lives and circumstances. The Heartbeat of the Psalms • Some of the Psalms come across as love poems to God (Psalm 18:1-3a) • Some of the Psalms are more like angry “letters to the Editor” (Psalm 14:1-3) • Some of the Psalms as raw and honest cries for help (Psalm 17:1-2) • Some Psalms read like fan mail (Psalm 9:1-2) • And some Psalms read like personal diary entries (Psalm 31:11-12). • While the messages in the Psalms are different, the Psalms themselves are the same in that the Psalmists all express great honesty with God. John Calvin on the Psalms: “I have been accustomed to call this book … ‘An Anatomy of all Parts of the Soul’; for there is not an emotion of which any one can be conscious that is not here represented as in a mirror. Or rather, the Holy Spirit has here drawn to the life all the griefs, sorrows, fears, doubts, hopes, cares, perplexities, in short, all the distracting emotions with which the minds of men are wont to be agitated.” For the Psalmists, God wasn’t some abstract being; He was the Living God, and they sought to connect with Him in the moment – whether that was a moment of joy or great sorrow, courage or fear. And the Psalms were, for the Psalmists, a connecting thread to God. And they can be a connecting thread to God for us as well. The Songs of King David • King David, “a man after God’s own heart”, was the most prolific of all of the Psalms writers, having contributed 73 of the 150 songs. • The Psalms of David: 3-9, 11-41, 51-65, 68-70, 86, 101, 103, 108-110, 122, 124, 131, 133, and 138 – 145. • David’s Psalms were the outflow of his real-life experiences. HC Leupold: “They [the Psalms] are not the fruit of abstract meditation. They did not grow out of the study of the scholar. They were born out of real-life situations. They are often wet with tears and the blood of the writer.” • For David, God is personal and in the “here and now”. God isn’t some abstract idea, or lofty theological concept, or even some type of distant deity. God is real to David, and in return David is real with God: o Psalm 22 – “My God, my God why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?” o Psalm 18 – “I love You, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer …” o Psalm 69 – “I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting or my God.” o Psalm 40 – “I waited patiently for the Lord; He inclined to me and heard my cry.” o Psalm 35 – “Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me!” o Psalm 133 – “How good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” There was great humanity and raw honesty revealed by David as he cried out to God in these various Psalms. We should approach God just like David did, because God wants to hear from us in all circumstances, and in all frames of mind and conditions of the heart … both the good and the not so good. Background on Psalm 30 • It is titled “A Psalm of David”, so David was the author. • It is subtitled as “A Song”, which means that it was originally written to be sung joyfully • It seems that this song premiered at the opening of “the house”, which likely was at the dedication of an altar on the threshing floor of Araunah. This altar dedication took place after David had been really sick; and David understood his illness to be fallout from his sin of counting the troops (2 Samuel 24). • Psalm 30 is a synopsis of David’s approach to his conversations with God. From highs to lows. From Trust to doubt. From despair to joy. From frustration to adoration. 1 Applications From the 30th Psalm 1. Praise God (verses 1 & 12)! Our first application is to praise God, and praise Him in all circumstances! David understood the power of praising God. We are built to praise God. Psalm 30 begins and ends with David’s praising God, starting with “I will extol You, O Lord”, and ending with “O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever!”. Psalm 150 tells us “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary;”. David in Psalm 103 sings “Bless the Lord, O my soul and all that is within me, bless His holy name!”. So, praise God!. No matter our circumstances, with all that is in us praise God and His holy name. “10,000 Reasons” from the 103rd Psalm 2. Be Real With God (verses 2 & 8). Be real with God, and talk honestly with God. Like David, cry out to God in full honesty. Be transparent when we talk with God. Honest prayers connect us honestly to God – and God responds honestly. David sings in Psalm 40 “I waited patiently for the Lord, He inclined to me and heard my cry. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.” And if you aren’t sure what or how to pray, allow God to put that “new song in your mouth” by praying the Psalms. That’s one of the reasons they exist – to serve as prayer guides and prayer prompts for us. Dietrich Bonhoeffer: “The more deeply we grow into the psalms and the more often we pray them as our own, the more simple and rich will our prayer become.” U2’s song “40”, based on the 40th Psalm. 3. Worship With Others (verse 4). We are made to worship God, and worship Him as a team sport. David tells us in verse 4 “sing praises to the Lord, O you His saints, and give thanks to His holy name”. You are a saint! And so is the person sitting next to you! So join your saintly neighbor and sing praises to God. We are called to be unified in chorus with other believers as we praise God. Psalm 95:1-2 “Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise!” 95:6 tells us “Oh, come let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!” God loves to hear the voice of His people lifted together in unity, praising Him and worshipping Him. “Come Let Us Worship and Bow Down”, from the 95th Psalm 4. God’s Love Never Ends (verse 5). God may not always be happy with us, but He never stops loving us. “For His anger is but for a moment, and His favor is for a lifetime”. We may momentarily make God angry, we may for a time lose His favor, but we never lose His love. God’s anger isn’t forever, but His love and favor is. David in his sin invoked anger from God on more than one occasion. But, each time, David repented and then experienced God’s forgiveness and love. So, David sings about this truth: Psalm 36:5-7 “Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God, jour judgments like the great deep, man and beast You save, O Lord. How precious is your steadfast love, O God!”. God’s love is constant, and deep, and perfect. It stretches higher than the heavens, and it is stronger than the mountains. We can trust God’s perfect love for us, even in our sin and imperfection. And, like David, we should sing about God’s love for us. “Your Love, O Lord”, Psalm 36 5. Joy Comes (verse 5). We will have sorrow in our life, but ultimately joy comes. The second half of verse 5 tells us “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning”; just not necessarily tomorrow morning.