Living In A Broken World

Psalm 30

Jim Davis

The first book of Psalms (1-41) is mostly psalms of lament. The writers mediate on God’s involvement in their lives as they seek help in their troubles. They are fighting foes from without and from within as they struggle to see God. 

Psalm 30:1-12
I will exalt you, Lord,
    for you lifted me out of the depths
    and did not let my enemies gloat over me.
Lord my God, I called to you for help,
    and you healed me.
You, Lord, brought me up from the realm of the dead;
    you spared me from going down to the pit.
Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people;
    praise his holy name.
For his anger lasts only a moment,
    but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may stay for the night,
    but rejoicing comes in the morning. 
When I felt secure, I said,
    “I will never be shaken.”
Lord, when you favored me,
    you made my royal mountain stand firm;
but when you hid your face,
    I was dismayed.
To you, Lord, I called;
    to the Lord I cried for mercy:
“What is gained if I am silenced,
    if I go down to the pit?
Will the dust praise you?
    Will it proclaim your faithfulness?
Hear, Lord, and be merciful to me;
    Lord, be my help.”
You turned my wailing into dancing;
    you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.
    Lord my God, I will praise you forever.

The writer of Psalm 30 once had it all; now all is lost as he finds himself looking up as he descends in his troubles. He looks back on life when everything seemed great and secure. There was health or wellness or security or prosperity, maybe he had it all. Suddenly the momentary mountain top experience is over.

When I felt secure, I said,
    “I will never be shaken.”
Lord, when you favored me,
    you made my royal mountain stand firm;
but when you hid your face,
    I was dismayed.

Most of us know how quickly the mountain top experiences can collapse. It may be the loss of a child, loss of a job, financial troubles, relationship gone sour, marriage, divorce, loss of health or a myriad of other things. It maybe that you just traveled through the most uncertain year of your life, and there still seems to be no end in sight (2020). Most of us have spent some time at the bottom looking up at the mountaintop we once ascended.

Psalm 30 is written from the viewpoint of one who had it all and who lost it all. He looks up from the seemingly bottomless pit he is descending into as he laments his predicament.

“What is gained if I am silenced,
    if I go down to the pit?
Will the dust praise you?
    Will it proclaim your faithfulness?
Hear, Lord, and be merciful to me;
    Lord, be my help.”

The pit he sees himself descending into may mean the grave or he may be thinking it might as well be the grave. Psalm 30 really doesn’t support the modern day health, wealth and prosperity message. The message of Psalm 30 is that God is present in joy and in trouble. God is involved in all of life. It doesn’t reveal health, wealth and prosperity are a sure thing.

What was wrong with the psalmist was his attitude. He just took it all for granted. And when it went away, “I was dismayed.” No doubt he stood there in unbelief wondering why God turned his back on him; especially after such blessings.

Never Lose Sight of God’s Involvement

The psalmist believes God has hid his face from him. It is a daring act of faith to see God involved in all parts of our lives. The psalmist allows us to see God’s presence in joy and pain—in success and failure—in all of life. The psalmist is a strong believer in God’s providence. However weak his faith, in the midst of life and death—he believes he is not alone. Therefore he prays for deliverance in the crisis.

I think one thing the psalmist sees we rarely see—the value of our lives to God. He understood how important it is for the world seeing the faithful people holding to their faith in every possible circumstance thrown at them.
 
“What is gained if I am silenced,
    if I go down to the pit?
Will the dust praise you?
    Will it proclaim your faithfulness?
Hear, Lord, and be merciful to me;
    Lord, be my help.”

You may have wondered what kind of argument is this for God’s help. I am but dust. I don’t deserve what I am asking for—who am I to speak to God on such terms. Yet, in this psalm we see the value of each soul to God—we see God who is not so arrogant that he needs our worship. Rather it is a God who values our purpose on earth as we reflect his glory to the world. In humbly reflecting our faith in God we reflect God’s faithfulness to his people. It allows God’s drawing power for others to work through each of us.

God’s witness through his people is important as it allows the world to see God through each of us. When God was about to destroy the Hebrews for their rebellion, Moses reminded God that the world was watching. Moses suggested the world would just think God brought the Hebrews out in the wilderness to die with evil intent. He reminded God he had made promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. How would it look if you broke your promises (Exodus 32:9-13) When Rahab spoke to the spies she hid in Jericho she told how Jericho witnessed what God was doing with the Hebrews as they came out of Egypt.

Joshua 2:8-11
“Before the spies lay down for the night, she [Rahab] went up on the roof and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you.We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.”

The world needs to see God’s people reflecting their faith in God when they go through their darkest storms. In all of David’s struggles the world saw him as a man after God’s own heart. They also saw God’s faithfulness as he established David’s kingdom and placed David upon the throne. David’s descendant, Jesus Christ, sits upon David’s throne today as a testimony to God’s faithfulness to each of us.

The Psalmist cries out, “Hear, Lord, and be merciful to me; Lord, be my help.” God is there in the pit to help just as he is there on the mountain tops. God is involved with us as we descend into troubles. He doesn’t totally desert us.

The arrogance of Joseph led him into a pit. He had a dream that he would rule over his brothers. He reminded them of his dream every chance he got. They were jealous.They threw Joseph into a pit. They sold Joseph into slavery. He became servant to Pharaoh. Spent seven years in Egyptian prison falsely accused of violating Pharaoh’s wife. God came to him in that pit allowing him to interpret a dream for the Pharaoh.

Genesis 41:15-16 
Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”

 “I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.”

Genesis 41:39-40
Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.”

Joseph is exalted as second only to Pharaoh in all of Egyptian. God’s influence on Egypt through Joseph made it possible to bring his people to Egypt. What a testimony to what God can do through one person. We may be nothing but dust but God’s purpose for each of us is beyond our wildest dreams.

Joseph is 30 years old when he was put in charge of Egypt. 

Genesis 41:50-52
Before the years of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh and said, “It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.” The second son he named Ephraim and said, “It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.”

In Psalms 30 the writer praises God for his deliverance.

I will exalt you, Lord,
    for you lifted me out of the depths
    and did not let my enemies gloat over me.
Lord my God, I called to you for help,
    and you healed me.
You, Lord, brought me up from the realm of the dead;
    you spared me from going down to the pit.
Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people;
    praise his holy name.
For his anger lasts only a moment,
    but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may stay for the night,
    but rejoicing comes in the morning.

You turned my wailing into dancing;
    you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.
    Lord my God, I will praise you forever.

The psalmist lived to witness God’s faithfulness to each of us as we read this ancient psalm. In the psalmist’s life, David’s life and Joseph’s life we are allowed a view of how God is involved in our personal worlds. God was in each of their lives before they descended into their personal pits. He remains in their lives in their descent into the self made pits.

We remain favored by God in spite of our pitfalls.

For his anger lasts only a moment,
    but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may stay for the night,
    but rejoicing comes in the morning.

Conclusion:

Psalm 8 is a psalm that reminds us of our position before God regardless of our circumstances. God is depending upon each of us to take care of the world we live in as we reflect the glory of the One who created it. 

Psalm 8
Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
    in the heavens. 
Through the praise of children and infants
    you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
    to silence the foe and the avenger.
When I consider your heavens,
    the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
    which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    human beings that you care for them? 
You have made them a little lower than the angels
    and crowned them with glory and honor.
You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
    you put everything under their feet: 
all flocks and herds,
    and the animals of the wild, 
the birds in the sky,
    and the fish in the sea,
    all that swim the paths of the seas.
Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!