| Psalms 30:1
| Unto the end, a psalm for David in an ecstacy.
| Ecstacy. This word is not in Hebrew nor in some of the best Greek copies. (Theodoret) --- It seems to be taken from ver. 23., (Calmet) and intimates that the just may recite this psalm in the latter times, (Worthington) when they shall be in the greatest perplexity. (Haydock) --- David composed it when he was obliged to flee from court, (1 Kings 19:1., and 27:1.; Calmet) or in the desert of Moan, seeing himself in the most imminent danger; (1 Kings 23:25.; Kimchi; Du Pin) though some refer this psalm to the conspiracy of Absalom, (Theodoret; Menochius) or to the unpremeditated fall of David, (Eusebius) or to the captives. (St. Chrysostom) --- Our Saviour repeated part of ver. 6., upon the cross; and he may perhaps be the object of the whole psalm. The Church prescribes only the six first verses to be recited at Complin. (Berthier)
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| Psalms 30:2
| In thee, O Lord, have I hoped, let me never be confounded: deliver me in thy justice.
| Justice. Symmachus, "mercy." Thou art the judge between us. (Calmet) --- How grievous soever I may be afflicted, yet I trust in thee. (Worthington) --- "I fear that confusion which lasts for ever." (St. Augustine) (Du Hamel)
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| Psalms 30:3
| Bow down thy ear to me: make haste to deliver me. Be thou unto me a God, a protector, and a house of refuge, to save me.
| A God. Hebrew, "a rock of strength." Septuagint, "a God who holdeth his shield over me," uperaspisten. (Haydock) --- Refuge. Hebrew, "fortress." (Calmet)
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| Psalms 30:4
| For thou art my strength and my refuge; and for thy name's sake thou wilt lead me, and nourish me.
| Nourish. Hebrew, guide. (Haydock) --- Symmachus, "take care of me." (Calmet)
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| Psalms 30:5
| Thou wilt bring me out of this snare, which they have hidden for me: for thou art my protector.
| Snare. The order to appear at court, after Saul had manifested his ill-will, could be considered in no other light. (Calmet)
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| Psalms 30:6
| *Into thy hands I commend my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, the God of truth.
| Spirit. Hebrew, ruach. Our Saviour determines the signification of this word, and shews that the saints of the Old Testament believed that the soul survived after its separation from the body, which some commentators have unguardedly said could not be clearly proved. This text may be applicable both to David and to Jesus Christ in a literal sense, as nothing contradictory would ensue, no more than from the prediction, out of Egypt I have called my son, being verified both in the Israelites and in the Messias; as both may truly be styled sons of God, though in a different sense. It is not so with that other prophecy, Behold a virgin, etc., which some say related both to the wife of the prophet and to the blessed Virgin: which cannot be, as they would not both have children, and still remain virgins. When two literal senses are admitted, they must not be contradictory. The verb is here in the future, both in Hebrew, Septuagint, and in the common Greek of the New Testament; (Luke 23:46.) though some manuscripts of the latter have the present tense, which is adopted by Protestants, etc. (Berthier) --- David commits his cause to God, being convinced that his promises would not be in vain. St. Stephen said in like manner, Lord receive my spirit; (Acts 7:58.) and "the saints use this prayer when they leave the body," (St. Jerome; Calmet) as well as on any other important occasion, particularly when they receive the holy sacrament. (Worthington) --- Redeemed, by freeing me from many dangers. The resurrection of Christ might be called a redemption; for which he had paid the price. (Berthier)
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| Psalms 30:7
| Thou hast hated them that regard vanities to no purpose. But I have hoped in the Lord:
| Vanities. Idols, (Calmet) superstitious practices, (Hammond) and lies. It may refer to Saul, who performed his promises so ill, and neglected the laws which he had made against witches. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "I have hated them that regard lying vanities." (Haydock) --- The ancient interpreters, with St. Jerome, seem not to have seen the i, which changes the second into the first person, though here it would be less agreeable to the context. This i would appear unnecessary, if the present Hebrew were correct. (Berthier) (Houbigant)
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| Psalms 30:8
| I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy. For thou hast regarded my humility; thou hast saved my soul out of distresses.
| Humility. Hebrew, "affliction, thou hast known the tribulations of my soul." (St. Jerome) (Haydock) --- Thou hast often rescued me from my enemies; and canst thou behold my present distress without pity? (Calmet) --- when God knows his friend to be in misery, he does not fail to relieve him. (Berthier)
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| Psalms 30:9
| And thou hast not shut me up in the hands of the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a spacious place.
| Place. The psalms were commonly composed after the danger was over. David had escaped the lance and the servants of Saul. (Calmet)
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| Psalms 30:10
| Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am afflicted: my eye is troubled with wrath, my soul, and my belly:
| Belly, or entrails. (Menochius) (Lamentations 1:20., and Ecclesiasticus 51:29.) (Haydock) --- David was filled with indignation at the conduct of his enemies. (Calmet) --- Both soul and body felt the effects of his great sorrow, (Haydock) which pervaded every part. (Worthington)
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| Psalms 30:11
| For my life is wasted with grief: and my years in sighs. My strength is weakened through poverty: and my bones are disturbed.
| Poverty. Septuagint have read áni instead of haoni, "my iniquity," which seems less accurate, as David had not offended Saul. Symmachus has "malice," (Calmet) or "ill-treatment," kakosin. (Haydock) --- We may form some judgment of David's distress, from his being obliged to eat the consecrated bread at Nobe. (Calmet) --- Yet without making any change in the Hebrew, we may explain it in the sense of the Vulgate, as áve signifies to be "bent down." (Berthier) --- "Chastisements waste my strength." (Pr. disc.) --- Jesus was a man of sorrows. (Berthier)
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| Psalms 30:12
| I am become a reproach among all my enemies, and very much to my neighbours, and a fear to my acquaintance. They that saw me without, fled from me.
| Among. Literally, "above;" super. (Haydock) --- Houbigant would exchange l for m, in Hebrew "to all," etc., which seems more agreeable to the sequel, and does not contradict the Vulgate. (Berthier) --- David complains that none of his enemies were treated so severely as himself, (Haydock) though they were very wicked. (Menochius) --- They all looked upon him with disdain, and even his friends fled from him. This is the picture of the world. A man fallen into distress is an object of general contempt. (Calmet) --- Yet we ought rather to remember that such a one is sacred: sacra res est miser: and that he ought to excite our compassion. (Haydock) --- Fear. People are afraid to have it known that they were ever acquainted with me, (Calmet) lest they should be involved in my misery. (Haydock) --- My friends dare not converse with me. (Worthington) Si malè res cedit, superest tibi nullus amicus: Omnia fortunae sunt inimica malae. (Lucian Anthol.) If fortune frown, no friend dares shew his face, All flee the wretched, and abhor their place.
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| Psalms 30:13
| I am forgotten as one dead from the heart. I am become as a vessel that is destroyed.
| Heart, past recovery. Protestants, "dead man out of mind." (Haydock) --- Vessel means, "any thing." (Calmet) --- A broken pot is thrown away. (Menochius)
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| Psalms 30:14
| For I have heard the blame of many that dwell round about. While they assembled together against me, they consulted to take away my life.
| About. They blame me to my face. Hebrew, "fear on every side." (Haydock) --- But magor signifies also "dwelling," as well as "fear;" and this dread arose only from the multitude of enemies. (Berthier) --- Life. I was proscribed by Saul, (1 Kings 19:1.; Haydock) and they were only solicitous how to destroy me. (Calmet) --- They assembled to talk about my pretended (Haydock) faults, and to contrive my ruin, Jeremias 20:10. (Menochius)
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| Psalms 30:15
| But I have put my trust in thee, O Lord: I said: Thou art my God.
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| Psalms 30:16
| My lots are in thy hands. Deliver me out of the hands of my enemies; and from them that persecute me.
| Lots. Roman Septuagint kleroi, as the same word, hittothai is rendered [in] Judges 21:22. Others explain "times," with the Roman Psalter, etc., in the same sense, to denote (Berthier) that all the vicissitudes of life, both prosperity and adversity, are at God's disposal. (Theodoret) --- If he protects me, all my enemies will rage in vain. (Calmet)
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| Psalms 30:17
| Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; save me in thy mercy.
| Shine propitiously, so as to free me from this storm. (Calmet) --- Make me acquainted with the right path, and deliver me. (Worthington)
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| Psalms 30:18
| Let me not be confounded, O Lord, for I have called upon thee. Let the wicked be ashamed, and be brought down to hell.
| Brought. Protestants, "be silent in the grave," (Haydock) or "in hell." This is a prediction. When I shall ascend the throne, they will be covered with shame. (Calmet) --- Let them enter into themselves before they die. (Haydock) --- Houbigant thinks that the Hebrew had formerly, "let them be silent, and descend into the grave;" which seems judicious. David inveighs against his spiritual enemies, and against manifest impiety. (Berthier)
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| Psalms 30:19
| Let deceitful lips be made dumb; Which speak iniquity against the just, with pride and abuse.
| Iniquity. Hebrew, "harsh things;" calumnies. (Calmet) --- Abuse. Septuagint exoudenosei, as if they "made nothing" of the just. (Haydock) --- They seem to acknowledge no superior, and abuse their power. (Worthington)
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| Psalms 30:20
| O how great is the multitude of thy sweetness, O Lord, which thou hast hidden for them that fear thee! Which thou hast wrought for them that hope in thee, in the sight of the sons of men.
| Men. Thou comfortest thy servants internally, and often manifestest thy protection. (Haydock) --- This thou wilt do when it is expedient, though the reward of the just in this life is generally hidden. They are, nevertheless, in great esteem with thee. (Worthington)
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| Psalms 30:21
| Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy face, from the disturbance of men. Thou shalt protect them in thy tabernacle, from the contradiction of tongues.
| Face. The malice of the wicked has its limits; while God defends his servants, admitting them as it were into his own presence and tabernacle, where none dare assault them. The Eastern princes did not allow any, but their great favourites to come into their presence. (Calmet) (Esther 5. and 15.) (Haydock) --- Disturbance. Chaldean, "troops of the strong." Hebrew, "from the pride or vexations." God will protect his friends, both from an open attack and from malicious speeches. --- Thy is not expressed in Hebrew. (Berthier) --- "From the harshness of the great ones thou wilt protect them in the shade, from the contradiction of tongues." (St. Jerome) --- How shall we avoid the danger of being seduced by contradictory teachers, unless we have recourse to the Catholic Church? Tu curre ad Eccles. Cath. et protegeris; etc. (St. Augustine) (Haydock) --- Those who are united to God by contemplation and love, cannot be disturbed by men. (Bellarmine; Menochius)
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| Psalms 30:22
| Blessed be the Lord, for he hath shewn his wonderful mercy to me in a fortified city.
| In a. Symmachus, "as in a city shut up" with fortifications. (Calmet) --- As seems to be understood, though some explain this of Ceila, (Berthier) or of Siceleg, which had been given to David for a retreat. He here apologizes for having recourse to an infidel. (Calmet)
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| Psalms 30:23
| But I said in the excess of my mind: I am cast away from before thy eyes. Therefore thou hast heard the voice of my prayer, when I cried to thee.
| Excess. Septuagint, "in my ecstacy." Hebrew, "haste." Protestants, "consternation." (Symmachus) (Haydock) --- In sudden danger I exclaimed that all was lost; but God presently relieved me. Thus He prepared David for his exalted station; having taught him by affliction, to have pity on others. (Calmet) --- He experienced for a moment a sort of diffidence, before he had time to reflect. But he presently turned towards God. A Protestant commentator, who, in general, is very guarded in his expressions, and who applies all this psalm to the Messias, here falls into a horrible mistake, which he seems to have borrowed from Calvin: "The Messias," he says, "was to experience once, what the damned will feel for ever. For the punishment of the damned properly consists in the consternation and grief which they will feel, to see themselves separated for ever from the sight of God." He refutes himself, by saying that Jesus Christ shewed us how to pray, when we are abandoned in like manner. Does any one experience here the torment of the damned? or could Jesus ever be the object of God's hatred? It would have sufficed to say that he was destitute of all exterior succour, and internally felt those torments which the gospel mentions. (Berthier) --- Eyes. This he spoke in great agony of mind, which he would afterwards have recalled, like holy Job, (Job 3.; Job 42.) (Worthington)
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| Psalms 30:24
| O love the Lord, all ye his saints: for the Lord will require truth, and will repay them abundantly that act proudly.
| Saints. Hebrew, "merciful ones;" Assideans, priests, etc. --- Truth. Hebrew, "will preserve the true;" (Calmet) or, "will observe the faithful." (Berthier) --- Abundantly. Septuagint, "that act with great pride," as St. Augustine reads, and as Hebrew and Vulgate may be rendered. (Haydock) --- The prophet exhorts all to persevere unto the end. (Worthington)
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| Psalms 30:25
| Do ye manfully, and let your heart be strengthened, all ye that hope in the Lord.
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