Psalm 30 The Resurrection from the David’s Mortal Body
A Psalm. A Song at the dedication of the house of David.
1 I will extol You, O Lord, for You have lifted me up, and have not let my foes rejoice over me. 2 O Lord my God, I cried out to You, and You healed me. 3 O Lord, You brought my soul up from the grave; You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. 4 Sing praise to the Lord, you saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name. 5 For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.
“‘A Song-Psalm at the Dedication of the House, by David.’ —Although God refused permission for David to build the Temple, God gave him promises that were more glorious than David could imagine at the time. Much to his surprise God pronounced David’s death, but then God immediately made promises about David’s seed and David’s kingdom proceeding from that very seed. First God promised that He would ‘make’ David a ‘house.’ Many think that was the temple. But He said: “‘And when your days be fulfilled, and you shall sleep with your fathers [after your death; then], I will set up your seed after you, which shall proceed out of your bowels, and I will establish His kingdom.” (2 Samuel 7:11–12) The word ‘made’ is the same very common Hebrew verb Moses used to describe that God ‘made’ the firmament in Genesis 1:7, ‘made’ the two great lights (sun and moon) in Genesis 1:16, ‘made’ the animals in Genesis 1:25, and ‘made’ man in Genesis 1:26. Therefore when YHWH says to David that ‘He will make you an house’ this means that it was a creation specifically for David by YHWH Himself, similar to the way that God made portions of the physical creation.” [“The Tomb of David and Psalm 30” by David Sielaff] In contrast, here his new body was in mind.
“For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” (2 Corinthians 5:1) ”Now it is the saints' comfort whilst they are in it, and in a view of the dissolution of it, that they have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens… which some understand of the glorified body upon its resurrection, as opposed to its frail, mortal, earthly frame in its present situation...” (John Gill)
Peter preached a sermon at Pentecost, 50 days after Jesus ascended, which gave plenty of time for the implications of His resurrection to take effect. “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses." (Acts 2:25-32) Peter only proclaimed Christ, the firstfruits of the dead, here- not those who are Christ's at His Coming.
But this Psalm prophetically looks to that future state. Hear the words of David: “‘I will extol You, O Lord, for You have lifted me up,’ The Chethîb is probably intended to be read as a participle, מיּורדי : ‘Thou hast revived me from those who sink away into the grave (Psalms 28:1),’ or’out of the state of such (cf. Psalms 22:22 )’- a perfectly admissible and pregnant construction.” (Keil & Delitzsch)— “‘and have not let my foes rejoice over me.’ O Lord my God, I cried out to You, and You healed me.’ I no longer bear about a body enfeebled and sick by mortality.” (St. Augustine)
“‘O Lord, You brought my soul up from the grave; You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.’ (2) Here is where I depart from St. Augustine. He has prejudiced beliefs of future punishment. He believes that a part of man is immortal and must live somewhere. So, he interpreted this verse thus: “Thou hast saved Me from the condition of profound darkness, and the lowest slough of corruptible flesh.” He speaks of eternal torment. “Punishment is eternal, but it consists in eternal death—i. e., the loss of eternal life or existence. This death is attended and produced by such various degrees of pain as God in his justice and wisdom thinks fit to inflict. The attendant pain with its issue in death are not two distinct punishments; but are one punishment, varying in degree of suffering according to the guilt of the object. This is the opinion which we here maintain.” (The Duration and Nature of Future Punishment by Henry Constable) “The lowest slough of corruptible flesh” is dust. God saves man from being devoid of the Spirit of God and being returned to pre-Creation state. (Cp. Genesis 2:7)
Many denominations hold the Augustine theory of future punishment. And thus they do see the resurrection throughout this Psalm. For example, the mainstream protestantism renders it: “I and my people were both about to be cut off, but thou hast spared us in mercy, and given us a most glorious respite.” (v. 1) They see this as a temporal victory. And while the language is similar, it is not a battle but the war which is won in these verses. “The Psalm must be looked upon as expressing prophetically the praise of the nation for the deliverance and when that greater house of the Lord will be on the earth (Ezekiel 40:1-49, etc.) David’s experience, of course, stands in the foreground. It is generally assumed that David was sick unto death and that the Lord raised him up. But this foreshadows the experience of the remnant of Israel. They approached [perhaps even entered] the pit, while their foes were ready to rejoice over them, but the Lord intervened, and they were saved [from the grave] and healed [or resurrected]. Then the singing begins (verse 4). Weeping had endured for a night, the dark night of tribulation, but joy came with the morning, that blessed morning for which all is waiting, when the day breaks and the shadows flee away.” (Arno Gaebelein)
The Temple was rebuilt after destruction by the Chaldeans, at the release of Judah from Babylonian captivity. This Second Temple stood at the time that Messiah sojourned with us in the flesh. And after His first miracle at a wedding, He immediately when to purge it. “So the Jews answered and said to Him, ‘What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?’Jesus answered, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ Then the Jews said, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?’ But He was speaking of the temple of His body. Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.” (John 2:13-21)
Paul taught that Jesus would come with trumpet sound (Psalm 29) and change our mortal bodies in an instant. But what of the dead?-> “There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being." (Gen 2:7) The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.” (1 Cor 15:40-50)
6 Now in my prosperity I said, “I shall never be moved.” 7 Lord, by Your favor You have made my mountain stand strong; You hid Your face, and I was troubled. 8 I cried out to You, O Lord; and to Yahweh I made supplication: 9 “What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your truth? 10 Hear, O Lord, and have mercy on me; Lord, be my helper!” 11 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, 12 to the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.
At this Great Celebration of Life, they again rehearse the experiences through which they passed. “Mourning for them is turned into dancing; the sackcloth is taken off and the garments of joy and gladness are put on. Then His glory will be manifested and will sing His praise throughout Israel’s land and the whole earth will be filled with His glory.” (Arno Gaebelein)