Psalm 30, a Psalm of David, a song at the dedication of the temple.
I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up and have not let my foes rejoice over me.
O Lord, my God, I cried to you for help and you have healed me.
O Lord, you have brought up my soul from Sheol.
You restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.
Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints.
Give thanks to his holy name.
For his anger is but for a moment and his favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.
As for me, I said in my prosperity, I shall never be moved.
By your favor, O Lord, you had made my mountain stand strong, but then you hid your face and I was dismayed.
To you, O Lord, I cry.
To the Lord, I plead for mercy.
What profit is there in my death if I go down to the pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it tell of your faithfulness?
Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me.
O Lord, be my helper.
You have turned for me my mourning into dancing.
You have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness.
That my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
Amen.
O Lord, my God.
I will give thanks to you forever.
Amen.
Well, how fitting is it for us to hear God's word from Psalm 30 on a special day like this one?
It was King David who authored it, which is always of special interest to us.
But he had a specific purpose for this song.
As you'll see in the superscription, he assigned it for worship at the dedication of the temple,
which was a service we read about a moment ago.
It actually took place quite a bit after his death.
The question is, why this song?
It says absolutely nothing about the temple.
Why would David write this one and put it to music and decide, even before his death,
that whenever the dedication of the house of God comes,
that this is what Israel should sing as part of their worship on that day?
What did David want to be foremost in Israel's worship on such a momentous day?
Well, it isn't a song of praise to the God who gives his people wonderful places in which they can worship.
That's not what the song is.
Certainly, we want to do that.
We want to praise God for his provision and for his faithfulness and the kindness and goodness of his hand
that would do such things, but that's not what the song praises the Lord for.
It's a song of praise to the God who rescues his people from death
in order that he might give them life.
That's what the song is about.
That's what David wanted to be foremost in Israel's mind.
Now, the setting of the psalm, it reminds us that David is reflecting on a time when he was as good as dead.
And as we read through it, we find that he felt he was as good as dead,
not because of some enemy in his life,
but because he was actually facing the judgment and the wrath of God for his sin.
Eventually, he repents.
And when he repented, God's anger was assuaged,
and God mercifully delivered David from this death.
And so, in response to this great salvation that God has given him,
he says in the end he will praise God forever.
His thanksgiving to God will always be on his lips for the rest of eternity
for this great gift of life and salvation.
So then, in the dedication of the temple,
the king then is leading his people in joyful worship
for a life that will never come to an end.
That's the theme of the psalm.
That's the summary of it.
The exact moment that David is recalling in his life isn't specified here,
but it's hard to ignore how closely this psalm tracks
with a specific moment in David's life.
You can read about it in 1 Chronicles 21.
It was a specific sin of David's life recorded for us
when he numbered the people.
It was a census that he engaged in
in order that he might determine
how many mighty warriors are actually at his disposal,
thinking that his victory and his triumph
would come at the hands of men,
which you would understand to be a great problem for the Lord.
It was a grievous act of pride.
It came in a season of prosperity,
and that comes through in the song as well.
And what we find when we read 1 Chronicles 21
is that God's judgment was severe.
In the end of it, 70,000 of those men that David numbered
were killed by a pestilence at the hand of the judgment of God.
The account ends with God mercifully staying his hand.
The angel of the Lord, we're told in that chapter,
is prepared to bring destruction to the city of Jerusalem.
The angel has situated himself on a place,
a threshing floor that belonged to a man named Ornan.
David and his company, they go to where this angel is,
and it's at that place that David cries out to God
and begs for him to stay his anger and to show mercy
and to kill no one else,
not to destroy the city of Jerusalem.
And God hears his cry,
and he stops his judgment.
And then he gives David a command
that he said, build an altar on that place
where the angel of the Lord was sending forth this destruction.
And that's exactly what David does.
He builds an altar,
and then he purchases Ornan's threshing floor,
and he designates the site of Ornan's threshing floor
to be the place where the future house of God,
the temple of Israel, would be built.
It's fitting then that when we come to Psalm 30,
that we would think of David's connection
between this psalm and the dedication of that very temple.
David wanted the people to remember on that day
not that God can prosper them to build magnificent structures.
He wanted them to remember on that day
that God is a God of mercy
and that salvation from his own wrath
is what he offers his people.
At the heart of the psalm is an invitation
to join in the king's praise.
It's a call for us to give praise to the God of life
for salvation from death
is given to all who will belong to him by faith.
And we know that this life
is provided through not David,
but the greater David, Jesus,
who ultimately fulfills the meaning of the psalm.
So then all of King Jesus' people
may then join him in his song of praise
to the God of life.
There's five stanzas in the psalm.
I'm gonna group them together into three sections.
In the first section,
we see that we are to praise the God
who raises the dead.
We praise the God who raises the dead.
Look at the first three verses.
I will extol you, O Lord,
for you have drawn me up
and have not let my foes rejoice over me.
O Lord, my God,
I cried to you for help
and you have healed me.
O Lord, you have brought up my soul from Sheol.
That's the realm of the dead.
You restored me to life
from among those who go down to the pit.
The word pit there
is gonna be used later in the psalm,
but it's a different Hebrew word.
It means something different later in the psalm.
Here, it just means a pit,
a hole in the ground
where you put the dead body
and you commit it back to the earth.
David says,
you have restored me to life from that place
and from among those
who are placed in the ground
in order that they may decay
and be corrupted.
That this is a song of praise
is clear from the opening determination
that he will extol the Lord.
You'll notice the king's praise here,
David's praise,
it is not at all perfunctory.
He doesn't merely go through
the motions of worship
seen in dull
and routine acts of ritual.
So often we fall into Sunday by Sunday.
That is not what's happening in the psalm.
No, this praise is passionate.
It's sincere.
It's enthusiastic.
Three times in the first three verses,
nine times overall for the whole song,
but three times in the first three verses,
he uses the covenant name of God.
One time adding in the intimately personal,
my God,
oh Lord,
oh Yahweh,
my God,
you have healed me.
You have brought me up.
You have restored me to life.
Why is that significant?
What God has done for David
is the outworking
of his covenant faithfulness.
He's fulfilling a promise
to David in this.
David recognizes that
and he employs this covenant name
that represents the faithfulness of God
and the covenant of God
to his king and to his people.
He's fulfilled that promise
and enthralled
by the goodness of God,
David responds
with this opening shout of praise
for what God has done for him.
But what exactly is it
that God has done for him?
How has he so fulfilled his covenant?
How has he so thrilled his king?
He's restored him to life
from certain death.
David here was not merely
on the brink of death,
but it was such a death
that comes from God's own wrath
against him.
It wasn't ordinary danger
in which we ask God
to simply rescue us
from worldly enemies.
God himself was the danger.
God himself was the one
against David
in this moment.
And knowing the severity of God,
David writes
as if he were truly dead.
And yet God raised him
from that death,
delivering him
from his own judgment.
He, quote,
drew him up from death
as one would draw water
out of a well.
Why?
So that David's enemies
and the enemies of God
would have no reason
to rejoice in his death.
That's not just death.
That's a specific kind of death
that would bring shame to David
and to the people of Israel
that would be able to rejoice
and say,
see, this God you've trusted in
is worthless.
That's what he's been drawn up from.
It's not just about dying.
It's about death by judgment.
Strikingly,
David speaks of it
in terms of resurrection.
In verse 3,
God has rescued
not merely his body
from danger,
he has rescued his soul
from the realm of the dead,
from the nether regions.
He has restored him to life
from the grave itself.
And for David,
this resurrection is metaphorical,
but it's not at all difficult
for us then to see
how Jesus fulfills the psalm
in its truest sense.
See, anytime,
this is why I say,
anytime we read the psalms of David
in particular,
they're of special interest to us
because as we look back historically
to the person of David,
it's as if we're seeing King David
there waving at us with one hand,
welcoming us in to his intimacy,
to his real experience.
But then with the other hand,
he's pointing us to someone else.
He's saying,
you can see what's happening here,
but it's fulfilled there.
And he's pointing toward the Lord Jesus,
the true and better David.
And that's what's happening here in the psalm.
David's life is foreshadowing
the death and the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ.
So then as we praise the God
who raises the dead,
we must first look with praise
to the resurrection of Jesus Christ
for that is how we know for sure
that God really is the one
who raises the dead.
But we can't miss where he moves
in this part of the song.
Verses four and five.
Notice,
David turns his attention to the people.
Sing praises to the Lord.
Lord,
all you his saints,
and give thanks to his holy name
for his anger
is but for a moment.
His favor though,
when you get his favor,
it's not temporary
like the judgment
that David experienced.
No,
it is life.
It's a lifetime.
It's never ending
is the implication here.
And he takes it further.
Weeping
may last for a night,
but the implication being
that night will eventually
come to an end
and it will break forth
into the joy of mourning
that has no end.
He invites us then
to join him
in this praise.
A praise
set on
the king's experience
of resurrection
before it is
our own experience
of resurrection
and life.
It's amazing.
It shows us
that this
resurrection power
is extended
to the king's people.
We may give
thanks to God
ourselves
because his
saving benefits
of mercy
and favor
are applied
to all his saints,
all those
who will love
and serve him
and obey him.
And of course
this blessing,
this blessed state,
it doesn't preclude
God's discipline.
Surely we do
at times
face his anger
and the consequences
of our sin.
Neither does it
deny the real
experience of grief.
Weeping does come
even for the saints.
But we may rest
in the fact
that our trials
are but momentary.
the favor
of the Lord,
the joy
of the Lord,
it has no end.
Even when it
comes to death
itself,
we understand
as saints
of God
that that death
is but momentary.
It is a weeping
that lasts
only for a night
but breaks forth
into life.
And the life
that he gives,
it's true,
it's unending.
And those of us
who have received
it by faith
must join
the king's song
of praise
to God
who raises
the dead.
This is not
the only reason
that we are
praising God
here.
We praise the God
who raises
the dead
but then we
praise God
who responds
to our cries
for mercy.
Look at verses
six and seven.
As for me,
I said in my
prosperity,
I shall never
be moved.
By your favor,
O Lord,
you made my
mountain stand
strong
but then you
hid your face
and I was
troubled.
I was dismayed.
In these two
stanzas,
David is
rewinding the
tape,
so to speak.
Now,
half the room
doesn't know
what that means
but those of you
who grew up
with blockbuster
and cassette
tapes know
exactly what
that means.
He's rewinding
the tape,
so to speak,
so that he
might explain
the circumstances
that led
to the praise
that he gives
in the first
five verses.
Okay,
so we already
know from the
beginning of the
song,
God has given
him life
and it's been
magnificent.
Now,
after he's
established that,
now he's
rewinding and
he's saying,
now let me
explain just a
little bit more
about how this
all came about.
Let me explain
a little bit more
about what
actually was
happening.
In a time
of blessing,
David grew
presumptuous
and he acted
in pride.
I said in my
prosperity,
I shall never
be moved.
The implication
is that he
began to think
of himself
as self-sufficient
rather than
dependent on
grace.
God had given
him tremendous
security,
but then
suddenly he
hides his
face from
David.
He removes
his blessing
so that
David feels
as he stands
against the
wrath of God
and the
judgment of
God that
he is as
good as
dead as
he stands
before the
Lord.
Why?
Because of
his own
sin.
He found
himself to
be the
object of
God's
wrath.
It greatly
troubled him.
It should
trouble you.
He wasn't
at the
brink of
death because
of unfortunate
circumstances.
He wasn't
at the
brink of
death because
of the
threat of
some human
enemy.
He was
facing the
direct
judgment
of the
holy God.
And so
it was
with Jesus.
His
crucifixion,
despite what
some may
say,
it wasn't
the result
of
misfortune.
Neither
was he
hopelessly
caught up
in the
machinations
of Jewish
leaders or
the tyranny
of Roman
oppression and
the way that
they dealt
with who
they thought
were criminals
and insurrectionists
of the day.
That's not
what's happening
there.
On the
cross,
Jesus was
the direct
object of
God's just
wrath.
He didn't
face the
wrath of
Caiaphas.
He didn't
face the
wrath of
the Pharisees.
He didn't
face the
wrath of
Pilate or
of Caesar.
He faced
the wrath
of his
own father.
Only he
did not
face that
judgment as
a sinner
himself.
He faced
that judgment
from God
as a sin
bearer.
And in
bearing the
just wrath
of God,
Jesus stood
in the place
of sinners,
in the place
of sinners
like David.
The place
of sinners
like me
and the
place of
sinners
like you.
How did
David go
from the
object of
God's
judgment
to
extolling
God for
restoring him
to life?
The answer
is in his
prayer.
Look at
verses 8
to 10.
To you,
O Lord,
I cried,
and to the
Lord,
I pled for
mercy.
And he
gives us
what he
prayed.
What profit
is there
in my
death
if I
go down
to the
pit?
Now,
I told you
earlier in
the psalm,
it uses
the English
word pit.
It's a
different Hebrew
word.
There it
actually means
a hole
in the
ground.
Here it
actually means
corruption.
So maybe
you reflect
on a psalm
like Psalm
16,
where David
says you
will not
let your
holy ones
see corruption
or decay.
That's
quoted by
Peter in
Acts chapter
2,
that great
sermon at
the day
of Pentecost.
He uses
that to
preach the
resurrection
of Jesus
Christ.
Same word
David's now
using here.
For some
reason,
it's recorded
for us here
as pit,
but it
means corruption.
David
says,
what profit
is there
if I go
to the
grave and
I stay
there?
Will the
dust
praise you?
Will what
becomes of
my body
be any
good to
you or
to anyone
else,
Lord?
Will it
tell of
your
faithfulness?
Hear,
O Lord,
be merciful
to me.
O Lord,
be my
helper.
David
cries.
You've
heard that
dead men
tell no
tales.
They give
no praise
either.
Don't be
mistaken.
David isn't
bribing God
here as if
God has
this desperate
need to
be recognized
by us.
He doesn't
need us.
That's not
what David's
doing.
David knows
that God
will be
glorified most
in showing
mercy,
fulfilling his
covenant,
fulfilling his
promise to
David,
and preventing
him from
seeing this
corruption,
death maybe,
but not
eternal death,
not corruption,
not decay.
praying.
We can hear
Jesus
pray this
prayer,
knowing that
there would
indeed be
no profit
for anyone
if he were
left in the
grave.
There would
be neither
glory for God,
neither would
there be hope
for any of
the rest of
us.
You say,
when did
Jesus ever
pray a
prayer like
this?
listen to
the writer
of Hebrews,
Hebrews 5,
verse 7,
in the days
of his
flesh,
Jesus offered
up prayers
and supplications
with loud
cries and
tears to
him who
was able
to save
him from
death,
and he
was heard
because of
his reverence,
and he
became the
source of
eternal
salvation
to all
who obey
him,
who obey
the God
who raises
the dead.
who will
come to
the God
who responds
to our
cries for
mercy.
Isn't that
what we're
praising for
in the
psalm?
These are
the prayers
that we
repeatedly
find God
responding to
throughout the
Bible.
Over and
over,
the people
that we
feel God
see God
drawing to
are those
who are
humble and
contrite and
broken and
poor in
spirit.
Remember,
in Jesus'
own life,
he shows
this,
he shows
the glory
of God
in this
way as
he sits
with sinners
and prostitutes
and publicans,
the people
who the
Jews hated.
He sat
with them
at dinner,
not to
condone their
life or to
condone their
behavior,
but to
call them
away from
it.
The Pharisees,
those who
were high-minded
about themselves,
who thought
much of
themselves and
their religion
would come
by and
said,
why on
earth would
you sit
with them?
To which
he responds,
a healthy
man needs
no physician,
only a
sick man.
I didn't
come to
call those
who think
they're
righteous.
I came
for those
who know
they're not.
That's who
God responds
to, not
to the
arrogant and
the prideful,
those who
think they
have their
life together,
those who
think they're
going to
be good,
those who
assume
arrogantly
that God
will reward
those who
do their
best and
try their
hardest.
That is not
the God
of the
Bible.
He does
not reward
you.
He gifts
you with
grace and
that grace
is received
through this
kind of
penitence.
They are the
humble,
penitent
prayers of
those who
set their
hope on
the mercy
of God,
not setting
their hope
on what
they think
may be
good in
themselves.
The Bible
echoes again
and again
that our
righteousness
is like a
filthy rag
to God.
It means
nothing to
Him.
Our
righteousness
is not
our own.
If you
have any
hope,
it won't
be because
you stand
before Him
and say,
well,
look at how
I live
my life,
God,
and He
rewards you.
It won't
happen.
We just
sang about
it.
When Satan
tempts me
to despair
and tells
me of
the guilt
within,
my real
guilt,
my own
sin,
upward I
look and
see Him
there who
made an
end to
all my
sin.
Because the
sinless
Savior died,
my sinful
soul is
counted free.
For God,
the just
one,
is satisfied
to look
on Him
and pardon
me.
Not to
look on
me,
to look
on Him.
Who
is it
that God
responds
to?
Whose
prayers
does God
actually
hear?
Not the
prayers of
the spiritually
arrogant,
but the
prayers of
the humble,
those who
cry out
for mercy.
Don't you
realize that
God invites
you to
do this?
Isaiah
1,
18,
come now,
let us
reason together,
says the
Lord.
Though your
sins are
like scarlet,
I will
make them
white as
snow.
He invites
you,
come to
Him to
receive this
mercy.
Micah 7,
who is a
God like
you,
pardoning
iniquity,
passing
over
transgression
for the
remnant of
your people.
He does
not retain
His anger
forever,
but He
delights
in steadfast
love.
Psalm
130,
3 and
4,
if you,
O Lord,
should mark
iniquities,
if you
should count
sins,
O Lord,
who could
stand?
Answer,
no one.
But the
psalmist
continues,
but with
you there is
forgiveness,
that you
may be
feared,
that you
may be
loved and
obeyed and
revered,
not merely
because of
your greatness,
but because
of your
mercy.
Lamentations
3,
21 and
23,
but this
I call
to mind
and therefore
I have
hope,
that the
steadfast
love of
the Lord
never ceases.
His
mercies
never come
to an
end,
they're
new every
morning,
great is
your
faithfulness,
O God.
Or if you
need a
New Testament
passage,
how about
Jesus'
own words
in Matthew
11,
come to
me,
all who
labor and
are heavy
laden,
who's he
talking to?
He's talking
to all of
those people
who are
working so
hard to
earn something
from God
that they'll
never be able
to earn.
He says,
you,
come to
me,
I'll give
you rest
from those
laborers.
Come to
me and you
will find
rest for
your soul.
Perhaps you
would prefer
Paul.
Whosoever
will call upon
the name of
the Lord,
will be
saved.
Perhaps you
like Andy's
passage better
from earlier
in the
service.
If you
say you
have no
sin,
you're a
liar.
But if you
confess your
sin,
he is
faithful
and just
and will
forgive your
sin and
will cleanse
you from
all unrighteousness.
Our
righteousness is
not our
own.
It's an
alien
righteousness.
It's
imputed
onto us.
It's the
righteousness
of Christ.
As he
stands
condemned
in our
place,
he then
puts his
righteousness
on his
people.
David can
extol God
who raises
the dead
because he
had personally
experienced
God who
responds to
our cries
for mercy.
And it's
because of
this experience
that he
could affirm
that God's
anger is
indeed only
for a
moment,
but his
favor is
life.
God saves
from himself,
mind you.
He saves
from himself
all who
will acknowledge
their sin,
turn to him
in faith,
and seek
his mercy.
And those
who have
received it
can thus
join in
this song
of praise.
But you
can't join
this song
of praise
until you've
gotten there.
Notice
again,
verse 4,
who is it
that's called
to join
the king
in this
praise?
Not
everyone.
Not
everyone.
His
saints,
those who
have done
as David
has done,
those who
will look
to Christ
by faith
and will
love the
Lord and
trust him
and cry
out for
his mercy.
That's
who can
sing the
song.
So we
praise God
who raises
the dead.
We praise
God who
responds to
our cries
for mercy.
Finally,
we praise
God who
rejoices
our hearts.
Rejoices
our hearts.
Verses 11
and 12.
It's wonderful
here.
David moves
on from this
experience and
he returns
to praise.
You have
turned for
me my
mourning into
dancing.
That's why we
know David
wasn't a
Baptist.
You have
loosed my
sackcloth.
You've
clothed me
with gladness.
Why?
So that
my glory
may sing
your praise
and never
be silent.
And then
there's this
promise he
gives.
Oh Lord,
my God,
I will
give thanks
to you
forever.
God's
judgment,
it clothes
us in
grief.
You
consider
your sin
when you
really
confront
the glory
of God
and God
confronts you
with that
glory.
glory,
you should
be dismayed.
It should
bring you
grief.
That's why
our service
is structured
the way
that it
is.
We begin
by looking
to the
greatness
of God
and then
immediate
from there
we go
to humility
and a
confession
of sin.
Because to
really see
God for
who he is
means you're
really going
to see
yourself for
who you
are and
that will
produce
grief.
His
judgment,
it closes
with grief.
But when
we turn
to him
in repentance
and faith
he removes
the sackcloth
of our guilt.
But he
doesn't just
remove the
sackcloth
of our guilt
he puts
in its
place
the joy
of our
salvation.
He clothes
us then
with gladness
and the
fruit of
this gladness
is endless
praise.
Those
whom God
has made
glad
cannot
help
but sing
his praise
not merely
with their
lips
but with
their whole
being.
This
praise,
this promise
of worship
here moves
beyond merely
singing a set
of songs
on a Sunday
morning.
If that's
all this
was this
would not
be as
exciting
as it
actually
is.
It's
not just
about that.
It's a
life that
is wholly
dedicated
to God's
glory.
It is
the genuine
fruit
of real
salvation.
Not only
the song
that you
sing
but the
life
that you
live
and the
way that
you obey
him
and the
way that
you love
him
and the
way that
you love
his people
and his
church
and the
way that
you commit
yourself
to worship
and the
way that
you commit
yourself
and all
that you
do not
for your
own
pleasure
but for
the
pleasure
of the
God
who has
given
you
life.
That's
what this
is.
Consider
your own
life for
a moment.
Is your
life truly
dedicated to
God's
glory?
Not because
you think
in some
kind of
commitment
you will
earn something
from him
but because
you cannot
help but
recognize what
he has done
for you
and you
will give
your life
to his
glory
and to
his gospel.
Is that
your life?
That's the
Christian life.
That's what
it means to
be a
Christian.
It means
to recognize
the goodness
of Christ
and live
the rest
of your
days in
light of
that.
Has
he turned
your mourning
into dancing?
has
he turned
your
weeping
into joy
and your
sorrow
into
gladness?
And if
you believe
he has
the question
is
is that
actually
evidenced
in the
fruit of
the life
that you
live
and in
the way
that you
worship
or in
whether or
not you
worship
at all?
Perhaps
you've
come here
this morning
thinking that
everything is
good but
the reality
is your
life proves
that everything
is not
good.
You may
feel good
about it
but it's
not very
good.
David
ends the
song with
a promise.
He will
give thanks
to God
forever.
How can
he do
that?
Is that
not its
own kind
of presumption
and pride
that he
would expect
to live
forever?
Well that
promise is
rooted in
a promise
from God
that for
David
there will
be a
forever
in which
he may
give thanks
and he
is committed
to doing
just that.
He
anticipates
here a
more profound
salvation
that goes
beyond
whatever
earthly
experience
provides the
background
of this
song.
It's
moving
past that.
That's
not what
he has
in mind
at the
end.
Because
God
has
delivered
him
from
death
he
believes
truly
that
God
will
also
deliver
him
through
death.
This is
what Paul
is on
about.
In 1
Corinthians
15 he
says
the last
enemy
to be
destroyed
is
death.
That
means
you
will
die.
Victory
is not
in avoiding
that.
Victory
is coming
through
that
to receive
a life
that moves
beyond
this one.
That's
what David's
on about
at the
end.
How could
we be
hopeful
for such
a thing?
The hope
of this
eternal
life
is assured
to us
in the
resurrection
of Christ
who ultimately
fulfills
David's
words here.
Christopher
Ash
writes so
helpfully,
David's
rescue from
death was
somehow
necessary for
the glory
of God
and yet
David
died.
Do you
see what
David is
promising
here is
not that
if you
just do
everything
that he's
telling you
to do
you will
never
actually
die.
That God
will never
allow you
to actually
face death
itself.
That's not
what the
psalm promises.
David
died.
So the
fulfillment
of the
psalm
has to
await
something
else.
It
awaits
actually
the
resurrection
of
Jesus
Christ.
The
hope of
this
psalm
it
doesn't
ultimately
rest in
David's
deliverance
from the
danger
of death.
It
rests in
Jesus'
resurrection
from death
itself.
That's
where the
hope is
here.
Concealed
in mystery
with David
he's but a
shadow
but the
substance
of that
shadow
in
psalm
30
is the
Lord
Jesus.
Our
hope in
singing this
song of
praise to
God
is not
finally to
live a
longer life
to extend
our days
on earth.
That's not
why we would
sing this
song in
praise.
It's not
what we're
looking to
do.
It's not
what you
should be
looking to
do.
That's not
the heart
of it.
It is to
receive
eternal life
that comes
through faith
in the
Lord Jesus
Christ.
Who bore
our sins
in his
body on
the tree
and was
raised from
the dead
so that
your faith
and hope
are in
God
writes Peter.
Jesus
himself says
if you
remember the
story with
Martha and
Mary and
Lazarus and
Lazarus' death
and Jesus
raising him.
What is it
that he says
to Lazarus'
sister?
I am the
resurrection
and the
life.
Whoever
believes in
me
though he
die
will live.
That's the
fulfillment of
what David
writes here.
We don't
look to
David with
joy.
We look
to Jesus
with joy.
This is
what David
wanted Israel
to think
of as they
dedicated
the temple.
It's what we
should think
of every
time we
come to
this place.
Sunday
by Sunday
singing our
song of
praise to
the God
of life.
You know
that's why we
gather on
Sunday.
Right?
It's to
celebrate the
resurrection of
Jesus.
For us
every Sunday
is Easter.
It really
is.
We receive
this life
life.
We just
acknowledge
before we
close.
That if
you do
not receive
this life
and if
you go
to
corruption
and you
face
God's
eternal
wrath and
judgment,
it won't
be because
God was
mean to
you.
It will
be because
in this
moment and
in moments
like it,
when you've
heard the
truth of
the gospel,
you ignored
it and
you rejected
it and
you denied
it.
You will
go to an
eternal hell
because of
you and
no one
else and
nothing else.
But there
is hope
for you.
He extends
this offer
of life
through Jesus
to you
if you
will but
come to
him for
it.
Turn from
your sin
and self
and your
self-sufficiency
and your
self-satisfaction
and everything
you think is
good about
you and
cry out
to him
because
truly,
whoever
will call
out to
him in
Christ
will be
saved.
And if
you turn
to Christ
today,
this life
will be
yours.
And we'll
look forward
to seeing
you next
Sunday
as we
gather
again
to praise
the God
of life.