#DailyDevotion Call Upon The LORD Jesus For Help
Psalm 30 I praise You, O LORD, for pulling me out and not letting my enemies rejoice over me. 2O LORD my God, I called to You for help, and You made me well. 3O LORD, You lifted me up from the grave and saved me from going down to the pit.
The inscription to this psalm is translated by some as “a psalm of dedication of the temple.” The Hebrew though says literally, “a psalm of dedication of David’s house.” Those are two really different things though our houses ought to be dedicated to the LORD as little temples or shrines where we worship the LORD throughout the week. I was just talking about house dedications with my wife yesterday. She had read a recent novel with vampires where they no longer have to ask permission to enter the house because no one today gets their homes dedicated to the LORD. David was certainly not lacking strife in his house but maybe because he invited when committed adultery with Bathsheba in it. Maybe we should pick up the practice of dedicating our homes to the LORD again.
Some have conjectured David used this psalm of dedication after the Absalom debacle, when Absalom rebelled against his father, took over the house and violated his wives. The LORD dealt with Absalom and that is cause for David’s thanksgiving here. David had to retreat. Now the LORD had pulled him out of his distress and didn’t let his enemies rejoice over him. When we see the end of strife in our lives at any moment, let us give thanks to God also for respite from them ceasing.
David called to the LORD for help and the LORD made him well. David had felt as if he were at the point of death, things were so bad but the LORD saved him from going down into the pit. This is encouragement for us to go to our knees in prayer. When times are good give thanksgiving and pray for their continuance. Then when times begin to get back you will not hesitate to call upon the LORD and seek his help before it gets too bad. However, if we’ve already let it get too bad because we relied on our own resources, it’s never too late to give up, surrender ourselves to the care of our LORD Jesus Christ and the Father above and seek their help with prayers and supplications. David having been helped is encouragement to us God will hear our prayers and deliver us. Jesus’ promises to us in the Gospels that the Father hears our prayers even before they pass our lips should be our encouragement to always pray.
4Sing to the LORD, you people that He loves, and praise Him as you remember how holy He is.
As the LORD has delivered us from so many dangers and trials, as He did David, it is good to join David in singing to the LORD. We are the people He loves. We know He loves us by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. We know we are His people as He has brought His word to us and has it ever present for us. He puts His name among us and provides for us His sacraments. These are the signs we are His people and He loves us.
We should also join David in praising the LORD as we remember how Holy the LORD is. He is wholly other than us. His thoughts and ways are far above us. He reveals His holiness as He punishes evil doers in His time. We should take note when He does this as a warning to not live as they do, but also because He has given us His Holy Spirit that we may live and have our being in Him and in His ways.
Heavenly Father, hear our prayers when we come to You. Deliver us from all our enemies of body and soul. Open our lips that we may sing Your praise with thanksgiving for all you do for us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.