Otium Sanctum

Psalm 30(31) has been associated with the Passion and Death of the Lord because one of the seven last words is a quotation from it: "Into your hand I commend my spirit" (v. 6, cf. Luke 23:46). It is the prayer of a just man who is persecuted by his enemies. The psalm can be divided into three parts the last of which is a cry of exultation for God's mercy and the good things He reserves for his faithful (v. 20).

In vv. 2-9, the petitioner sees the peril around him and prays that God hurry and save him (v. 3). He addresses God under the title "Rock" with images based on it: a rock fortress (like Masada), a refuge. These are just the kind of shelters one looks in the Judean desert when pursued by enemies. One could imagine the "fortresses" that David used as refuge when he was running away from Saul.

While enemies lay traps for him (v.5), the petitioner places his life in God's hands, knowing that God is faithful to His name, "Refuge" (v.4). Inspite of the danger that howls about him like a desert sandstorm, the petitioner experiences a quiet calm, for he is aware that God knows his afflictions (v. and is secure in the knowledge that YHWH will not let him be harmed (v.9).

In vv. 10-19, the psalm turns into a full-blown lament. The petitioner describes himself as one who is wasting away due to suffering:

My eyes have grown dim with grief
My soul, my body, indeed my life is worn away with sorrow
My years waste away with every sigh
My strength and my bones, too, melt away.

He experiences the loneliness of his suffering. Even society has abandoned him.(v.12) He feels that he is a man already forgotten

I have been forgotten like the dead
like one deleted from everyone's heart
I have become like a vessel
broken and destined for the trash. (v. 13)

And then he reveals what his enemies have been doing: they conspire, they plot to kill him. But the petitioner continues to declare his trust in the Lord. He is sure that he will be vindicated (="let me not be put to shame." vv. 2.18). There are two sides to Yahweh's act of vindication, however, one in favor of the petitioner, the other against his enemies:

Let them be put to shame
let the wicked who are destined for Sheol be silenced
Strike dumb their lying lips Proud lips that attack the just in contempt and scorn.

To show that someone is right, one must also show that the others are wrong. The comeuppance of those who have scorned the petitioner is the lack of anything to say: the silence of those who are humiliated, and the deathly silence of those in the grave. Finally, in the concluding stanzas of the psalm, the petitioner acclaims the good things that Yahweh reserves for those who fear Him (vv.20-21), blesses Yahweh for his mercy (vv. 22-23) and invites all of YHWH's devotees to continue hoping in Him. (v. 24)