This is Spoken Gospel.
We’re dedicated to seeing Jesus in all of scripture.
In each episode, we see what’s happening in a Biblical text,
and how it sheds light on Jesus and his gospel.
Let’s jump in.
This psalm was written for the dedication of the temple in Israel.
But strangely, it sounds like the psalm is describing an individual.
That’s because the psalmist’s personal story of suffering mirrors Israel's national story with her temple.
The psalmist called out to God and was lifted out of certain death.
Israel, too, was lifted out of their death in Egypt after calling to God for help.
The psalmist’s escape from death was like a resurrection. In the same way, Israel’s exodus from Egypt was like a corporate resurrection from the dead.
The psalmist was made solid like a mountain by God’s presence and favor.
Israel, too, experienced God’s favor and presence on an actual mountain called Sinai.
But the psalmist sinned, and it seemed God’s anger would make his presence go away from him.
Well, Israel also sinned at Mt. Sinai with their golden calves and God’s anger put his presence on the line.
So, the psalmist begs God to save him, challenging God to consider if his death will bring God any praise.
Israel too, through Moses, challenged God to consider if their dying at Sinai would give God any praise as well.
Graciously, God answers the psalmist’s request and turns his wailing into dancing.
God also answered Moses’ request and brought his presence into the tabernacle, Israel’s first temple.
Like the psalmist, their mourning was turned into dancing.
Now, all of this proves one main point, which stands in the center of the psalm. God’s anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime.
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Psalm 30 pictures God’s presence filling the temple like a person rising from the dead.
But what can only be a metaphor in this psalm becomes true in Jesus.
And that's because Jesus is God himself, the perfect combination of the localized presence of God and an individual human.
That’s why Jesus compared his own death to the destruction of the temple.
Like the psalmist and Israel, Jesus cried out to God when faced with certain death.
But unlike the psalmist and Israel who were saved even though they sinned,
Jesus went all the way to the grave even though he was sinless.
All the anger against the sins of the psalmist, Israel, and the world—the sins that put God’s presence on the line—was experienced by Jesus on the cross.
But unlike the psalmist’s and Moses’ challenge that death would not bring God praise,
Jesus earns God praise from the grave.
The temple of Jesus’ body was lifted up when he was raised from the dead.
So now, anyone who calls out to Jesus like the psalmist cried out to God, can be raised from the dead as well.
Their mourning will be turned into dancing.
God's anger only lasted for a moment on the cross so that we can experience his favor for eternity.
So, I pray that the Holy Spirit would open your eyes to see the God who raises the dead.
And may you see Jesus as the one who went into the grip of the grave to raise us up into eternal life with him.