PSALM 30:6-12 Will the Dust Praise You?
PSALM 30:6-12
v. 9 "What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the pit?"
In Psalm 30 David uses an interesting argument to plead with the LORD that he should be healed from his sickness. He says, If I’m dead, I can no longer praise you! Is this what you want?
What do we make of David’s plea? Some have suggested that David was trying to use a clever argument to convince the LORD to save his life. But there is no indication that David was not sincere when he expressed a desire and a commitment to continue to praise the LORD.
Remember that David’s serious sickness had taught him a lesson about priorities. He had rediscovered the right purpose of life: Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever (Westminster Shorter Catechism, q. 1). As the Heidelberg Catechism says it, “God created man . . . that he might rightly know God his Creator, heartily love him, and live with him in eternal blessedness to praise and glorify him” (Lord’s Day 3). David’s near-death experience has made him realize that he had been too self-centred and confident about himself. He has now repented from this attitude and, if God allows him, he wants to tell others of God’s faithfulness (v. 9). From this perspective, David’s question makes sense: “What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you?”
It is striking that the Lord Jesus never took the words of David on his lips. He never asked, “What profit is there in my death?” not even when he was in great anguish in the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus prayed that the cup of God’s wrath would pass from him (Matt. 26:39) but he remained willing to drink it. Jesus knew that he was the shepherd who had to die for the sheep (26:31). He knew that he was the man who had to die for the nation (John 11:50–51).
Indeed, the death of Jesus has immensely benefitted all those who believe in him. And because Jesus has been raised from the dead, David’s prayer was a good prayer. And we may pray for a long life as well. Just remember why the LORD gave us life in the first place: that we would know God, heartily love him, and live with him in eternal blessedness to praise and glorify him.
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