Why read Psalm 30?
Psalm 30 offers words for entrusting yourself to God in trouble. The psalmist places his life in the Lord's hands and encourages those who hope in Him to take heart.
You can read this psalm when its themes speak to your circumstances, or as part of your regular reading of the Psalter. This explanation draws on the text itself; the psalm is not reserved for one particular need.
Psalm 30 — “In Thee, O Lord, have I put my trust…” — is the prayer through which the Psalmist sets before God the experience of a whole hour of life. It belongs to the Fourth Kathisma and has 26 verses, which you will find below in full.
The text of Psalm 30
1. In Thee, O Lord, have I put my trust; let me never be put to shame. Deliver me in Thy righteousness and set me free.
2. Incline Thine ear unto me, make haste to deliver me. Be Thou unto me a defending God and a house of refuge, that Thou mayest save me.
3. For Thou art my strength and my refuge, and for Thy name's sake Thou shalt lead me and shalt nourish me.
4. Thou shalt bring me out of this snare which they have hidden for me, for Thou art my defender.
5. Into Thy hands I will commit my spirit; Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, God of truth.
6. Them that vainly observe vanities Thou hast hated, but as for me, I have hoped in the Lord.
7. I will be glad and rejoice in Thy mercy, for Thou hast looked upon my lowliness; Thou hast saved my soul from tribulations
8. And hast not shut me up into the hands of the enemy; Thou hast set my feet in a spacious place.
9. Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am afflicted; mine eye is troubled with wrath, my soul and my heart.
10. For my life is spent with grief and my years with groaning; my strength hath been weakened in poverty, and my bones are troubled.
11. Among all mine enemies I became a reproach, even greatly among my neighbours, and a fear to mine acquaintance. They that saw me without fled from me.
12. I was forgotten as a dead man out of mind, I became like a broken vessel,
13. For I heard the reproach of many that dwell round about, when they were gathered together against me; they took counsel together to take away my soul.
14. But as for me, I hoped in Thee, O Lord; I said: "Thou art my God!"
15. My fate is in Thy hands; deliver me from the hand of mine enemies and from them that persecute me.
16. Show Thy face upon Thy servant; save me in Thy mercy!
17. Let me not be put to shame, O Lord, for I have called upon Thee; let the ungodly be put to shame and brought down unto hell.
18. Let the lying lips be made mute, which speak iniquity against the righteous with pride and contempt.
19. How great is the multitude of Thy goodness, O Lord, which Thou hast laid up for them that fear Thee, which Thou hast wrought for them that hope in Thee, before the sons of men!
20. Thou shalt hide them under the covering of Thy face from the troubling of men.
21. Thou shalt shelter them in Thy tabernacle from the contradiction of tongues.
22. Blessed be the Lord, for He hath shown me His marvellous mercy in a fortified city.
23. But as for me, I said in my astonishment: I am cast away from before Thine eyes.
24. Therefore Thou hast heard the voice of my prayer when I cried unto Thee.
25. Love the Lord, all ye His saints, for the Lord seeketh truth and rendereth to them that deal proudly in abundance.
26. Be of good courage, and let your heart be strengthened, all ye that hope in the Lord.
When Psalm 30 is read
- It belongs to the Fourth Kathisma — the psalms are read in full in the cycle of the kathismata, at Matins and Vespers.
- At the end of each psalm, the tradition adds: "Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen."
Neighbouring psalms
The numbering follows the Orthodox Psalter (Septuagint). The same psalm may have a different number in other Bible editions.
