The text offers a dedication line that is to us rather mysterious, mentioning the dedication only of some “house.” However, given the dreadful context of the rest of the Psalm, associating it with 1 Chronicles 21 seems a good bet. As the shepherd of Israel under Jehovah’s feudal lordship, David would have taken the loss of lives quite personally. His sin of boastful pride and the depth of guilt he felt for it would have been walking through the Valley of Death for him. Given that the proper repentance included the purchase of the threshing floor as the future site for the Temple, the dedication line likely refers to that.
David feels like a bucket of water pulled from the well. Would it not be futile to now spill his life in the dust? In his mind, one of the worst outcomes is that his enemies would celebrate his downfall. Consider: With all the noise David made about being a servant of Jehovah, how would it look if his God was unable to keep him alive and on the throne? It’s not a question of whether David was embarrassed, but that God’s glory on earth was tied to David’s boasting in His name. Thus, instead of dying for that name, David would bring shame on it. How depressing could it get?
David says the Lord heard his cry of repentance. Therefore, he calls on believers to rejoice as if they had been there, too. No doubt, some would have taken their own walk through the Valley of Death, so they could really get into this song. How glorious is God, whose pique is minor and short-lived, but whose mercy and blessings fill up life? So weep in the time of darkness, but know that the hours are numbered and the dawn is sure to come.
David freely admits he stood in his own strength. He allowed his sense of good fortune to make him complacent, to forget just how completely everything depended on God’s favor. So when he lost that favor, it was worse than death. Notice the basis for his cry to God: How can I give you glory from the grave? Who among the living can hear the worship of the dead? It was all about the glory of God; no other consideration mattered. David had no argument with his final destiny and the justice of it, but felt somehow that it was a little premature, given how much he could still do for the name of the Lord.
All the more so would his sorrow be turned into rejoicing. Having tasted death, life in the Lord’s service is all the sweeter.
