מִזְמוֹר שִׁיר *Psalm 30.*This psalm was a late addition to the morning prayers, appearing for the first time in the seventeenth century. Although entitled “A psalm of David. A song for the Dedication of the House,” we know that the Temple was not built in his lifetime. As a soldier and military leader he was deemed not to be privileged to build a Temple that symbolized peace (I Chr. 22:8). Hence it was built by his son King Solomon, whose name means peace and whose reign was marked by peace. Nonetheless, since it was David who conceived the plan to build the Temple, he wrote this psalm to be sung on that occasion (Rashi). In it David relates how, when his life was in danger, God delivered him to safety. Set here, it beautifully connects the dawn blessings (waking from sleep as a miniature experience of being saved from death to life) with the Verses of Praise that are about to follow (“So that my soul may sing to You”).