Psalm 130 | “Out of the Depths”
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· 11 views“O Israel, hope in the LORD; For with the LORD there is lovingkindness, And with Him is abundant redemption.” - Psalm 130:7 (NASB 95) Sunday, August 25, 2024. Psalm 130 | "Out of the Depths.” Preached to Heritage Bible Chapel in Princeton, MA. This sermon is part of an independent series of sermons on Prayer. Preaching Manuscript: https://sermons.logos.com/sermons/1348425-psalm-130-or-%22out-of-the-depths%22
Notes
Transcript
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I. The Reading
I. The Reading
Hear a reading from God’s Word.
This is Psalm 130 —
Psalm 130 (NASB 95)
A Song of Ascents.
1 Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord.
2 Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive To the voice of my supplications.
3 If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?
4 But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared.
5 I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, And in His word do I hope.
6 My soul waits for the Lord More than the watchmen for the morning; Indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning.
7 O Israel, hope in the Lord; For with the Lord there is lovingkindness, And with Him is abundant redemption.
8 And He will redeem Israel From all his iniquities.
II. The Exhortation
II. The Exhortation
Psalm 130 is a song and it is also a prayer, that encourages Israel to “Hope in the Lord.”
Verse 7 provides the encouragement of the Psalm —
7 O Israel, hope in the Lord; For with the Lord there is lovingkindness, And with Him is abundant redemption.
Israel is to “hope in the Lord,” and brothers and sisters, so are we!
All believers, across all of time, have been and are encouraged to “hope in the Lord.”
So what does this mean — to “hope in the Lord”?
First —
The command to “hope” suggests —
A conflict.
The Psalmist, as we will see, is not in a good place, and he is waiting for something he does not yet have.
He does not have what he wants.
And he does not have it when he wants it.
For the Psalmist, to hope represents the presence of a very real conflict between his expectations and his reality.
Between what he is experiencing and what he wants delivered out of.
So for the Psalmist, to hope means he must wait.
The word “hope” suggests a conflict,
but it also suggests —
The command to “hope” suggests —
A conflict.
A confidence.
To hope in the Lord means to have a confidence in the Lord.
That is, to trust the Lord.
This is not a shaky or wishful kind of hoping, as if we “hope” something turns out alright.
This is an anchoring kind of hope.
The Bible says, “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast … “ (Heb 6:19).
So for the Psalmist, to hope means he must trust.
No matter what the difficulty is, God may be trusted.
Psalm 130:7 (NASB 95)
7 O Israel, hope in the Lord; …
The command to “hope” suggests a conflict, a confidence, and lastly, it suggests —
The command to “hope” suggests —
A conflict.
A confidence.
A conclusion.
It is not a conclusion the Psalmist has experienced yet, but one that he believes will come.
To “hope” in the Lord means there will be some conclusion, some end, some answer to that hope.
The conflict will not remain “open-ended” forever.
If there is an “open” parenthesis, there will be a “close” parenthesis, when hoping in the Lord.
So for the Psalmist, to hope by waiting and trusting in the Lord, means he must also praise the Lord — both now, and when he is delivered because in the Lord, he will be delivered.
To “hope” in the Lord is the encouragement of this Psalm for the people of God, and it is also the conclusion the Psalmist comes to with his own prayer.
Notice this command to “hope in the Lord” is not given at the beginning of this Psalm, but rather, it is a command that concludes this Psalm.
So naturally we can ask — what brings the Psalmist to this conclusion, that he and all Israel, should hope in the Lord?
Why will he wait on the Lord, for what he does not yet have?
Why will he trust the Lord?
Why is he confident that he will praise the Lord?
Brothers and sisters,
Why do we wait on the Lord?
Why do we trust the Lord?
Why are we confident that we will praise the Lord — both now and forever?
Let’s learn from the Psalmists’ prayer.
The Psalmist says, verse 7 again —
7 O Israel, hope in the Lord; For with the Lord there is lovingkindness, And with Him is abundant redemption.
The first reason for why the Psalmist says to “Hope in the Lord” is Because of His Lovingkindess.
III. The Teaching
III. The Teaching
1. Hope in the Lord! Because of His Lovingkindness (1-2).
1. Hope in the Lord! Because of His Lovingkindness (1-2).
“For with the LORD there is lovingkindess” (7).
This says something about the character of the God to whom he prays.
If we can’t understand the two words merged together — “loving” and “kind,” we might be helped to also learn that this word “lovingkindess” is often translated as “mercy.”
God is full of mercy!
Meaning, God does not give His people what they deserve.
God withholds instant judgment because He is merciful (FSB?).
The Psalmist understood that he did not deserve for the Lord to hear His cry for help.
But He knows he has hope and Israel has hope in the Lord because the Lord is merciful toward sinners who do not deserve mercy.
God hears when His people cry out to Him.
BECAUSE OF HIS LOVINGKINDESS
A. God Hears
This word “lovingkindess” says something about the character of the God to whom he prays —
and this word also says something about the covenant keeping love of God.
This word “lovingkindess” is the same word that is also translated as “loyal love.”
This is the kind of love David knew of God who was His shepherd, when in the 23rd Psalm he says:
6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
This “loyal love” is the kind of love that pursues.
It describes God’s faithful love to keep his covenant promises (Ross, Psalms).
What does this mean for the prayer of the Psalmist?
What does this mean for Israel and all who hope in the Lord?
It means that because of both God’s character and covenant, the emphasis in this prayer is on the Lord!
No matter what his predicament, even if it is a result of his own faithlessness, like Jonah for example, who heard God’s word then turned and attempted to flee from the presence of the Lord —
The Psalmist has hope because he is praying, he is crying out, to a God who is full of mercy and loyal love…
Who not only hears, but also hears out of the depths.
1 Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord.
This Psalm is a “song of ascents.”
It was one of the psalms sung by Jewish travellers on the upward road to Jerusalem to celebrate the annual feasts.
For something to ascend, it must start from a low place.
The Psalmist here is starting his prayer from a very low place, “out of the depths.”
BECAUSE OF HIS LOVINGKINDESS
A. God Hears
i. Out of the depths (1).
We are familiar with a statement like this: “out of the depths.”
If we observe someone in a difficult situation, trying to do something that they cannot do -
— maybe they are not qualified, maybe they are not competent, or they are not handling something well,
— we say that they are “out of their depth.”
In the shallow end of the pool, my feet touch the ground.
In the deep end of the pool, the water is over my head.
If I can’t swim, and I’m in the deep end, I’m out of my depth!
For the Israelite, the “depths” was a reference to the sea.
And while the Israelites were not unfamiliar with the sea, they were not a sea-faring people (FSB/Ross).
Israelites usually viewed the sea as a symbol of chaos and danger (FSB/Ross).
Maybe the Psalmist is in danger.
Or maybe, “out of the depths” has a figurative meaning for turmoil or chaos in his life.
We aren’t told in the Psalm what his specific predicament is — all we know is that he is in deep trouble.
He cannot help himself.
And “out of the depths” the Psalmist does the only thing left for him to do —
He prays.
He cries out to the Lord.
Brothers and sisters, isn’t this a picture of our salvation?
The Bible says we were dead in our trespasses and sins.
We were unable to live.
The only hope that was rightfully ours was the depths of a grave.
There was nothing we could do to save ourselves — we were in over our heads — in the depths of our own depravity.
But like the Psalmist, we had one and only one hope, and it was not in our own works or in our own goodness, but in God’s work and God’s goodness that begins with the merciful character and covenant-keeping love of God.
Our only hope was to cry out to Jesus to save us!
Listen to what Ephesians 2:4-5 says about God’s mercy and love:
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
BECAUSE OF HIS LOVINGKINDESS
A. God Hears
i. Out of the depths (1).
And —
BECAUSE OF HIS LOVINGKINDESS
A. God Hears
i. Out of the depths (1).
ii. My voice (2a).
This is what the Psalmist prays for first.
He prays about his need.
Psalm 130:1–2 (NASB 95)
1 Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord. 2 Lord, hear my voice! …
What is his need?
His first need is to be heard.
The Psalmist is so far in the depths, he prays that the Lord hears his cry for mercy.
Let me ask us this question —
Do we appreciate what it means for God to hear our voice when we pray?
Psalm 8:4 asks —
4 What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him?
The Psalmist pleads for the Lord to hear his voice, which suggests that he has somehow distanced himself from God and is certainly not worthy of God’s attention.
What causes such a distance in a person’s relationship with God?
What might lead the Psalmist to be concerned that his voice will not be heard?
There is one ugly answer to that question — sin.
Consider the words of Isaiah:
1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short That it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear. 2 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.
We start to get a clue about what may have caused the Psalmist’s deep trouble.
So he prays about his need to be heard.
And he also prays about his need to be answered.
2 Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive To the voice of my supplications.
Allen Ross points to the urgency in the Psalmists prayer here.
He says the psalmist wants an answer, not an audience (Ross, Psalms, KEL).
He wants the Lord to lean over and hear better (Ross) and to respond!
That word “supplications” can be translated as “pleas for mercy.”
So the Psalmist is requesting God’s favor — God’s grace.
The Psalmist is asking God for something he does not deserve.
Indeed, anything we ask of God in prayer is for something we do not deserve …
And yet, the Psalmist is asking with hope.
Because he knows that his cries for mercy will reach the ears of God who is full of mercy, of loyal love.
BECAUSE OF HIS LOVINGKINDESS
A. God Hears
i. Out of the depths (1).
ii. My voice (2a).
iii. My supplications (2b).
— my cries for mercy.
Brothers and sisters, there is one prayer that is sure to be answered (Boice?).
It is not the prayer of a man who exalts himself.
It is rather, the prayer of a man who humbles himself.
— Who is in the depths, and knows it, and as a result, pleads for God’s mercy.
Jesus told a parable of such a man, saying —
13 But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
That’s the thing about being “in the depths.”
It is a humbling experience, bringing a person as low as they can go.
Bringing a person to the end of all human striving, efforts and attempts to change his situation.
This humility is the posture of the faithful.
1 Peter 5 says —
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, 7 casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
The Psalmist gives two reasons for why he and Israel should hope in the Lord.
Hope in the Lord! Because of His Lovingkindness.
This is God’s character and His covenant —
His mercy and his loyal love …
But this is only the first part — because this is who God is.
The next reason for hoping in the Lord, is because of what God does, as a result of who He is.
7 O Israel, hope in the Lord; For with the Lord there is lovingkindness, And with Him is abundant redemption.
God’s lovingkindness produces a loving action (Ross) called redemption.
If God’s lovingkindess points us to His character and covenant,
Then God’s abundant redemption surely points us to Christ and His cross!
2. Hope in the Lord! Because of His Abundant Redemption (3-7).
2. Hope in the Lord! Because of His Abundant Redemption (3-7).
The word redemption is a word that means “to deliver.”
For the Psalmist, redemption means more than just a deliverance from sin, but a deliverance from the depths that he is in — this includes the guilt associated with his sin.
The Lord not only redeems, but His redemption is described as abundant — numerous, plenteous.
It is always present and always active (Ross).
And for this reason, the Psalmist’s prayer doesn’t stay focused on his need.
But he turns his prayer to focus on the One who can answer His need, who can save Him, who can deliver Him —
His prayer turns to focus on His Lord.
3 If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?
The word “iniquities” can refer to the action of wrongdoing itself or the guilt caused by the sin (FSB).
Would any one of us want to see a record of every time we’ve done something wrong against God?
Or a record of every time we’ve felt guilty for something we’ve done wrong?
How long would that list be for your neighbor sitting next to you?
How long would that list be for you!?
Do we want to make this an exercise in comparisons?
We don’t — brothers and sisters.
For the truth is, if the Lord should mark iniquities, that is, if the Lord kept a record of sin, who could stand?
This is a rhetorical question that has a resounding answer — No one could stand! — Not one!
10 as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one;
11 There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God;
12 All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.”
No one could survive the Lord’s judgment if the Lord kept a record of our sins and left it to our account.
But the Psalmist prays out of the depths….with hope.
Because he knows something about the Lord.
God has a way of expunging the record.
Verse 4 —
4 But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared.
BECAUSE OF HIS ABUNDANT REDEMPTION
A. God forgives iniquities (3-4a).
The word “forgiveness” is a word that means “excusing or removing” sins.
In Leviticus, this was the forgiveness that accompanied the sin offering (Ross).
This, in part, is what we are trying to replicate when we offer a prayer of confession, and then an assurance of pardon.
Brothers and sisters, the Gospel tells us that God does not just cover sin — but God removes sin — he takes sin away!
12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
Think about a globe. If we begin at the North pole, and start heading South, at some point, we will be heading North again. I’m so grateful that God does not remove our sin as far as the North is from the South! But if on that globe, we head East, we can head East forever. We never start heading West. If we go West, we can head West forever. We never start heading East. As far as the East is from the West, so far has He removed our transgressions from us!
Romans says it this way:
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;
Romans 3:25 (NASB 95)
25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. …
That word “propitiation” does not mean to merely cover — but it means to satisfy God’s wrath for our sin.
Brothers and sisters, There is forgiveness with God! — Complete forgiveness of sin!
And God forgives for a purpose — and the Psalmist knows this!
4 But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared.
BECAUSE OF HIS ABUNDANT REDEMPTION
A. God forgives iniquities (3-4a).
B. God is feared (4b).
If we fear God, that means we are faithful and obedient worshipers of God (Ross).
This is what God desires for His people.
This is how God is glorified in His people — who fear Him, who worship Him, who obey Him.
This is the opposite of sin and iniquities — fearing God is what magnifies His name and His glory.
The Psalmist has sinned and what he needs most is forgiveness.
And with forgiveness, he will then be able to worship the Lord, His God and fear Him.
Brothers and sisters, our worship, our fear of God, is only possible because we have been forgiven by God.
[ … ]
Jesus says:
28 Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
I ask again —
Do we appreciate what it means for God to hear our voice when we pray?
Do we appreciate what it means for God to forgive our sins?
The Psalmist prays about his need — to be heard, to be answered;
the Psalmist prays about his Lord — who forgives, who may be feared.
And now the Psalmist turns in prayer to proclamation, and proclaims his response.
5 I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, And in His word do I hope.
BECAUSE OF HIS ABUNDANT REDEMPTION
A. God forgives iniquities (3-4a).
B. God is feared (4b).
C. I wait for the Lord (5a, 6).
“To wait” has the idea of eager expectation (Ross).
He says “my soul does wait.”
He is waiting with his entire being (Ross).
And He is waiting with such anticipation, he provides an illustration of how eager he is waiting with verse 6 —
6 My soul waits for the Lord More than the watchmen for the morning; Indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning.
Watchmen by nature — watch.
If the watchmen are night guardsmen, they watch for the morning to know their mission is complete.
If the watchmen are priests waiting for the morning sacrifice, they watch for the first rays of dawn (Ross).
A weather app on our phones can tell us when the sun rises and when the sun sets in our location.
For example, today’s sun rose at 6:05 AM.
But this app will go few steps further than that, and will tell us before the sun rises, before the break of dawn, when we will see what is called “First Light.”
This morning, the first light was at 5:36 AM.
This is the light we can see before the sun rises.
So if you are eagerly looking for the dawn, you would eagerly look for 6:05 AM.
But if you were looking most eagerly, more than the watchmen wait for the morning, you are looking for First Light, for 5:36 AM.
That’s the imagery here.
If the watchmen wait for the morning — for the FIRST LIGHT —
then the Psalmist waits with his entire being — not for the morning, but for the LORD!
The Psalmist is in the depths, and his prayer implies it is a result of sin, but his cry and his prayer is for the LORD — -and it is for the LORD himself that he waits eagerly!
I think about my own prayers.
How often am I looking and waiting for an answer such that I neglect the Lord Himself and His gracious provision of His presence?
How often am I praying for something, but never acting on that prayer, never eagerly expecting an answer?
Should we even be asking God for something we aren’t eagerly looking for?
This is how the Spirit helps us to pray according to God’s will — shaping our prayers and our will to what pleases our Lord.
The Bible says —
26 In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;
27 and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
And for this reason, the Psalmist not only says:
5 I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, And in His word do I hope.
What is God’s will?
It is revealed in God’s Word.
And in God’s Word we hope because —
8 The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.
Hope in the Lord! Because of his lovingkindess.
Hope in the Lord!
BECAUSE OF HIS ABUNDANT REDEMPTION
A. God forgives iniquities (3-4a).
B. God is feared (4b).
C. I wait for the Lord (5a, 6).
D. I hope in His word (5b).
The Psalmist proclaims his response, and he ends his prayer by proclaiming his praise.
3. Hope in the Lord! He will redeem from all iniquities (8).
3. Hope in the Lord! He will redeem from all iniquities (8).
This is a forward looking praise!
Something in the future…. notice the word “will — will redeem”
And a clue to what the Psalmist is waiting for.
Verse 7 & 8 —
7 O Israel, hope in the Lord; For with the Lord there is lovingkindness, And with Him is abundant redemption.
8 And He will redeem Israel From all his iniquities.
The abundant redemption of the Lord extends not only to the Psalmist’s sin, but the sin of all God’s people.
The abundant redemption of the Lord extends not just to the sin of all God’s people, but also to all the effects of sin.
The guilt, the shame, and the damage —- will all be redeemed with the Lord.
With this statement, the Psalmist looks forward with faith to Christ and His Cross.
The Christ Conclusion
The Christ Conclusion
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, who is our hope,
Who is our hope? — Christ Jesus is our hope!
Remember, “to hope” suggests a conflict, a confidence, and a conclusion.
All three of these are represented in 1 Peter 1:3-5, pointing us to our hope who is Christ.
Listen to this Gospel Proclamation:
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Jesus on the cross entered into the greatest conflict we face — the conflict of our sin that made us enemies of God, that made us at war with God.
On the cross, Jesus who knew no sin, became sin for us.
Jesus took our place and the wrath of God that belonged to ME — to us — so that we might be forgiven.
So that our sin might be removed.
So that we might be made righteous by His blood.
Jesus entered the depths of the earth — as his body was laid in a tomb.
But on the third day, Jesus rose again!
As 1 Peter says, causing us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. . .
The Psalmist hoped in the Lord, and was looking forward to the cross.
But we, Church, look back at the cross by faith, and we ALSO look forward to something.
We look forward to what 1 Peter spoke about, a salvation ready to be revealed in the last days.
We are a people who are redeemed, and have been saved, and are being saved, and will be saved.
That’s the abundant, plenteous redemption of our Lord.
And this is why we have confidence in Jesus, and we pray in His name.
It is not a confidence in our own goodness, or our own works,
but rather faith in Christ, in His goodness and work alone.
And this is a confidence we proclaim — to ourselves, and to the world.
And we do this with eager anticipation, looking forward to a great conclusion.
A pastor was asked “What’s this world coming to?”
His response — “This world is coming to Jesus.”
This world is coming to Jesus — it is all being summed up in Him!
We look forward to a great conclusion. And in the meantime, as Colossians says, we have graciously been given the Spirit of God dwelling within us —
Colossians 1:27 (NASB 95)
27 … which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Segue to Song
Segue to Song
Psalm was not only a prayer, it was meant as a song …
I Will Wait For You (Psalm 130)
Words and Music: Jordan Kauflin, Matt Merker, Keith Getty, & Stuart Townend