My Soul Waits for the Lord: A Song of Forgiveness
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Psalm 130 is one of the penitential psalms. It is a wondrous text on the forgiveness of our God. Because of this Psalm’s clear and theologically deep teaching on the nature of God and his forgiving character Martin Luther described it as a Pauline psalm.
We are unsure as to the setting of this psalm, other than one thing—the author is in need of God’s forgiveness, again, because of his sin. This psalm reminds us of the every present and repeated cycle of the remedy for our sin—forgiveness and deliverance.
All of us understand what it is like to have sinned again, and to once again go before God and seek His mercy. This psalm is a manual for the proper human responsibility to the seemingly never ending cycle of sin. And when properly understood produces within us certain appropriate responses to our God- the One who forgives.
What are the appropriate responsibilities and subsequent responses to the repeated cycle of sin, forgiveness, and deliverance?
What is the appropriate human responsibility to deal with our sin in vv. 1-2?
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord! O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy!
Where is the psalmist when he cries out to the Lord?
The word “depth” or “valley” (s.v., עֵמֶק) is a figure (an implied comparison) for the trouble he was in, not unlike the “valley of the shadow of death” in Psalm 23.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Images this the depths are common in the OT to picture any kind of trouble. What other images do OT writes use for trouble? Pit, valley, miry clay, etc.
Whatever the difficulty was it was so severe that the psalmist likens it the depths. His struggle was so overwhelming that it could only be resolved by God.
As we study the rest of this psalm it will become clear that these depths were the result of the psalmist’s sin. Perhaps his depths are the result of divine discipline for his sin.
The verbs in v. 2 stress the urgency of the situation.
The first verb, “hear my voice” is in the imperative. It has the idea of “respond” to my voice. I am crying out to you O LORD, from the depths. I need you to hear and respond to why voice.
The second verb is in the jussive- “let your ears be attentive...” is the idea that the psalmist desires God to lean over with his ears as to better hear.
And what does the psalmist want God to bend over to hear better? Pleas (plural) not plea (singular)- what is the difference? His pleas are frequent and intense.
And what kind of pleas are they? Pleas for mercy! These are petitions or supplications for grace. The psalmist is crying out for undeserved kindness. He wants a gracious provision from the Lord in the midst of the depths of his sin.
Human responsibility? Turn to God and cry out in times of trouble.
What do vv. 1-2 teach us about God?
He alone has the power to deliver us out of the depths of our sin.
He is a god of mercy. We do not deserve any of his help, yet we can still have confidence to turn to Him, to cry out to Him, over and over again. His mercy never ends. In the seemingly endless cycle of our sin struggles, we can always cry out to God and know that because He is merciful he will hear our pleas once again.
What is the appropriate human response to revelation about God in vv. 1-2?
Humility / penitence
But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
What is the appropriate human responsibility to deal with our sin in vv. 3-4?
If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.
V. 3 begins with a conditional clause followed by a rhetorical question.
He being with a conditional clause- a what if- that thankfully is not true.
What if the Lord marked iniquities. What does he mean?
What if the Lord kept all our sins on the record, that is, what if God held every single one of our sins against us? What if that was our reality?
His rhetorical question— Who could stand? What does he mean by stand?
And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy,
Psalm 130:3 (ESV)
If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?
If God held all of our sins against us which one of us could stand holy and blameless and above reproach before him? Which one of us could be presented blameless before the presence of his glory?
Answer: absolutely no one!
Thankfully, the psalmist resolves this horrifying thought in v. 4.
But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.
God does not hold the sins of the humble and penitent against them, rather He forgives.
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,
by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
With God there is forgiveness!
Human responsibility? confidence / trust
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
First, our responsibility is to come humble and penitently to God if we have sinned. We turn from our sin and we cry aloud to the Lord. We go to him for mercy. We confess our sins humbly before the Lord.
Second, our responsibility is to have confident trust in God’s Word. We must trust that God will once again be faithful and just to forgive us our ins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.
What is the appropriate human response to revelation about God in vv. 3-4?
Obviously- fear, “that you may be feared.”
What does that mean?
A Commentary on the Psalms, Volume 3 (90–150): Commentary II. Confidence: Believers Know that There Is Forgiveness of Sin (3–4)
The point is that God forgives people in order that they might fear, meaning, that they might become his faithful, obedient worshipers. Weiser says that since God is more powerful than sin and only he can overcome it, he is to be feared. The one who has power over the soul is to be feared beyond any who only have power over the body. But the good news is that there is forgiveness; and forgiveness frees the penitent from the fear of the judgment.
What is the appropriate human responsibility to deal with our sin in vv. 5-6?
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.
“I wait for the Lord, my soul waits...”
The word “wait” has the idea of eager expectation for something.
“in his word I hope.”
A Commentary on the Psalms, Volume 3 (90–150): Commentary III. Testimony: Believers Wait Patiently for the Lord’s Word (5–6)
This word also has a connotation of restlessness—not anxiety, but an unsettled expectation of the realization of what is hoped for.
Though he slay me, I will hope in him; yet I will argue my ways to his face.
A Commentary on the Psalms, Volume 3 (90–150): Commentary III. Testimony: Believers Wait Patiently for the Lord’s Word (5–6)
So the word “wait” (קָוָה) looks at the endurance aspect of the waiting, and hope provides the strength or inspiration of the waiting. Waiting on the LORD, or hoping in the LORD, calls for constant vigilance, eager preparation, and no relaxation of efforts until the hope is realized.
What did the psalmist wait for? What did he hope for?
“In his WORD I hope.”
The idea of God’s word in this context is most likely the idea of waiting for an oracle from the Lord through a prophet or a priest. He is waiting to hear from the Lord that his sin had been removed and the punishment of his sin was ended.
David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
In what way does the psalmist wait for the Lord or hope for His word?
my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.
A Commentary on the Psalms, Volume 3 (90–150): Commentary III. Testimony: Believers Wait Patiently for the Lord’s Word (5–6)
The figure of comparison with watchmen (a simile) is a good one. For much of the time watchmen do little besides wait for the morning, checking for it regularly, looking for that first bit of dawn, and then the light. In the line the repetition enhances the diligence of the watchmen looking again and again for the light. And the use of “morning” (metonymy of subject) represents the time of the sunrise they eagerly expect. It is not impossible that the watchmen in mind here are priests, waiting for that first glimmer of light on the eastern horizon so that they might make the early morning sacrifice. The waiting in such a case would be most focused.
Human responsibility? waiting on the Lord / hoping in His word
The psalmist had sinned again. He has cried unto the Lord and received mercy. Now, he waits patiently on the Lord to deliver him from the discipline of that sin / consequences of that sin / the circumstances in life that are a result of our sin. It is never too late to do right. Cry unto the Lord, put your confidence and trust in the fact that He is a God who forgives. And then patiently wait upon the Lord and put your hope in His Word.
What is the appropriate human response to revelation about God in vv. 5-6?
trust / reliance / perseverance / confidence / a determination for continued holiness
What is the appropriate human responsibility to deal with our sin in vv. 7-8?
O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
All of a sudden this psalm is no longer individual, but corporate.
He now addresses the nation- O Israel! After the psalmist has cried to the Lord, has put his trust and confidence in the Lord, has determined to wait and hope in the Lord, now he cries out to his nation with words of encouragement and exhortation.
O Isreal, hope in the Lord! Why?
For with the Lord there is steadfast love! “loyal love” hesed love.
And with him is plentiful redemption. With God is abundant redemption!
let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
Abundant pardon, abundant redemption that all flows out of God who has steadfast or loyal love for His people. So never loose hope!
V. 8- “He WILL redeem Israel from all his iniquities.”
What is significant about the tense of the verb? Future tense! So what truth is the psalmist conveying?
A Commentary on the Psalms, Volume 3 (90–150): Commentary IV. Encouragement: God’s People May Expect Complete Redemption (7–8)
Here the imperfect tense expresses specific future: there is coming a time when the LORD will deliver his people from their sins, once and for all; accordingly, until then every act of forgiveness, every deliverance, is but a preview or a harbinger of that time.
A Commentary on the Psalms, Volume 3 (90–150): Commentary Message and Application
Every act of deliverance and every occurrence of forgiveness of sin are but harbingers of the final deliverance from sin and its effects. The glory of the love of God that brings such redemption must not be minimized. With the LORD there is forgiveness of sin! Full forgiveness! Believers, therefore, can have this same hope and confidence in the LORD, that someday there will be no more confession of sin necessary, and no more need to pray for deliverance (John 16:23). But in the meantime, every prayer and every confession should hasten the hope. And that hope, that waiting for final redemption with the return of Christ, should likewise lead us to be seeking forgiveness for our sin.
Because the Lord is faithful to forgive sins now, that gives us increasing confidence that one day He will remove all sin and its effects.
A Commentary on the Psalms, Volume 3 (90–150): Commentary Message and Application
Every experience of forgiveness is a sign not only that all is well with the LORD, but also that a final ultimate forgiveness lies ahead.
Human responsibility? exhortation and encouragement to others about our great forgiving God and the kind of forgiveness we all have to look forward to one day!
What is the appropriate human response to revelation about God in vv. 7-8?
Adoration / awe / wonder/ joy / thankfulness / anticipation / confidence
Is your heart better prepared to worship the Lord this morning?