Steadfast love & plentiful redemption

Psalm 130:7–8 ESV

7 O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. 8 And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

Structure

Four couplets

1-2: addressed to God

3-4: addressed to God

5-6: describes the psalmist’s posture toward God

7-8: the fourth is an exhortation issued to the people of God

Pattern

The first and third couplets (1-2 & 5-6), the Psalmist expresses his desperation as He waits on the Lord

The second and fourth couplets (3-4 & 7-8) claims comfort based on the principles of the gospel: forgiveness, mercy, the love of God, redemption

Each couplet contains two references to a name of God. The first three contain Yahweh and Adonai and the fourth (last) couplet has Yahweh twice.

A Song of Ascents

Psalm 120-134.

Sung by Pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem to worship in the temple during certain festivals.

They are songs of ascents to refer to the physical climb or walk up to Jerusalem.

A Prayer

Our plea (1-2)

Out of the depths gives us insight into the state of the psalmist.

This is an expression of suffering.

But in his suffering, the psalmist cries to the LORD (Yahweh), and pleads that the Lord (Adonai) would hear him.

Yahweh = the covenant Lord) and Adonai = the sovereign one.

Often when someone cries out for help or relief, the is a great deal of uncertainty associated with those cries. But this plea for the Lord to hear and be attentive is one of desperation and of confidence.

I don’t think we must see this confidence in light of the psalmist’s certainty of how and when his anguish will work out, but in his understanding of God. His God is a covenant-keeping God and sovereign

Christopher Ash, in his commentary on the Psalms quotes Luter regarding the idea of crying to the Lord:

Crying is nothing but strong and earnest longing for God’s grace, which does not arise in a person uless he sees in what depth he is lying.

And the comfort we have in verse two is that God hears the crying, that is the please of His people.

That’s the first couplet of this prayer

Praying our pleas

For God to continue to fortify us in our conviction that His glory if ultimate and that His Word is foundational.

That God would sustain us as we cry out to Him and wait for Him

That God would be merciful and save souls among us (in our church, community, loved ones)

Our Peace (3-4)

Really this couplet centers on forgiveness, and of course, God’s forgiveness of our sins is the basis of our peace with Him.

The word mark in verse three means to keep watch over. It has the same root as watchman that we will see later in this Psalm.

Job helps us get the sense of this word

Job 14:16 ESV

16 For then you would number my steps; you would not keep watch over my sin;

you will not keep/guard/watch over my sin

For God to mark our sin means He remembers them, which is not what Scripture teaches.

Psalm 103:12 ESV

12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

Micah 7:19 ESV

19 He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.

And the question at the end of verse three, who could stand is asked to make the point that if God did approach the sin of His people this way, then everyone is doomed to condemnation.

And verse four is the contrast. God does not mark our sin but forgives our sin.

And notice the intended purpose of our forgiveness at the end of verse four: that you [God] may be feared.

Praying our peace

silent confession and thanking God for His forgiveness

Our Patience (5-6)

The focus here is on waiting.

One might ask, we already have been forgiven , so what else are we concerned about? What are we waiting for?

This waiting is fueled by anticipation.

Luther said, my soul has become a tarrying waiting thing.

The first lines of verses five and six are identical: my soul waits

The word watchmen comes up as I noted before in verse six. Morning is often the time of God’s rescue in the OT

Exodus 14:24 ESV

24 And in the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic,

And the morning also means that God’s salvation is as sure as day follows night.

People waited for the Lord’s first coming and the people of God are waiting for His return.

Praying our patience

Lord, help me to honor you as I wait for…

Our Promise (7-8)

These two verses are what we are memorizing this week and what we expect the call to worship will be this Sunday morning.

Israel is a reference to the people of God, and the exhortation is to hope in the Lord. Why hope in God?

with the Lord these is steadfast love (Yahweh)

plentiful redemption

a promise that He will redeem His people from the iniquities

These promises are the substance of our hope.

And just to point out the end of verse eight that God’s people will be redeemed from their iniquities is a promise that leaves no need for a troubled conscience. Only God can deliver this promise

Praying our promise

Praying for one another