A Psalm of Hope

Introduction

True Relief. Beyond just surface treatment.

The Bible is filled with message of true relief.

The weight of sin and the guilt it brings.

God gives to us relief from that guilt and replaces it with hope!

Hope = Positive expectations

Not wishful thinking!

In the nt, hope is not wishful thinking; it is a confident expectation in the fulfillment of God’s promises.

John D. Barry; Douglas Mangum; Derek R. Brown; Michael S. Heiser; Miles Custis; Elliot Ritzema; Matthew M. Whitehead; Michael Grigoni; David Bomar

This song of ascent / approach / pilgrimage.

Heading to Jerusalem or the temple.

Confess to God

Vv. 1-2

The Psalmist - from the depths / sea / chaos.

What caused this chaos? Sin!

As we progress through the psalm, but also this being after the exile.

But, the psalmist knew who he needed to call to!

Calling out to God in v. 2!

Sound familiar? A rebellious individual who finds himself in the depths of chaos, the sea, and prays to God?

Jonah 3.

When you are in the depths, the only direction to look is up!

God welcomes you back.

“What humans cannot earn by merit, the LORD offers by His grace.” - Daniel Estes

When you have sinned, and we all have, confess to God and you will find hope.

Count on God

Vv. 3-4

Great cliffhangers. Friends - Ross “I take thee Rachel.” Breaking Bad - Walter White’s brother picks up a book that connects who he really is. The Walking Dead - a certain leather jacket wearing villain wielding a baseball bat. The Simpsons - a wealthy and hated villain taking a bullet to the back and then making the audience spend months speculating who pulled the trigger. Oh, also, Dallas and “Who shot JR?”

From v. 3 to v. 4, there is a bit of a cliffhanger. The question and reality of v. 3. Watch / mark - for a night guard (used in v. 6). Vigilant in observation. If could be translated “since.”

God sees your sin.

This puts us in a desperate position! A cliffhanger to be sure!

Praise Jesus for v. 4!

But!!

God forgives your sin.

And the result of that forgiveness is that we honor Him. (Honor / revere / fear)

Call to God

Vv. 5-8

Feeding cattle and came across a neighbor stuck in a five foot snow drift that had covered the whole road. Stuck.

Pre-cell phone. Just had to sit and wait. Expecting. Eventually someone will come by.

The Psalmist expresses a similar experience. Stuck! But there is a source of hope!

God’s plan was always to rescue.

Wait, Wait… And Hope!

Our problem is we want to rescue ourselves. Usually just make things worse!

This is where we get back to our vigilance. Like a watchman over night -when the enemy would attack.

Such relief when the sun comes up! Finally you can relax!

Staring to the east and just waiting for the rising of the sun!

What a beautiful image for the world’s expectations that the Christ would come!

And rather than waiting to acknowledge His arrival, we celebrate it!

And what He brought - abundant redemption!

What a blessing to be able to look anyone in the eyes and tell them that their sin is not too big to be forgiven (V. 7).

When hope feels lost, God offers redemption.

Conclusion

John Wesley’s conversion.

Sitting in a church service as a lost man, hearing the choir sing a version of Psalm 130.

Those profound words in Vv. 3-4 caused him to examine himself.

That evening, still wrestling with what this meant for him, he heard someone reading the introduction to a commentary on the book of Romans - talking about salvation by faith alone.

God used this to draw Wesley to salvation.

1 John 1:9 ESV

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

When we think about Christmas - maybe we think about the gifts.

May we find hope in the gift of salvation!

Celebrate the gift of hope!