Awaiting My Redemption
“Awaiting My Redemption”
Dan Thompkins - pg. 1 of 6
Hebrew Course - 4/00
CCC - Conway, S.C. Campus
Psalm one hundred thirty is a cry for redemption from the writer. Without going into any background analysis of this psalm, one may not understand that the writer is probably writing from the despair that has engulfed him because of the condition of his nation. You see, the nation of Israel, in all probabilities at this time, was in bondage because of their incessant desire for a way of life that was contrary to Jehovah’s law. The writer of this psalm not only surveys his nation’s status, but even as Daniel, he recognizes that the sins that make up a nation’s sins, originate with the individuals that make up that nation. Therefore, he is taking a personal accountability of his own life now.
“Out of the depths have I cried,” the Psalmist declares. God has a path for us to walk in this life. Sometimes this path is narrow and often filled with thorns. At other times we walk on rocks that hurt our feet. Yes, God sometimes allows us to walk down avenues filled with pain. But there are times, when because of our inflexibility to pursue our own will, that He allows afflictions to come upon us so that it may turn our attention back to Him. That is the case here. The writer finds himself in the depths of despair. He is alluding to vanishing, as if being lowered into a deep salt pit, or disappearing as the dust in the air. He feels as though he is being swallowed up by his afflictions. It is in this circumstance, on his back, that his eyes are turned towards the heavens, and he cries out to the LORD. I notice three things about his cry to God:
· His cry was initiated on account of the circumstances encountered. (It took adversity and severity coming into his life in order for him to look to the LORD)
· His cry was a specific request. (He said, “let Thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications...”. He cried out with a distinct purpose hoping to elicit a specific and favorable response from the LORD.) May I add here, that the reason we do not see deliverance in our own lives at times, is because we lay such a plethora of requests before God that it makes our prayers vague and impotent. At times, we do not limit our focal point to a specific area of need when we pray.
Dan Thompkins - pg. 2 of 6
Hebrew Course - 4/00
CCC - Conway, S.C. Campus
· His cry was a roar. He called aloud in order to get the attention of the LORD. The infant’s cry in the night accomplishes nothing in itself, but the cry brings the mother to its side. This man was beyond the point of being ashamed to call aloud for help. How many people are in bondage today simply because it’s an embarrassment to call for help? David said, “This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.” (Ps. 34:6)
As the writer deliberately thought about his present situation, it is apparent that he knew why he was there. It is evident from verse three that his iniquities had placed him there. Iniquity (awon) is not just sin. It is oftentimes the sum of past misdeeds against God and man. These accumulated sins may be deliberate or not. Iniquity is also a perversion of God’s instituted laws, a lawlessness. Iniquity notes the sin (deed) and its consequence (punishment). In Genesis four, the account is given of Cain slaying his brother Abel. In verse twelve, God confronts him with this murder. He also informs him that the earth will not bear fruit to him, and that he would be a vagabond and a fugitive all his days. In verse fourteen, Cain acknowledged to the Lord, “my punishment (iniquity) is greater than I can bear.” What is meant is that Cain reeled and staggered at the proportion of punishment imposed upon him by God. You see, there must be a penalty for iniquity.
The writer of this psalm may have, for a fleeting moment, wondered if the Lord would hear his cry from the depths of the pit. He questioned himself concerning the iniquities in his life. He posed the question in verse three; “If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, who shall stand?” Will He surely record and watch over every sin and infidelity I’ve committed against Him? Will He hedge it about with thorns so that they stand against me? He must have been overwhelmed with a sense of urgency here as he looked with alarm at the reality of it all and gasped, “if so, who can present themselves before Him, hoping for an acquittal?” He knew that he could not stand (amad) before a holy, Almighty God with this iniquity in his life. He saw himself as naked, as one that would suffer the impending punishment of his iniquities. One must first recognize their own misery before they will ever seek the mercies of the Lord.
Dan Thompkins - pg. 3 of 6
Hebrew Course - 4/00
CCC - Conway, S.C. Campus
Yet, in the back of his mind came forth the name, Jehovah (Yehovah). He knew that Jehovah was the Covenant-God of Israel. The name in itself speaks of the intimate relationship between two parties. The Jewish people, in this relationship, considered the LORD as their Father. As the writer looked at himself, his plight, his depravity, his insufficiency, he knew there was love to be found in the LORD. Where there is love, will there also be....forgiveness? He trusted in the very nature of the LORD of Israel, that there was forgiveness, or pardon, to be found in Him. Forgiveness (celiychah) has two aspects:
· One, forgiveness remits the punishment that is legally due to that individual. Nehemiah 9:17 states that, “...thou art a God ready to pardon,...”. The LORD is ready to forgive sins, and or, iniquities against Him. As the governor may grant an exoneration to the condemned man on death row, the Lord can remove the punishment that should rightfully be ours to bear (thank God!!).
· Two, there is a complete removal of the cause of punishment. Daniel 9:9 states that, “to God belong mercies and forgivenesses...”. Within God, one can find the release of the sin, and the punishment due for that sin. From the knowledge of this, a reverential fear (yare) should arise for God, because one then comprehends that within God resides the mercy and willingness to pardon one of all his sins.
As a covenant-God, the Lord watches over His promises to His covenant people to perform those given promises. From this remembrance of Who Jehovah was, arose a restored faith within him for his covenant God. This is evidenced as he states now that he “waits (qavah) for the Lord”. This clause expresses that he will patiently bear his affliction. To wait is to expectantly look for something or someone. As he thought of his God, his level of faith started increasing. I have come to learn through my years of CLST training that your level of faith will never exceed your knowledge of God. Therefore, it’s imperative that we place the Word of God always before us and study it so that whenever the need may arise, faith will not be even be a factor. The writer then reverberates his words again, except with a stronger accentuation. “My soul (nephesh) doth wait...”. Basically what he’s saying here is with everything in me, my whole inner man, with every
Dan Thompkins - pg. 4 of 6
Hebrew Course - 4/00
CCC - Conway, S.C. Campus
desire that I have, I wait for the LORD. There are at least three aspects of waiting that I see here:
· The Purpose of Waiting - (to expect something or someone) - Job 30:26 “When I looked for good , then evil came [unto me]: and when I waited for light, there came darkness.”
· The Posture of Waiting - (to twist or stretch forward) - Is 5:2 “And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.” The husbandman had labored diligently for the production of his grapes. Later, in the season when it should bring forth fruit, he visually probed the vine to see if it was producing fruit.
· The Pressure of Waiting - (to bind together by twisting...as a thread) The picture here is of God at one end of the thread and he at the other end. Separating the two is distance; what binds them together is the slightest “thread” of faith that the man has in his God. When God does not seem near, and distance seems to separate the two of you, pressure and tension mounts up. David seemed to know something about this pressure as he wrote in Psalms 27:14, “Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD”.
Based on his preference of words here, he was well-acquainted with the watchman, who in his duty on guard in the long hours of night, eagerly awaited the advance of daylight. As the tired watchman strained to see the first rays of light on the horizon, the writer said that he eagerly anticipated a word (dabar) from the LORD. I can only imagine him; with nervous anticipation, pacing back and forth on the edge of his wall straining his eyes, rising to his tiptoes, and craning his neck forward to see the slightest rays of his deliverance on the horizon.
Dan Thompkins - pg. 5 of 6
Hebrew Course - 4/00
CCC - Conway, S.C. Campus
Though his problem is still at hand, he finds peace in the midst of the storm for himself. Yet, he now turns his attention to his troubled nation, Israel. He echoes the same words for Israel as he has already uttered for himself. He is hoping for mercy and forgiveness. Mercy and forgiveness is only found in the LORD. Mercy (chesed) is an outward display of pity; it assumes need on the part of him who receives it, and resources adequate to meet the need on the part of him who shows it. II Samuel 7:15 states that, “...my mercy shall not depart from him...”. This favor involves personal commitment in a relationship beyond the rule of law. Job 6:14 says, “to him that is afflicted pity...”. This mercy may even be shown to one that it doesn’t even know. This is shown throughout the New Testament in Jesus Christ, as God declared that He sent His Son to die for those that were estranged from Him, those that were in sin. Hebrews 4:16 declares unto us that we can come unashamedly, without pretensions, to the throne of grace (Mercy’s door), and receive all pardon and forgiveness (Crf. I Jn 1:9).
The writer goes on to add that redemption (pedhuth) is found in the LORD. This means that a literal deliverance or separation can be found in God. Whatever it may be that holds one in the depths of misery today, God is the One that can deliver them from their bondage. This redemption is plenteous (rabah) which means it is exceeding great. I can picture it in my mind as an underground spring that is always flowing. No matter what size container that you may place under the flow, there will always be an overflow. I am reminded that Paul said, “where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (praise God!! [Rom. 5:20]). The LORD is able to “redeem (padhah) Israel from his iniquities.” This means that a transfer of ownership must take place. Two aspects are seen here:
· The Lord’s is able to liberate one from any specific oppression. Deut. 7:8 states that, “...redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” Whatever the oppression may be, God is able to bring you out of it.
Dan Thompkins - pg. 6 of 6
Hebrew Course - 4/00
CCC - Conway, S.C. Campus
· The iniquities of Israel are transferred through payment or by something of equal value. Hosea 13:14 says, “I will ransom them from the power of the grave.” In essence, what he means is that God will pay the cost for their freedom in order to actually emancipate them from the power or strength that the grave, or hell, may have over them.
Inevitably, when one refers to redemption, all the types and shadows of the Old Testament point to The Redeemer of the New Testament. It is through the cost of Gethsemane, and ultimately Calvary, that our redemption was made available to us. It is through Him, Jesus Christ, that we are redeemed. The cost He paid for our redemption was with His Own life. However, it is only after we see our depravity, sincerely repent of our sins and accept His atonement for us, can we experience the redemption that awaits us.