Psalm 130
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Progressions
Progressions
Fear - Confidence
Self - Others
The Emotion
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!
One of the first things I notice when I read this psalm is the emotion. We see this motion in the use of “O!” He says, “O” three times. You don’t have to be told what "O” means, right? We know when we hear it, it adds to the drama of what is being expressed. It lets us know that whatever emotion is being expressed it is being expressed from deep within. The word itself has no meaning. It has no definition. But it is an important word because it says to all who are listening, “this is how I feel!”
What are some “O” expressions?
Why the Emotion?
When I encounter emotion, my mind immediately seeks a reason. When I see a 5 year old burst into tears, I almost reflexively ask, “What is the matter!” I want to know, not because I want to help, but because I have convinced myself - regardless of all the evidence I have collected - that if I can discover the cause of the emotion, I can fix the problem. And, for some reason I think that if I fix the problem the emotion will stop, and peace will be restored!
When I ask the question, “What is the matter to the psalmist?” I will find the answer in this first stanza, Psalm 130:1-2
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!
We learn that the emotion being felt by the psalmist is a negative emotion. The clues are found in two places. First, he says, “Out of the depths, I cry out to you!” and second, he says, “be attentive to the voice of my please!”
Out of the Depths
Out of the Depths
Perhaps the greatest lesson I can teach you about bible study is the importance of asking questions about the text. In the text, we are forced to ask a question most critical to understanding this psalm. What are the depths?
When I first started studying for this sermon, my first thought was that the “depths” referred to deep within the psalmist, as if the psalmist was saying that his cries come from deep down in his soul. As if the psalmist was saying, “I cry to you out of the deep places of my heart!” but upon farther investigation I found that my initial understanding was inaccurate and it really hindered me from seeing the full meaning of what is happening here with the psalmist.
To really begin to understand, we must know that “the depths” is a place. It is the setting of this prayer. The psalmist locates himself in the depths. The psalmist is not saying, “These cries of mine come from deep within my hurting soul.” Instead, he is saying, “I am in the depths and from here in this place I cry to you!”
In this particular psalm, very little is said about the “depths.” Thankfully, “The depths” is a common expression or idea found in the scriptures and there are a few characteristics that we can put together so that we might fully get where this psalmist finds himself.
Death and Destruction Are Imminent. The psalmist is at the end of his rope. He is about to be swept under the rising waters, or knocked off the rocks into an icy cold water grave.
There Is No Salvation in Himself. Most of the references to “the depths” picture one out at see far from shore about to be drowned. The water is to deep to touch the bottom with his tip-toes. He can’t find a rock to stand on and get a footing. He is far from salvation. He is hopeless. He knows that his strength and energy cannot get him out of the depths. Unless he gets help somewhere else. Unless someone else were to come to the rescue, he will perish and the time to perish is near not far away.
The time I almost drowned at Kids camp.
Another crucial question we must ask when studying a text is, “What is the genre?” Is it narrative, a story? Is it apocalyptic literature? Is it dialogue? Is it wisdom literature like Ecclesiastes or Proverbs? Is it prophecy?
Our text is poetry. In poetry, the author uses images to help us understand and even feel what he is saying. This is how we should understand “the depths.” It is not a geographical setting. We cannot go take a tour of the depths from where this psalmist prayed. However, it is also true that each one of us has at one time or another been to the depths. It is a fact of our humanity. We are broken and weak. We are dependent creatures. And although for most of our days we do a superb job of ignoring our weaknesses and denying our dependence, every once in awhile our weakness, our vulnerability come into undeniable clarity. We know the feeling of hopelessness. We know the feeling we express with phrases such as, “I feel like I am drowning!” We know the internal struggle with a desire an inclination to give up or throw in the towel.
Although we all know this feeling, we have been in “the depths” what has placed us there varies from time to time and person to person. We know what its like to sense something bad and dreadful is coming while at the same time understanding that we are void of any ability to resist or prevent it. Maybe you have found yourself saying something like, “I know its terrible but there is nothing I can do!” This is the depths. It is from this terrible place of impending doom against which the psalmist has no ability to spare himself that he cries out to God.
What Is the Danger?
What Is the Danger?
One trapped in a room where the water is rising and he is struggling to maintain footing on a rock to keep his neck above water.
The symbolic waters that rise up to our neck threatening to steal our breath very soon may represent various things. Maybe you are surrounded by enemies who hate you at the psalmist in Psalm 62. You have resisted their lies and slander, but you are weary. They have sucked out your life and energy and you are ready to quit.
Maybe, the bills are piling up. Maybe your debt has reached a level that you see no way out from under. You know it is about to crush you. It is about to humiliate you. It is about to come down on your head, and there is nothing you can do about it.
Maybe, something you have done in secret is about to be exposed.
Maybe, the house is a mess, the children are uncooperative, the spouse is self-centered, the employer is over demanding, and the list of needs of God’s people is only getting longer no matter how much time and energy you give to do well in all these areas.
Maybe, you have battled some illness. Maybe it’s not even your own illness maybe your husband or your child is sick. Maybe you have spent all your energy and money and time serving and helping and fighting, but in the depths it feels like all of it is meaningless and unfruitful.
We could go on. There are countless scenarios and circumstances we know as “the depths.” The pit of despair and hopelessness.
The question we must ask in this text, is “what has plunged the psalmist of psalm 130 into the depths? Why does he sense death and destruction are imminent? And what is it form which he cannot save himself?
We find the answer in Psalm 130:2-3
In verse one we see the danger hinted at...
O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy!
Do you see what he is asking for? He is asking for mercy. Who needs mercy? Is it not one who is guilty? This is our first clue into the understanding the dangerous place in which the psalmist finds himself.
The second clue is more clear and determining and it is found in verse 3
If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?
The combination of the psalmist’s pleas for mercy and his rhetorical question brings clarity to the situation. The psalmist sees himself in his sin before a holy and just God. This is the depths from which he cries. There he knows death and destruction are imminent and there he has no rock on which to stand. The wrath and justice of God are real. They are coming. The day of judgment is drawing near. This psalmist saw his predicament. He saw his sin, and he saw the tidal wave of God’s justice moving quickly toward him. No amount of running or swimming or preparing of a shelter will make any difference. He is helpless. There is nothing he can do. His sin is too great. His guilt is too obvious. There is nothing he can do to save himself, for no one can stand before the Lord should he mark iniquities.
This view of himself as a sinner before God is the cause of the “O’s.” These “O’s” are the moans and groans of a heart gripped by fear of damnation and dread of the Judge who is justice and holy. and angry.
His anguish is warranted. His perilous position is real. unfortunately, many would tell this psalmist he is worked up for nothing. Many would say, “God is love, and he keeps no record of wrong.” Others would say, “God is a God of unlimited second chances.” Others might say, “God understands you are not perfect.” These understandings of God are especially dangerous because they have a hint of truth in them. However they are dangerous because they give an unbiblical solution the problem of your sin. They seek to alleviate the sense of guilt, the internal turmoil, the inevitable anxiousness one gets when he knows he is guilty and he must stand before the judge. That sense of impending doom and helplessness in the face of judgment is warranted. Consider just a few of these verses.
The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
But Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the Lord, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins.
If I sin, you watch me and do not acquit me of my iniquity.
Why do we not feel the desperation the psalmist feels?
We downplay our sin and guilt.
We minimize the justice of God.