Crying out to God

Crying Out to God

Psalm 130

Introduction:

Another Psalm of ascent

Another Psalm where the Psalmist is crying out to God from the pit of despair

There is much to be encouraged by in this Psalm.

I.                   The Psalmist is talking to God vv. 1-6

1.      God hears him out of the depth vv. 1-2

All of  us can find ourselves at times in the “depths”

         @ a loss for what to do

         @ a point where it feels like we can go no lower

Family/Job/Church/situation with friends or neighbors/etc.

No matter what the condition/no matter how low we go we can have great confidence that He can/will incline His ear to hear our prayer

Bible examples:

·         Jeremiah out of a dungeon

·         Daniel out of a lions den

·         Jonah out of a fish’s belly

·         Hannah out of the pit of barrenness

2.      God hears him because He forgives vv. 3-4

If the Lord marked (kept a record of) our iniquities, who could stand before Him?  Implied answer = NOONE!!

Fortunately there is forgiveness because that is what God desires

Why is recognizing this important in prayer?

         We come to God unworthily, we come to God seeking His mercy

How often do we get angry with God for seemingly not answering prayer in a way that we think is appropriate?  When that happens we are saying that God owes us

How should we then deal with sin?

1)      Acknowledge it as sin

2)      Realize our guilt and helplessness

3)      Receive God’s forgiveness

3.      God hearing gives comforting hope vv. 5-6

Why does his soul wait on God?  There is hope/assurance of an answer coming

Psalm 40:1-2

I waited patiently for the Lord; And He inclined to me, And heard my cry.  He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of  the miry clay, [1]

He waits as one watching for the morning

As one laying in bed at night, unable to sleep, just waiting for morning to come

·         This person knows that morning is coming

·         This person feels as if it is not coming quickly enough

The Psalmist longs for God to answer in the same way, knowing that He will but not sure when

II.                 The Psalmist is talking to Israel vv. 7-8

The Psalmist is encouraging them to do the same thing that he is

That is exactly how we are to reach/teach others:  do as I am doing

            Our doing is the best teaching tool that we have

If we want to teach others to be thankful:  we need to be thankful

If we want to teach others to trust in the Lord—we need to trust in the Lord

If we want those closest to us to wait patiently on the Lord—we need to do the same!

All of Israel could hope in God because:

1.      God is merciful:  just as God demonstrated undeserved kindness to us He is willing to do so to others as well

2.      God is a God of redemption: He redeemed Israel from all their enemies

3.      God is a God who saves from iniquity

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[1]The New King James Version. 1982 (Ps 40:1-2). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.