Psalms of Ascent - Psalm 130

[0:00] I'd love to be able to open up God's Word and just read it together, have one of our members pray through it together, and then hear it taught. It's a beautiful thing, so we're excited this morning to be in Psalm 130. I encourage you to continue to set your eyes on this passage as we work through it this morning. I want to share a quick story before I get going in this text about a young 18-year-old boy that had for the first time left his parents' home, went off to new places with a new perspective to go to college. But for this young boy, going to a new place, going to new friends, being influenced by different people and different ideas and different places and whatnot, it was overwhelming to the point where this young man forgot his identity and gave way to pride, selfishness, lust that eventually led this young man to fall into a pit of despair because of his sin. This young man was me. In the first few months of going off to college, I hadn't made a connection with the church. I'd become self-obsessed with me and my studies and my pursuits and my desires. I forsook making friends, and

[1:34] I fell on myself very quickly my first couple months in college in a pit of sin. That it was very difficult to see any tunnel or light out of that pit. And for me, I think this was a major turning point in my spiritual life where I realized just how important the grace of God is in my life.

[2:00] God broke me in this experience. And I think Psalm 130 opens with this idea. Look at the first verse.

[2:13] Out of the depths, I cry to you, O Lord. And when it speaks of this depth and crying, this psalm is talking not about external forces.

[2:32] We've seen a lot in Psalms of Ascent that the psalmist cry to God and they give Him their pleas like we see in this psalm. But in all of the psalms we've led up to this one, in the Psalms of Ascent, all of those pleas are on behalf of a people who is oppressed by the outside world. People that hate us. Our enemies are trying to attack us. There's things that are happening in the world that are afflicting us. Lord, rescue us from the hands of others. That was the despair. Psalm 130 does something different. It turns inward. And the psalmist finds himself in a place of despair. But the despair is not caused by others. The despair is caused by himself. This psalm gives us a picture of what we do when we feel that we are unworthy to come before a holy God.

[3:31] When we feel distant from the Lord because of our sin. When we stop praying for a season because there's no way God would listen to my prayers when I'm sinning. When we are convinced that God is mad at us because of what we did. When we skip attending church because we feel like a hypocrite.

[3:50] This psalm addresses all of this. And let us be encouraged, brothers and sisters, that this is not an experience that is foreign to the Christian.

[4:03] Christians are called to be holy. To live lives of obedience and reverence of God. Yes. But we need to realize that Christians are also flawed people.

[4:15] That perfection is not something we will experience on this side of eternity. And so if you are here this morning or maybe you identify with these feelings. You know, the sin that I've lived in, it makes me feel like I can't go before God. I feel like His hand is against me. I'm nervous. I'm scared of what He might think of me because of the sin that I'm experiencing. This psalm is for you. And if you've been in that season, you will be able to understand as we work through this, how it is that the Lord pulls us out of the pit of despair by His grace. That was my story my first few months in college. And by God's grace, He pulled me out of that pit. And I want us to see this in the psalm. We've got four stanzas here.

[5:06] We have verse 1 and 2, 3 and 4, 5 and 6, and then 7 and 8. Pretty straightforward. 1, 2, 3, 4. And we are going to work through each stanza individually. But here's what I want you to see as we work through this. This psalm shows a heart posture that progresses from sin guilt all the way to assurance of salvation and grace. That's what this psalm does. And it's training us, it's teaching us, it's showing us a picture of what we should do when we feel that weight of sin, the shame and the guilt that, Lord, I've been getting into this sin for so long, and I'm just realizing, Lord, this is wrong. I feel that shame. I feel that burden. When we're in that place, this psalm is going to give us a 1, 2, 3, 4 step process for what we're to do. And the reason why this is encouraging is because it's a real person writing this psalm with a real experience, and it's not foreign to our experience today. Christians, we have been redeemed by a great God. We have been called holy because of Jesus' substitution. That He has taken our sin, and we have, by His grace, been able to take His holiness. We are called sanctified. We're called saints. We're called no longer sinners because of what Jesus has done. But let's not tease ourselves. We still live in this body of death. And Satan will pull us away at any chance. So here's what we're going to do.

[6:41] We're going to work through each section. The first section here is verse 1 and 2. And what the psalmist is going to describe here is that first starting place, guilt. The depths and despair of guilt. Let's read 1 and 2 together. Out of the depths, I cry to you, O Lord. O Lord, hear my voice.

[7:01] Let your ears. Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy. How do we know this is about someone living in the guilt of sin?

[7:16] The key is in the end of this section. I'm crying to you for help. Just like we've seen in the other psalms, crying to God for help. But in this one, you see this. I'm crying that you would hear my voice for what does the psalmist desire. Mercy. Lord, I know that I need mercy.

[7:43] What we see here in verse 1 and 2 is a posture of somebody on their knees that has looked inward and has seen the depths of sin. That has finally come to realization that the way in which I have been living, the things I have given into are not good. And I want to be free of this. Guilt. And out of the depths conveys the tone of this reality.

[8:13] Sin guilt is a concept in the Bible that is very important. Sin guilt is condemnation over wrongdoing. And the sin guilt that we experience can be condemnation that God holds over us. As a holy God who cannot see wickedness, unrighteousness, He holds condemnation for those who sin. But because of Jesus, that condemnation is removed. And we know this. For those who do not know Jesus, that have not received that forgiveness of sin. That condemnation still weighs over the sinner. Paul calls our former selves children of wrath. We hold that wrath. That's what condemnation is. But also, as those who have been redeemed by Jesus, what do we know, brothers and sisters? We know that therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. So what are we seeing here? Are we seeing somebody that doesn't have a relationship with the Lord, that hasn't been redeemed, that isn't saved? No.

[9:22] Psalm 130 is a picture of a believer, a follower of Yahweh, one who has been redeemed, that has been forgiven. And this person comes to God in a posture of humility. So here's what sin guilt can do. It can bring us down. Sin guilt is like a backpack that someone has filled with rocks as you're trying to climb a mountain. And every time sin creeps in, it's like another rock is placed, and eventually we can barely move. It feels as though our soul is weighed down. That's what guilt is.

[10:03] And it accompanies the one that gives into sin. But here's what Psalm 130 is showing us right off the bat in verse 1 and 2. That in that place where we feel our pack is heavy, it's hard to ascend the mountain to God.

[10:19] I feel weighed down by my burdens that I have inflicted upon myself through giving into the flesh, and giving into the pleasures of this world that are not of God. When we do that, it feels like there's a weight. And we all know what it's like to actively live in sin. It's a joyless experience.

[10:40] Anxiety and shame accompany the heart when we neglect God's loving ways. And during periods of living in sin, if you're like me, we can wonder if God's favor is really on us at all.

[10:51] We question His love. We question our love. It leads to a Christian identity crisis. And that identity crisis comes at us when we realize that our deeds don't match our identity.

[11:08] When we, who are called by God as saints, give in to sin, we entertain that which we are not. The Bible is clear. We are called saints. We're called holy, beloved, sons and daughters of the King.

[11:22] We're told that this world is not our world. That we are foreigners here. That our true home is in heaven with God. And so when we give in to the deeds of darkness, sin, this identity crisis hits us.

[11:35] But here's what I want to encourage us with. When we feel that deep unrest within our souls, that the way in which I have been living, the sin that I have been entertaining, doesn't match who the Lord says I am. I want you to take encouragement here.

[11:48] That that is actually a mercy of God. Like oil and water or fish out of water, we feel out of place when we give in to sin.

[12:01] This is conviction. In the words of Paul, 2 Corinthians, what fellowship does light have with darkness? If we didn't feel that conviction, if we didn't feel that holy burden, that unrest in our soul when we give in to sin, as those who have been called saints, would we ever turn back?

[12:18] Would we ever repent? Would we ever know our ways? And here's what I want to encourage us with. This divine unrest, when we give in to sin, may feel unpleasant and unsettling. We may feel anxious about the way God views us.

[12:31] But here's what is so amazing. We must learn to embrace and recognize this holy unrest as a gift. For in that temporary misery comes the fruit of repentance.

[12:43] And who is the one that brings that repentance? It's the Holy Spirit. One of the greatest gifts we've ever been given is that when we fall prey to sin, patterns of sin, that there is a helper who abides within us and prods us with love.

[13:01] Turn. Turn. Turn. Turn. In Psalm 32, there's a picture of a man named David. And he gave way to grievous sins.

[13:14] We won't get into that story. We don't have time. But I wanted to read some words that he wrote in Psalm 32. Psalm 130 is called a penitential psalm. There's a number of them in the Psalter.

[13:25] And the penitential psalms are described to scholars as those psalms in which a person who feels the weight of sin in their life, who feels the guilt of the way they've been acting, the way they've been living their life, they come before God in penitence.

[13:40] Lord, I know I have sinned. And here's one of them. David writes one. It's in Psalm 32. I want you to listen to this language. David accompanies what it feels like to be in sin. He says this, For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.

[13:57] For day and night your hand was heavy upon me. My strength was dried up as with the fever heat of summer. Selah. Hopefully, you can identify with that.

[14:10] What is it like to live in sin? To live unrepentantly? To neglect God's mercy and to continue giving way to the same old patterns of sin that afflict us?

[14:20] Well, here's what David says. I kept silent. I stayed in my sin and I did not repent. I refused. And here's what it felt like. It felt like my bones wasted away. It felt like the Lord's proverbial hand was on my shoulder, lovingly, kindly as a father.

[14:38] I'm here. I love you. And I want you to turn back. Like a father might do to his son today. That makes a bad decision. Put your hand on their shoulder and let them know I am here.

[14:51] That is the basis for our repentance, brothers and sisters. The Lord's loving presence still in our lives. Paul says in the book of Romans, he says, what is it that leads us to repent?

[15:03] It's actually kindness. Kindness. In chapter 2 of Romans, kindness. The Lord's kindness is meant to lead us to repentance. And this is a gift that you and I should embrace and recognize that the Holy Spirit within us, when we give way to sin, will lay his loving hand on our shoulder and remind us that there is something better.

[15:26] The kindness of God that accompanies us at all times, in all places and in all ways. That is what leads us to repentance. The Lord is not punitive towards them whom he has redeemed and shown favor.

[15:42] If you're like me in seasons of sin, like that time in college, my view of God was this. He's angry at me, he's mad, and he's ready to punish me. And so what am I going to do?

[15:53] I'm going to hide. Which led to me not going to church. Which led to me, I can't read my Bible. How hypocritical. I can't pray, Lord, until I need to clean myself up and then maybe I can come to you.

[16:05] That's what I convinced myself of. And for those months, I can tell you some of the darkest months of my life. Away from fellowship, away from God, refusing his kindness, even though his hand was on my shoulder.

[16:19] That's what we see in verses one and two. We see a person coming before God and recognizing, Lord, I feel as though I'm in a pit. We don't know what sin this person was struggling with.

[16:32] We don't know what vices they were giving way to. But we do know this. Their experience is just like ours. When do you feel as though you are in a pit of despair?

[16:46] Because of sin. That's what verse one and two shows us. Someone on their knees recognizing this reality. So let's move to three and four. We're going to progress now.

[16:57] We've moved from on the floor, on my knees, in despair, over my sin, to now this. Verse three and four. If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?

[17:10] But with you there is forgiveness that you may be feared. I love this. Here's the next stage of repentance. Stage one was on the knees. Broken.

[17:21] Stage two is arising if you, imagine one leg coming up, coming off the ground a little bit. Lord, I've worked through this. I feel your kindness on me.

[17:32] And I am going to now, instead of just living in my pit, I'm going to rise up and by faith, I'm going to call upon you to do something. And recognize that you've done something.

[17:43] Okay? And what is it? First, he says this. He makes this divine theological point that if you were to mark all of my iniquities, how could I stand before you?

[17:55] And the word iniquities here is commonly used in the Old Testament. And here's what it describes. It describes fallen sinful behaviors and dispositions. But notice this. The word also has connotations generally of bending, curving, turning aside, or twisting away from a path.

[18:12] And there might be a really good definition of sin in the Old Testament. When is it that we need to recognize that we're in a pit of sin, despair, iniquity?

[18:25] All we have to do is ask ourselves, have I deviated from the Lord's gracious, holy path? In any way, shape, or form, is the sin that I am entertaining or the behaviors I'm entertaining, are they of God?

[18:40] Or are they of the world? That's what the word iniquities would imply. That for every stage of our life, we are able to discern in our own life by the power of the Holy Spirit, the Lord's path, and if I'm walking it.

[18:59] But here's what's so amazing. Look at this verse. If you marked them, who could stand? Now this verse does not imply that God keeps an individual list of all of our sins and is just holding them, waiting to use them against us.

[19:20] You can read it that way. Like, Lord, if you were to do that and take all of our sins down and mark them, you could just hold them and we would never be able to stand before you. But notice the device being used here poetically.

[19:32] It's this. It's rhetorical. It's asking a question to prove himself a point. He's talking to himself here. If you took every single thing I've done that was unholy and wrote it down on a piece of paper, I would be in utter despair.

[19:50] That's the image here. But what does he finish with? In verse 4, look at this. But with you, the contrast here, with you, there is forgiveness that you may be feared.

[20:02] Two things happening here. One, fear of the Lord is the goal of 3 and 4, that we would fear Him. The fear that I think accompanies us when we're living in sin and we lack the right perspective of God's holiness, but His favor and love and mercy on us, when we're living in that season of despair, we can fear God in a punitive way.

[20:24] What he's hinting at here is that if when we're in sin, it's like the Lord, we think the Lord is holding a list of every single thing we've done and He's just staring at us with those eyes.

[20:37] You're going to pay for these things. That's a fear that is not biblical. That's a fear that we ought to have if we are not redeemed, saved, washed, and called children.

[20:48] But instead, here's the fear that we're to have of the Lord. It's a fear that is relational. It's a fear that comes by way of knowing that God loves us and has forgiven us.

[21:02] It's a fear that recognizes not only the holiness of God, but also His love, His mercy, His long-suffering, and His joy that He takes in us even amidst our sin.

[21:15] So here's what the psalmist says, Lord, when I think about if I had to stand before You with all my sins taking into account, I'm overwhelmed. But that's not the reality.

[21:26] Here's what the psalmist says, but You have forgiven me. And the Bible tells us clearly that when the Lord forgives, He forgives in full. We have images like as far as the east is from the west.

[21:39] So far He removes our sins. We have images like in the New Testament, in the first Thessalonians, where Paul says, Hey, Jesus took our record of debt, a giant list of everything that we had done wrong that we are indebted to the Lord for, and Jesus took that list, and what did He do with it?

[21:54] It says 1 Thessalonians. He took it to the tree, and He nailed it on the cross. That when Jesus went to the cross and died on the cross to forgive sinners, it's as if everything we've ever done was taken and put on the cross, and it's done.

[22:06] It's cleaned. It's forgiven. It's gone forever. And this is the basis of our repentance. Why do we come to the Lord when we're in sin and lovingly, graciously, put ourselves before Him and trust ourselves to Him?

[22:22] It's because our relationship is fundamentally different now that we're saved. It's because the Lord does not view us as children of wrath. But instead, He views us as children whom He loves.

[22:34] Listen to this. Jeremiah 31, 34. The prophet is teaching the Lord's kindness to His people.

[22:45] And here's what he says. No longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall all know Me. From the least of them to the greatest, goes Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

[23:00] Brothers and sisters, in the midst of feeling the weight of sin in our lives, here's what I want to encourage us to do. Preach to yourself that you are seen with eyes of kindness.

[23:18] Remind yourself that our God is a loving Father. And this whole concept of the Lord forgiving us, therefore we don't have to fear standing before Him in the list of sins being held against us.

[23:37] What does this point to? It points to Jesus. I don't know if there's a verse in the Psalms of Ascent that points more clearly to the work of Christ.

[23:49] And this is what Jesus does. He washes us clean. But for the sinner who's already been forgiven and falls into sin again and finds himself again in habitual sin, in that pattern of ungodliness, here's also the encouragement that the same way that the Lord redeems us is the same way that He calls us to repent.

[24:14] In other words, in order to come to Jesus, here's what we need to do. We need to repent of our sin and trust in Him alone. Repentance is turning away from sin. First with the heart, then with the hands and the feet.

[24:24] Lord, I know my path. I see it. That's verses 1 and 2. I see the depths of my sin. For the sinner, the first time, it's the first time we turn away from sin towards something else.

[24:35] And what do we turn to? The Bible says to repent and believe. We turn from sin and we set our eyes on Jesus and trust in Him alone to wash us clean and to save us.

[24:46] That's repentance and belief. And that's how each and every one of us came to Christ. Each and every one of us have been saved. But here's what's so amazing. I see this in verse 3 and 4.

[24:58] Again, is Psalm 130 of someone that's coming to God for the first time or someone that's coming to God for the 600th time in repentance? It's the latter. So why is it that He's preaching to Himself that, Lord, I know I've sinned, but You have forgiven me?

[25:14] Here's why. It's because repentance and faith is not just for coming to Christ the first time. Repentance and faith is the very posture that a believer must live their entire life.

[25:29] Repenting of sin and trusting in Jesus is the very means by which we enjoy a full, satisfying, beautiful relationship with our God.

[25:39] So I want to walk through just some steps of repentance and faith. What does it mean to repent of my sin? To turn to God even as a believer already redeemed, already washed.

[25:54] How do I still throw myself in the rhythms of the gospel? We repent and we believe. So I'm going to work through five quick steps here of what it might mean to repent biblically. First is contrition. Now contrition is when we're broken over sin.

[26:07] It's not just that we recognize that we're sinful. Like me, at college, I recognize finally the Lord broke through and the Holy Spirit convicted me. Hey, there is sin in your life.

[26:20] Repent. Brokenness is the result of what happens when the Holy Spirit puts His loving arm on our shoulder. He reminds us of what's right, what's true, what's holy.

[26:35] And we are broken over sin. And this is an important step because oftentimes in my life, when I think about repenting from sin, I will jump straight to two. I need to just confess everything that I've done.

[26:47] And yes, that's good, but it's two for a reason. Confession without contrition is nothing more than empty words. Lord, I'm sorry I did this.

[26:58] I know that I'm supposed to confess my sin. I've done this so many times in my life. I know I'm supposed to confess my sins. I've told that by my pastor and other people. So Lord, here it is. I did this. I did that. I did that. I did that. I'm so sorry.

[27:09] Please forgive me, Lord. Has anyone else prayed that prayer without contrition? I have. I've done it over and over and over again. And then I'm surprised by the fact that that weight, that burden, that shame that I feel isn't lifted.

[27:23] We must be broken over sin, which means we must have a high view of God, who He is, His holiness, and our lack of holiness in times of sin. So contrition, we're broken over our sin.

[27:35] Confession then follows naturally. The Holy Spirit convicts us, makes us broken, but then what leads to that is the natural cry of the heart for rescue.

[27:45] And that's what confession is, agreement about sin with God. In other words, Lord, I feel broken. And now I'm going to admit to you that what I have done actually is wrong.

[27:59] Lord, I agree with you that lust, pride, selfishness, those are the things that I struggle with. You're going to have similar struggles or maybe different, but whatever it is, Lord, that you feel the weight of, I agree with you, Lord, that the ways in which I've been thinking, living, speaking, whatever it may be, those are not holy.

[28:24] And they're not pleasing to you. Confession is agreeing with God about what he says sin is. And then finally, cleansing. Removal of sin by God. Now, if you have believed in Jesus, that removal was once and forever.

[28:37] We don't live our lives believing that every single time I sin, if I don't go to God and confess it immediately, I might not be forgiven of that sin. No, east is to the west. We are completely forgiven past, present, and future from the moment we are washed by the blood of Jesus.

[28:53] But, this cleansing is still something that we need to be reminded of. Forgiveness applied to our hearts in the moment of our crying out.

[29:05] To remember our identity so God removes our sin from us, which leads to celebration, freedom from sin in God. Now that that weight has been lifted, as I'm going up that mountain, the Lord takes all those rocks out.

[29:21] I'm no longer burdened. I know my sin is gone. I know my shame has been removed. That's a term called expiation. Expiation means to remove guilt.

[29:32] And that's what Jesus did on the cross. He doesn't just forgive our sins blankly. No, He forgives our sin for the effect. And what is the effect of no longer feeling the weight of sin?

[29:44] We're free. Free to what? Number five, consecration. To die to sin through God. that now we have been washed.

[29:56] Now we have been cleansed. Now I recognize that the psalmist says, with you there is forgiveness. These things are gone. They're removed. They no longer oppress me. So now what am I free to do?

[30:09] I'm free to die to that sin and choose Jesus. Five steps. Biblical repentance that may help you this week as you're thinking through what does it look like for a posture of a heart that comes before God.

[30:20] So that's three and four. They talk about the turning point of rising from our depths and saying, okay, Lord, I gotta remind myself of your glorious gospel.

[30:32] Which leads to verse five and six. So here's where it starts to get really practical. Verses five and six tell us that a decision needs to be made to wait on God to renew our soul with grace.

[30:52] What does it mean to wait on the Lord? Let's look at verse five and six. I wait for the Lord. My soul waits. And in His word, I hope, my soul waits for the Lord more than the watchman for the morning.

[31:03] More than the watchman for the morning. And this is a picture of rising out of the depths, being forgiven.

[31:14] And now the psalmist stands on two feet. This is the picture I'm using for this third scene. Stands on two feet. I know I'm forgiven. And Lord, I know You're gracious.

[31:25] I've pulled myself up with those truths. And now what does the psalmist do? He waits with expectation, with hope on his God.

[31:38] And in this context, this waiting on the Lord to do something refers to waiting on God's grace and His mercy and His favor to wash over Him as He confesses sin and embraces truth.

[31:56] The psalmist is waiting on the Lord to refresh his soul, to be reminded of His redemption. And this picture of watchman for the morning gives us a poetic image of hoping in God and His mercy.

[32:08] So the watchman is a symbol for the people that would wait on the tops of the towers and they would look out over the plains protecting the kingdom. Everyone else is sleeping, they're watching.

[32:19] And what are they watching for? Well, in the darkness of the night where there are no mass electricity grids in the city that power, you can drive through Spokane in the middle of the night and it's lit up.

[32:32] You can see things, right? There's no such thing in this day and age. You're looking out over darkness. It's kind of hard to see enemies if they're coming. So what is the hope?

[32:43] The hope is this, that okay, we're going to continue to watch and be vigilant. But we know that the sun is going to rise and we're going to be able to guard and protect and see what's out there far better. So here's the image.

[32:54] Like watchmen that know the sun is coming up. Like watchmen that are assured that the light will come and disperse the darkness away as they watch so too.

[33:08] The believer who rises from the guilt of their sin and recognizes they have been forgiven, we watch for God's favor and His grace to renew us, to wash us, to bring us back into right relationship.

[33:29] And this is where we get our main takeaway from the text. When experiencing the depths of guilt, find assurance in the work of Christ.

[33:43] When experiencing the depths of guilt, find assurance in the work of Christ. Now assurance is a term that I want to encourage us with this week.

[33:56] That if you, as I was describing at the beginning of this message, if you are somebody who in this very season of life, feels like a backpacker going up a mountain with immense weight, if you feel like you're in the depths of sin, maybe there's a habitual sin that you have tried repenting of, you've tried turning away from, but it just continues to eat you up.

[34:18] Here's what we have from the text this morning. Hope in the Lord. Look for His grace.

[34:30] Watch for it. Wait for it. And here's what I love about this picture. That when we think about repentance and turning back to the Lord in the midst of our sin, what we need to be reminded of is that assurance is confidence in one standing through God.

[34:58] That when we are assured in our soul, the basis for that assurance is not the works of repentance that we will do. We don't repent so that we feel right with God.

[35:13] we repent because we're right with God. And this is a very important shift. One of these two will lead to legalism.

[35:24] One of these two will lead to salvation and joy in life being dependent on what I do. Which there is an element of living right and experiencing blessing. But in this text what we see is that all of the hope, all of the joy, all of the expectation is on God to work.

[35:41] And that is what leads us to follow in His rhythms of grace. Listen to this in Romans 8. This is a very important passage to nail this down. Romans 8, verse 15 and 16.

[35:53] Here's what Paul says of this. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons.

[36:04] Now that you're saved and redeemed by Jesus, you have not received a spirit that falls back into fear of what God may do to me if I don't repent. No, here's what he's saying. You've received a spirit of adoption as sons and daughters by whom we cry Abba, Father.

[36:21] You've probably heard this before. What does Abba, Father mean? It is the best translation you can get is a little child looking to their dad and saying, Daddy, I know you love me. I love you.

[36:31] Can you pick me up? Can you hold me? Does that sound like an image? A fear that God is angry at me because I'm in sin.

[36:46] No, it's a spirit of I have a Father that loves me and cares for me and He's kind to me and He's already blessed me with all spiritual blessings in Jesus. And I want to cry to Him.

[36:59] Let me finish this thought. Verse 16, this is how He finishes it. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. This chapter is in context of when we give way to the flesh and how we should choose the Spirit instead.

[37:17] And here's what He just said. The Holy Spirit in our hearts will remind us that we are not children of wrath but instead we are children of God. So what is the basis for our repentance?

[37:27] When we find ourselves in sin, what is it that we are to do? Find assurance in Jesus. Assurance is like the wings of the soul.

[37:39] When we feel weighted down and burdened by our sin, when we remind ourselves of being made right with God through the work of Jesus, being called sons and daughters, redeemed by His blood, that our relationship has completely changed.

[37:58] It's like wings to our soul. It lifts us up. out of our pit. And I believe in this moment in the psalm, this is the moment where the psalmist receives divine assurance.

[38:16] Between verse 6 and 7, there's a picture here. Wait on the Lord like watchmen. I'm watching for it. God, You're going to wash me over. I'm going to walk out of this place completely assured that You love me.

[38:28] You've forgiven me. I am Your child. And I'm going to walk out of this place with that assurance. I believe that happens between verses 6 and 7. So, if verses 1 and 2 is on our knees, broken over our sin, verses 3 and 4 is rising, saying, You know what, Lord?

[38:43] I'm going to get out of this. I'm going to preach myself that which I know is true, that You've forgiven me and You don't hold my sins against me. Verse 4 and 5, or excuse me, 5 and 6 now, is like we just saw, is now the psalmist standing with hands raised saying, God, You've forgiven me and I am confident in that.

[38:59] I know that Your mercy rests on me because of Jesus' work and not my own. I'm free because of Jesus. You have freed me from sin. Now verse 7 and 8 is the final posture.

[39:11] I want you to notice the posture here because we're going to end. It's pretty amazing. Here's the posture of the psalmist in 7 and 8. Let's read it. O Israel, hope in the Lord. For with the Lord there is steadfast love and with Him is plentiful redemption.

[39:23] He will redeem Israel from all His iniquities. What's the posture of 7 and 8? The voice is changed from me, my soul, when I feel in my depths of despair.

[39:33] You see the personal language, the individual language. Now what's the language? From the ground to rising to standing and here's the picture now.

[39:44] The psalmist is now running. And where is the psalmist running? To God's people. This person has experienced assurance assurance of forgiveness.

[39:58] Assurance of God's kindness. Assurance that he is not held in contempt by God. This person has been assured that there is no condemnation.

[40:14] That he is favored with the Lord. And what is the response? I have to go tell my brothers and sisters.

[40:26] I love this. Oh Israel, you all, my family, my people, God has just done a great work in my life.

[40:38] He's reminded me of who I am. He's assured me of my salvation. There's new life in this person. And what do they do?

[40:48] They go to the people. And this is a picture of biblical exhortation and edification. What we see here is somebody that goes to the nation, goes to the congregation of God's people and preaches to them.

[41:03] Not in a coming down way, but in a uplifting way. And here's the uplifting sermon that you see in verse 7 and 8. Okay? Hey guys, I am pretty darn sure, actually I'm positive that the Lord does what?

[41:17] He has steadfast love and he has plentiful redemption for all of us. Somebody might say, well how do you know that? Why are you so assured of that? What is he going to say? Because I just experienced it.

[41:30] I was in sin and I was broken over the sin through the Holy Spirit, through God's kindness. He reminded me that I'm forgiven. He reminded me that I am his child.

[41:41] He reminded me that there is life with him. I experienced all of that and my burden has been lifted through confession, repentance, attrition. I've been cleaned.

[41:53] And let me tell you, I once was burdened, weighed down and now I am free. That is the experience happening here. It's a testimony to the people of God that they too should be quick to repent and be drawn back to the kindness of God.

[42:15] Ephesians 1, 7-9 says this, in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of his will according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ.

[42:32] We have redemption, forgiveness of sin, and as the psalmist says here, I love this term, plentiful redemption. Plentiful is a word that modifies redemption to be able to say this, plentiful as if there are a million possible outlets that this redemption could flow.

[42:51] That's what plentiful means. It will go in every single direction that it is needed. That's what plentiful means. And here's what the renewed, the newly assured psalmist does.

[43:02] He goes to the nation of Israel and he says this, God is here, he loves us with steadfast love and his redemption to cleanse us, to wash us new, and to bring assurance of our status with him.

[43:16] He's ready to give it to any and everyone that wants it. But look how it ends. Verse 8, he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

[43:29] And finally here, we have a forward looking to a redemption that will be accomplished one day. And for the psalmist in Israel at the time that this was written, that they would sing it.

[43:46] They were assured that God has already forgiven them, that he's already called them his people, that their identity changes already happened. But also, what are they looking forward to? You've got to be careful.

[43:56] We read this in our modern context. We might read this the wrong way. What were they looking forward to? He has promised that he's going to send somebody who will be called the Messiah, who will finally, once and for all, be the sacrifice for sin to end all sacrifice.

[44:25] Guys, the Lord has told us that he's going to do this. Let's remind ourselves that he is coming. And for you and I on this side of the cross, we recognize that that Messiah came.

[44:38] His name was Jesus Christ. But we also join in with Israel in that we look forward. Here but not yet. We have been redeemed.

[44:49] We have been forgiven. But our forgiveness and our redemption will come in full, in completion, one day when Jesus returns. And he makes all things new.

[45:02] So here's what you have. When we wait on the Lord, we're waiting not only that he would refresh us in the moment with his grace and his mercy anew, which is already ours in Christ, but also when we wait on the Lord, I want us to have this posture that we still look forward to the day when we will no longer be afflicted by sin.

[45:23] That it will have no power over us. And that once and for all, forever and ever, in the presence of Jesus, our very Redeemer, we will experience lasting, true joy, peace in Him.

[45:41] So I want to encourage us this morning to share your redemptive experiences with one another. If any of us in here today are feeling like we're in the depths, let us lift them up.

[45:57] Maybe by sharing the last time you felt you were in the depths. Maybe by sharing the assurance that you've received in times of need. I pray that we would be a church that does not hide our depths of sin.

[46:14] But it is so easy to do in an individualistic culture like ours. But I pray we would be a church that when we find ourselves in that depth of sin, we would assure one another of our standing before God.

[46:27] And we would be quick to enter into times of confession and renewal. And we would help one another rid ourselves of any guilt. So I want to finish with Hebrews 4.

[46:39] It's the last thing I'll read. Hebrews 4, 14 to 16. This is the great passage that assures the believer of our right standing with God. Our goal this morning is to walk out of here when we experience the depths of guilt to teach ourselves to find assurance in Jesus.

[46:56] Let me read this and then we'll continue on. Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

[47:09] For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace in our time of need.

[47:31] Our time of need is always in the grace of Jesus Christ is always ready to wash us and clean us and restore us to God.

[47:47] Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your assurance. We thank you that with you guilt has no place. Lord, I pray that as a church that seeks to love one another, a church that seeks to be real with one another and not hide, that we would be quick, Lord, to share the ways in which we feel we have failed.

[48:14] We would be quick to share the ways in which we know we have failed. Lord, may this church be a church that in the midst of our grief over sin, the guilt that we experience, are quick to pull one another up by the work of Christ.

[48:33] God, I ask that repentance would not just be the pathway into the kingdom of God, but it would be the pathway to live within the kingdom of God. That every day our dependency on you to restore us by your grace, to shower your favor on us, to remind us of who we are because of your son Jesus and what he's done, that that would be the regular rhythm in the life of this church.

[48:57] Thank you for each person here and thank you for the plentiful redemption that covers each and every one of us in all of our diverse circumstances and sins, Lord. We love you and we recognize you as the great Savior over your church.

[49:09] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.