Now, please open your Bibles with me to Psalm 130 on page 624.
! We're going to read the whole psalm.
! Psalm 130.
Out of the depths, I cry to you, Lord.
Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.
If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can with reverence serve you.
I wait for the Lord.
My whole being waits.
And in his word, I put my hope.
I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.
Israel, put your hope in the Lord.
For with the Lord is unfailing love, and with him is full redemption.
He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.
Amen.
This is God's word.
And you will have heard that powerful image.
We sang it in Psalm 140.
It begins here again.
It's the image, perhaps, of a person who has lost its sea,
and they feel like they're drowning.
Or they've fallen into quicksand.
And they're kicking and they're scrabbling, but it's only making things worse.
Or perhaps, think of someone who's fallen down a mine,
or some kind of deep pit,
and there's no way back up.
The image is vivid.
Somebody who's utterly hopeless and helpless.
With a sensation of going under.
Trapped.
Cannot get their footing.
Cannot find stability or security.
It's a powerful image, I think, many of us,
and many people in our world could identify with.
In our Psalm, we discover that for this songwriter,
the cause of his distress is that sense of guilt for sin.
He knows God is holy and he is impure.
That God is just and he deserves judgment.
And maybe some of us, we think about that image of being in the depths
and we relate to the Psalms' experience directly.
John Wesley.
Some of you have heard of John Wesley.
He was a famous preacher in the 18th century.
On May the 24th, 1738, he wasn't a Christian.
He visited St. Paul's Cathedral.
And the choir was singing Psalm 130, Lord from the depths.
And for John Wesley, in that moment, he said,
it mirrored his spiritual distress.
And that evening, he went to another church
and became a Christian listening to an introduction
to the book of Romans.
And I wish reminded him of God's grace for guilty sinners.
So that may be our relation to this image.
But the image, of course, works far more broadly.
That somebody can have absolutely no sense of guilt,
but can still feel a sense of total despair.
It could be that our circumstances,
it create that sensation that we are trapped
or we are drowning.
It may be that we are facing a particular challenge,
a particular kind of suffering.
Or maybe for many, that sense of feeling so hopeless
and in the depths is just because we feel ashamed.
Because we think there is a standard
that we should be reaching.
There are things that we should have achieved by now,
and we simply haven't.
It's not matching up to the world's standards
or even our own.
This is an image, I think,
that's big enough for all of our circumstances.
There's a Christian writer who was sharing
that when his mother-in-law was going through
an aggressive cancer treatment,
both his mother-in-law and himself,
they turned to Psalm 130 day after day
to find hope and comfort.
It's a wonderful psalm
because it's so honest and it's so hopeful.
The image of being in the depths
is broad enough for all of us to relate to.
And the message of hope in Psalm 130
is good news that we can all cling to.
Because we find even within the psalm
this steady climb towards assurance.
We go from the depths of despair
to hope and rejoicing in God's redemption.
The psalmist personally comes to discover
God's grace and goodness in his own life,
and by the end,
he's confidently inviting all Israel,
all the people of God,
into that experience.
So we're going to look at our psalm together,
and we're going to use that image
to frame our psalm.
So we begin in verses 1 and 2
in the depths that we find ourselves in.
Then verse 3 and 4 and verse 7 to 8
we're introduced to the rope
that we must grab hold of.
And finally in verses 5 and 6,
there's a climb that we each need to make.
So let's begin in the depths.
So we've said this is a vivid image
that's used in other psalms.
So we already sang Psalm 140
that reminds us,
God lifted me out of the slimy pit,
and he set my feet on a rock.
We could have gone to Psalm 69.
Listen to how Psalm 69 begins.
Save me, O God,
for the waters have come up to my neck.
I sink in the miry depths
where there is no foothold.
Some of God's people have related to this
in a very literal way.
Think of the prophet Jonah.
Remember what happens in the story of Jonah?
God tells him to go and preach,
and he turns,
and he wants to run away from God,
and he's thrown overboard,
and he's swallowed by a fish,
but he's also sinking to the depths.
And in chapter 2,
we find a prayer of Jonah,
which sounds very like a psalm,
where he confesses that sense
of going under and being trapped
and knowing God's rescue.
Most often, of course, it's a metaphor.
I feel as if I'm going under.
I feel as if in my life
I can't quite get my footing.
I sense that I'm all at sea
in a sea of trouble.
Out of the deck.
But notice,
there is a striking cry of faith here.
Out of the depths,
I cry to you,
Lord.
And notice,
Lord is written in capital letters,
and whenever we see that,
we are reminded,
this is God's personal name.
This is the name of the covenant God
of steadfast love.
And in his distress,
this singer turns
to his covenant God.
He has come to discover
in the depths.
There is no one else to cry to.
There is no one else to look to
for mercy.
But faith looks up
and cries,
Lord, have mercy on me,
a sinner.
Verse 3 reveals,
as we said,
the cause of his distress.
If you, Lord,
kept a record of sins,
who could stand?
God keeps the record
and invites us
to give an account
of our lives.
If the live stream feed
of your life
was played
before God
and we were invited
to answer for it,
each and every one of us
would be condemned
as guilty.
And in humility
and in need,
faith cries out,
not for justice,
but for the mercy of God,
his undeserved kindness
and forgiveness.
And this psalm reminds us
of something that maybe
we've come to know personally.
Sometimes it takes our lives
hitting rock bottom,
as it were,
before we look up
and cry to God
for mercy.
If you know the story
of John Newton,
who famously wrote
Amazing Grace,
that happened to him literally.
He was caught up
in one of those
huge Atlantic storms
that the boat
was taking in water
and was beginning
to go under
and it was at that point
that he cried out
to God for mercy
and for salvation.
Maybe you resonate
with that.
But most of the time,
if we are honest,
I think our instinct
when trouble hits,
maybe we find ourselves
in the depths,
often our instinct
and certainly the message
that we hear
from the world
is look inside
of yourself
for the answers,
for salvation.
One way that we saw this
in recent years
in wider society
was when COVID hit.
Do you remember
when COVID hit
and it felt like
the window was open
just a crack
and people were beginning
to seek for God
and lots of people
were tuning in
to online services
and reading Bibles
and it felt like
the window opened.
But then,
what by and large happened
is the window shut
because people decided,
oh, it's okay,
science has the answers.
We've got a vaccine
so everything is fine.
we tend to look inside
of ourselves
for the answers.
At the level of
our own individual lives,
we can often think,
well, I should be able
to handle this
so I will handle this.
I'm going to draw
on my own resources,
my own resilience,
maybe my own relationships
to get me out of
whatever depth
I happen to be in.
The problem,
of course,
comes
when we discover
that there are times
when we can't
and then we feel
that we're really drowning.
Drowning under that sense,
perhaps,
of I'm not achieving my goals.
I'm not climbing
the ladder of success.
I'm putting in
all this effort
but life doesn't seem
to be getting much better.
It's entirely possible
that you may be here today
and you don't feel
you have a sin problem
but you can still feel
worthless.
You can still feel
ashamed.
You can still feel
a sense of guilt
for not measuring up.
And you might find yourself
in the depths
but you don't know
where to turn.
Well, this is when
the message of Psalm 130,
it's where the message
of Christianity
becomes such good news
because it says to us,
relentlessly,
don't look inside
of yourself
but look outside
of yourself
for salvation.
This Psalm reminds us
to look away from self
and look in faith
to the Lord Jesus
to find mercy.
That's where hope
is found.
That's where rescue begins.
Sometimes being in the depths
can be a very
eye-opening experience.
A time of trouble
can make us reflect
on where our life
is heading
and our priorities.
Just return to the sea
for a moment
when a boat
is sinking.
What will a crew
do?
Well, they'll begin
trying to bail
out the water,
see if they can
equalize themselves
that way
but if that's not working,
everything will go
overboard
that represents
extra weight
that's just dragging
the boat
down.
Maybe it's when
we get into
the depths
that we discover
there are idols
that we cling to.
There are things
that we look to
for salvation
that we actually
need to let go of
because they will
not save us
and they're only
dragging us down.
And it's time
to turn instead
to the living God
for mercy.
Thomas Watson
the Puritan
said this,
he said,
faith can make
use of the waters
of affliction
to swim faster
to Christ.
Our trouble
can make us,
should make us
as Christians
certainly,
turn to Christ
for mercy
and salvation.
That's where
we're going to turn
next.
We're going to turn
secondly to the rope
that we must
grab hold of.
So think about
that image
that we began
within the depths.
There's one thing
whether we're
thinking about
the ocean
or quicksand
or a mine pit,
one thing is true.
If you're in
that situation
you need a rescuer
to come with
the right equipment.
So whether that's
you,
you need the coast guard
to throw out
a life belt
or whether you need
a friend on dry ground
to throw out
a solid branch
to drag you back
out of the quicksand,
whether you need
somebody with
the winch
and the rope
and the harness
to come and bring you up.
You need rescue,
you need the right equipment
and Psalm 130
describes both for us.
It describes
in a sense
the rope
that God
drops down
to us.
It's a rope
made of two strands.
We need
to cling hold
of two things
that God provides,
only God provides.
First of all,
a new record
and secondly,
a new
redeemer.
So look with me
at verses 3 and 4
and let's think
about a new record.
If you,
Lord,
kept a record of sins,
Lord,
who could stand?
But with you
there is forgiveness
so that we can
with reverence
serve you.
Now,
in case you hadn't noticed,
we are just
at the beginning
of Edinburgh Fringe
Festival season
and there are
hundreds of shows
available to watch
but I have not yet
seen one
where the star
of the show
as his solo show
would put on
public display
all of their
deepest,
darkest
words,
thoughts,
actions
and desires.
Imagine if you
walked into that show.
Imagine how uncomfortable
it would be
in the audience.
Imagine how uncomfortable
it would be
if you had to perform
in that show.
Psalm 130
is facing
the reality,
the knowledge
that God
sees
everything
and so he's very honest
and he says
if God kept a record,
if God kept a watch
over every single
detail of my life
and if he was to
hold me
account
for those,
if he wrote it down
as public record
and I had to answer
for those,
knowing God
is holy
and pure
and he hates sin,
any lack of love,
any pride,
any anger,
any lies,
who could stand?
This is why
he's in the depths.
He knows his guilt
before God
and truly
we would all be law
for the ways
that we have treated
one another,
for the ways
that we've treated
God himself.
But then there's
that wonderful
verse 4,
but with you,
Lord,
there is
forgiveness.
That God
has made
provision
to meet
the problem
of human need,
that sin
that destroys
relationships
that ruins
God's created
order.
It's this
wonderful explosion
of God's
undeserved
grace.
We saw
something of the
same gospel
contrast
in the book
of Romans.
Let me remind
you of
verses 23
and 24
of Romans 3.
Verse 23,
all have sinned
and fall short
of God's glory.
So there's
the depths.
And all
are justified
freely
by his grace
through the
redemption
that came
by Jesus
Christ.
So there's
the rope,
there's
the new
record.
How can
we have
this new
record?
Well,
the Bible
tells us
it's only
through
Jesus.
Because
Jesus came
on a mission
to become
one of us,
ultimately to
take our
record of
debt,
all our
wrongdoings,
and to pay
that price
in full,
and in
exchange to
give us
his record
of perfect
righteousness.
So that by
faith in
Jesus,
you and I
can stand
because of
God's grace
shown to us
through the
sacrifice of
Jesus at
the cross.
And so
faith takes
hold of
Jesus and
that new
record that
he provides.
Because God
now deals
with us
and our
sin
according
to his
steadfast love
and mercy
towards us
in Jesus.
He doesn't
deal with us
according to
our sin
anymore.
He deals
with us
according to
his love
and his
mercy
in Jesus.
And that
can make
such a
profound
difference
to how
we live.
As we
understand
that God's
eyes are
the only
eyes that
matter,
and that
when God
looks on
us,
he looks
on us
with love.
Not seeing
us in
our sin,
but seeing
us in
his son.
And he
loves us
fully and
completely.
So now it's
no longer
what other
people think
of me that
matters.
Now it's
not even
what I
think of
myself that
matters.
Now it's
what God
says of
me.
That's what
counts.
And when we
are justified,
when we are
declared righteous,
that's where we
find the
secure
foothold.
That's where
we find
stability for
life, even
in the
depths.
It's in
God's
steadfast
love.
So that's
the first
strand, a
new record.
The second
strand is
this.
We need
to cling
on to
a new
redeemer.
Look with
me at
verses 7
and 8,
and you
hear some
very focused
and very
emphatic
language.
Israel, put
your hope
in the
Lord, for
with the
Lord is
unfailing
love, and
with him
is full
redemption.
He
himself
will
redeem
Israel from
all their
sins.
Hear the
emphasis.
He wants
us to
hear the
only
redeemer
is the
Lord God,
and he
himself has
promised he
will redeem
his people
from all
of their
sins.
Now, why
does that
emphasis
matter?
Here's one
reason it
matters, because
God's people
are often
prone to
forget.
It was
absolutely the
case for
Old Testament
Israel.
Think about
the amazing
privileges they
had.
You know, God
had acted in
such power to
save them from
slavery.
God gave
them such
wonderful
promises to
be their
God, that
they would be
his people.
They enjoyed
his presence.
They saw
his shining
cloud of
glory.
He lived
among them.
They witnessed
his miracles,
but time and
time and
time again,
they chose
idols.
They chose
other nations
to be their
allies in
war that they
would trust
in.
They forgot
God was
their
redeemer.
As
Christians,
we might
say, I
trust in
Jesus as
Savior, but
when it
comes down
to it, we
might find
ourselves
looking to
our work
perhaps, a
relationship,
our money,
to be our
rescuer.
That's where
we instinctively
turn to fix
what's broken,
to give us the
sense of life
and joy.
And so
even as
Christians, we
can find
ourselves utterly
crushed if
we miss a
promotion or
if we don't
get recognition,
if our
relationship
fails, or
if someone
else sees
our flaws.
Now, why
is that?
Could it
be that we
so easily
turn to
trust in
other
redeemers
besides Jesus
alone?
And so
Psalm 130
invites us to
reflect, is
all my
hope in
the Lord
Jesus
alone?
Will I
place all
my weight
on this
rope?
Do I
trust His
word, His
promise, His
salvation?
So one
reason for the
emphasis is
that we're
prone to
forget.
The second
reason for
the emphasis
is that the
new Redeemer
who's promised
is the
Lord
Himself.
prophecy
there's
an element
of prophecy
here.
And what
the singer
is seeing
in shadow,
we see in
the full
light of
day, in
the coming
of Jesus.
Because with
the coming
of Jesus,
what do we
have?
We have the
Lord Himself,
the eternal
Son of God,
becoming one
of us.
And why does
He become one
of us?
So that He
Himself can
redeem us.
So He
takes on
human flesh
so that He
can bear
our human
sin.
So that He
can act for
us to secure
our redemption.
So the
Lord Jesus,
He left the
glory of
heaven and
He came
down into
the depths.
Into the
depths of
suffering and
forsaken
and enduring
God's wrath
on our
behalf to
raise us
up to
life with
God.
And so He
is the rope
we must grab
hold of by
faith.
There is no
other way
back to
God and
to life.
So we've
seen the
depths, we've
seen the
rope.
Very briefly,
let's think
about the
claim.
And the
surprise about
the claim,
so when you
think about
claiming, you
think about
action.
And so you
might expect
an active
word.
But look
with me at
verses 5 and
6.
This is an
active word,
but it kind
of sounds
passive as
well.
I wait
for the
Lord.
My whole
being waits,
and in
His word I
put my
hope.
I wait
for the
Lord.
More than
watchmen wait
for the
morning,
more than
watchmen wait
for the
morning.
And this is
such a helpful
word because
it, again,
is reminding
us we need
to look out
inside ourselves
for salvation.
Faith waits,
faith trusts
in God.
And it also
reminds us that
this is a
process.
This is a
long and
steady claim
of trusting
in Jesus
day by
day.
There's a
new image
in verse
6.
So the
psalm pictures
the watchmen
of the city.
So picture
them either
stationed at
the gates or
maybe on the
city walls,
and it's
pitch black
and they're
there all
night.
And they're
checking to
see if there's
enemies,
they're checking
to see if
there's any
danger.
And when
they see
dawn,
there is
relief,
there is
rest for
them.
The night
was long,
but the
morning
come.
Even more
so, the
psalmist
says,
the Christian
waits on
the Lord
sometimes,
maybe often
in the
darkness,
but knowing
the light
will dawn.
Mercy
comes in
the morning.
And so
we wait
patiently.
I wait,
notice this,
I wait for
the Lord.
The longing
isn't just,
I really want
to get out of
this trouble
in this dark
situation.
The longing
is for
God
himself.
So this
waiting is
active because
it's also
worship.
We're told
to wait
expectantly.
My whole
being waits
and in his
word I put
my hope.
I know
he will
be faithful
to his
promise.
I know
that day
will break,
that darkness
will give
way to
light.
And we
wait together.
We wait
corporately.
Israel,
notice he
summons the
whole people
of God.
Israel,
put your
hope in
the Lord.
So there's
this powerful
picture of
the whole
church
locked
together,
summoned
together
to wait
with faith
on the
God of
unfailing
love and
full
redemption.
And so
we find
good news
even in
the depths
of sin,
of suffering,
of shame.
There is
good news
because God
in Christ
is ready to
meet us
there.
There is
good news
because the
Lord Jesus
promises a
new record
and to be
our new
and true
redeemer.
So that you
and I can
live day
by day
waiting with
hope in
God's mercy
and God's
love.
So let's
pray and
give thanks
to God
together.
Lord,
we thank
you.
Thank you
for the
honesty of
the Bible
because so
often it
reflects our
human experience
of feeling
and being
in the
depths.
But Lord,
we thank
you that
the Christian
faith offers
us such
deep hope
in your
character,
in your
word,
and in
your salvation
because you've
given us
Jesus.
Thank you
that he
was willing
to come
into the
depths in
order to
raise us
up to
glorious new
life.
And so we
pray that you
would enable
us to wait
with hope,
to summon
one another
to place
our hope
in the
Lord Jesus,
to be a
source of
help and
encouragement
to each
other in
the various
things that
we go
through in
life,
that together
we might
lift our
eyes and
lift our
voices to
Jesus,
our great
redeemer,
as we
pray in
his name.
Amen.