4. Let's read.
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. O Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy. If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness, therefore you are feared. I wait for the Lord, my soul
waits, and in his word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait
for the morning, more than the watchmen wait for the morning. O 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.
Well, I'm going to ask Michael. He's going to come up now and preach this morning.
Well, before we look at this psalm, let's pray together. Lord, we thank you that you've
given us your word. We thank you for the words of the psalmist all those years ago. We pray,
O Lord, that you will speak to each one of us as individuals and corporately as we look
together at these ancient words, that they might become relevant to our own lives, to our
own experience. And we pray, O Father God, that if we are in the depths this morning as the psalmist
was, so we will put our hope in the Lord. Lord, help us to this end, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Amen. Well, Psalm 130 is a psalm we're looking at, and I'm told that it was Luther's, one of Luther's
favorite psalms. He liked this psalm very much. He was prone to despair with all the things that
were going on at the time of the Reformation and all the battles he had to fight. And so he often
found himself in the depths. Another writer has spoken about this psalm as being like steps to heaven.
He likens the psalm to a spiritual barometer. You know, before we had the internet and we could look
up the five-day forecast, you had the barometer and it marked the pressures that were going on and
what the weather was likely to be over the coming days. Well, certainly the psalmist begins right in
the depths. Spiritually, things are very, very low. It's as though, spiritually speaking, the clouds are
touching the ground. And out of those depths, he cries to the Lord. He cries to his God.
But you also notice, as you look at this psalm, that there is not just that spiritual barometer,
but there is also the progression in the psalm. Because as the psalmist comes to the end of this
short psalm, he is in heaven, as it were, as he looks for that full redemption that the Lord will
redeem Israel from all their sins. So he has come through the darkness of the first verse
to the unfailing love of the Lord and the full redemption that is promised to all God's people
in the glory of heaven. It's a song of ascent.
You know, these were psalms that were sung as the pilgrims made their way up to Jerusalem.
There's a number of them here, all linked together, a song of ascent.
They were sung by the pilgrims as they made their way up to Jerusalem at the various festivals,
at Passover, for example. This was a psalm that would have been sung by Jesus himself as he made his way
up to the temple. He also would have been singing along with David of old and the other psalmists
who penned these psalms. And it is a song of progression. It is a song of ascent. There's a
rising note in it. Out of the depths I cry. And then the redemption of Israel. And I thought of the
Lord Jesus singing this psalm and how he would have thought about it. He would cry out of the depths.
If there be any other way, let this cup pass from me, we're told. And his sweat was like drops of
blood falling to the ground. Out of the depths he cried. Not because of sin, but for your sins and for
my sins he cried out. And he knew that through his death there would be that full redemption. He would
redeem Israel from all their sins. So it's a psalm of ascent. It's a psalm that rises. And I trust as we
go through it, we too will rise, as it were, with wings like eagles. And we shall run and not be weary
and walk and not faint. So let's divide the psalm. And we're going to divide it into four parts. And they
divide easily for us into two verses each. The first part is desiring. And we have that in verses
one and two. And I think we have here the desire of true prayer to God. Well, what was happening to the
psalmist as he penned these words? Well, we can't be absolutely certain, but certainly there was a trial of
one sort or another. Perhaps he was surrounded by enemies. Perhaps death stared him in the face. Perhaps there was a
pressure of family life. Perhaps there was illness. Perhaps there were national difficulties if David is the
psalmist. All of these were the psalmist. All of these were reasons for him to cry out to God. But I think the
emphasis lies in another direction. I think in some way or another he had failed the Lord. There was sin in his
life. I think there was something that had happened, something that he had done that caused him to cry out from the
depths of his being in true prayer as he desires God to intervene because of this sin that was in his life.
And as he prays, we learn something of what it means to cry out to God as we sin and as we fail him.
Notice that his prayer here is fervent. I cry to you. He desires God. His desire is directed to God, to you, O Lord.
Now we have the slogans, don't we? Prayer changes things. We hear about the power of prayer.
But so often when faith is weak, particularly when we are in the depths,
we find it perhaps difficult to pray. And sometimes at that particular time the Spirit intercedes for us
with groanings that can't be uttered. But the Lord knows our hearts. And he knows there is this desire
to seek him to seek him to you, O Lord. It's not our prayers that will change the situation. It is God who
changes situation. It is God who intervenes on our behalf when we are in the depths. He's desiring God to do it.
As he comes, he sees who God is. He is the Lord. He is Jehovah. He is the Creator. He is the One of Almighty
power. And as he cries, he says, O Lord, hear my voice. And he's absolutely dependent.
He needs mercy. And only the Lord can provide that mercy. So we have, first of all, the desire of true
prayer. But then there's this desire that I want to emphasize to be heard. He wants to be heard above
everything else. He's a little bit like that blind man that we read of in Luke chapter 18 and verses 35 to 43.
He has heard about Jesus. People were speaking about Jesus. And he desires the Lord Jesus because he is
passing by. And he cries out because he wants to see. But others are saying, be quiet. Don't disturb him.
Don't make this fuss. But he cries out all the more. He won't be silent because he's desperate.
And that's the psalmist in the depths. Oh, Lord, hear my voice. Let your ear be attentive to my cry for mercy.
He wants to be heard above everything else. Spurgeon has a little remark in his commentary on this psalm by saying this.
It is all we ask. It is all we ask. And nothing less will content us. If the Lord will but hear us,
we will leave it to his superior wisdom to decide whether he answers us or no. It is better for our prayer to be heard
than answered. Have you ever thought of that? Sometimes we can ask for all the wrong reasons, can't we? And when we're in the depths,
the Lord is teaching us. And he may not always bring us out of the depths. But in those depths, he is teaching us.
And he allows us to go through these difficulties, these trials that we might learn of him. But he is hearing us.
And if he is saying no to our requests, it is because of his superior wisdom.
So the psalmist's desire is that he might be heard. And notice too, in these verses, it's a desire that continues.
Now in our NIVs, his prayers are in the singular.
Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.
If you have the ESV in front of you, it says this.
Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy.
And if you have the authorized version, it says,
Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.
In other words, it's not just one fleeting prayer.
In the depths, he is crying out. And he's crying out again.
And he's crying out the more.
That the Lord will hear him.
That the Lord will come to his aid.
It is, if you like, the asking and the seeking and the knocking of prayer.
Nothing will satisfy him apart from the Lord.
He knows, even though he is in the depths, that God is gracious.
That God is merciful.
That his mercies are new every day.
And he desires that mercy.
How it will be shown.
Well, he's content to leave that with God.
But he keeps on calling out.
How great is our desire for God.
Are we a people that cast our cares upon the Lord?
Do we long to be heard?
And how consistent is our praying?
Do we cry to him in the depths?
Do we desire him?
And if we're correct,
that this is a psalm that was written
because of some sin on his part,
do we see the seriousness of sin
that will want us to call out to him
that we might know his forgiveness
because we have sinned against him.
And perhaps we don't call out sometimes like the psalmist
because we have failed to see the seriousness of sin.
David elsewhere says,
Against thee, you only have I sinned.
So there's a desiring of prayer
in verses 1 and 2.
Secondly, we have him reflecting
in verses 3 and 4.
To you, O Lord,
if you, O Lord, kept a record of sins,
O Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness,
therefore you are feared.
He's in the depths,
almost certainly because of sin.
The temptation, of course,
would be for him to despair.
God will never listen to me.
But the psalmist does know
something of the grace of God
and he reflects upon that in verse 3.
If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins,
O Lord, who can stand?
And he knows the answer to that question.
He answers, in effect,
that nobody could stand.
He's conscious, you see, of his own sins.
He's in the depths because of them.
And he's also aware of God's holiness
and his own unrighteousness.
How can he come before God?
How can he stand
before the Lord God Almighty?
You see, it's not just his present sins,
whatever they were.
They're all his past sins.
And the list is long.
He could go back and think of his childhood
and how he'd failed the Lord in his childhood.
He could look at his adolescence.
And he could see the depth of his sins,
how far he had gone.
And as an adult,
he had failed the Lord again and again.
O Lord, if you kept a record of my sins,
O Lord, who could stand?
The list is long.
No one could stand.
But there's no one that does good,
not even one.
Not one sin.
A past the eye of God.
For he is the omniscient one.
He sees all and knows all.
What hope does he have of God hearing his voice?
If every time he cried to God,
God took out his book
and recited his sins and his failures.
And the same would be true
of every one of us here this morning.
What hope would we have?
Who could stand?
No, we're all guilty.
We've all fallen short.
But there's the grace of God
and he reflects upon this.
You see, he's not coming
to plead his righteousness,
his own righteousness,
for he has none.
He's not come pleading his own good works.
His hope
is in the graciousness of Jehovah,
his God.
The one who wipes the slate
completely clean.
The psalmist
would have thought of the sacrifices
that were made.
Perhaps he would think of the Day of Atonement
and the priest
laying his hand on the scapegoat
and that scapegoat
being released into the wilderness.
Perhaps he would think of
a personal sacrifice
that he had taken
to the temple.
And his sins
had been laid upon that bullock.
And the bullock
had been slaughtered
in his place.
Yes, God was a God of grace
and the sacrificial system
pointed to that.
But again and again
the psalmists, of course,
look forward to the coming
of the Messiah.
Messiah.
As Psalm 22
they pierced his hands
and his feet.
And it is on this basis
that we can come.
And as the psalmist
look forward
to the coming of Christ
so we look back
and see that Christ has come.
That grace might be given
to you and me.
And that the slate
can be wiped clean.
So that even when we sin
and fail
after we become Christians
there is forgiveness
for us.
Oh that we might reflect
upon God's graciousness.
That we might marvel
to this morning
that he is ready
to hear our cries
from the depths.
Oh that we might marvel
that we can come
before him
in the righteousness
of the Lord
Jesus Christ.
Conscious yes
of our sin
but conscious
also of the fact
that the Lord
is there for us.
You see
as he meditates
upon these things
as he reflects
on God's graciousness
he also sees
wonderfully
the forgiveness
of God.
For with you
he says
in verse 4
there is forgiveness
therefore
you
are
feared.
He plumbed
the depths
of sin
but God
is gracious
and because
he is gracious
he forgives
utterly
and completely.
he reflects
that this forgiveness
is there
to be had
and he needed it.
And because
God was gracious
he was ready
to give it.
Does that mean
that he is blasé
about this forgiveness?
No
on the contrary
there is a sense
of all
there is forgiveness
therefore
you
are
feared.
The fear
of God
is sensible
as he reflects
on God's grace
so there is
this sensible
this reverence
that the Lord
of heaven
and earth
should be ready
to hear his cry
from the depths
he marvels
and he wonders
and he
worships.
Have you ever
reflected
upon the grace
of God
in your life?
Have you
meditated
on the wonder
of forgiveness?
That an all
holy God
should love you
in Christ
and should be
ready to forgive
you utterly
and completely?
Does this
cause you
to be happy?
yes it does
I'm sure
but does it
conjure up
this sense
of awe
and worship
that God
should love
sinners
like
ourselves?
Oh
that the
spirit of God
would work
in our lives
that we
might desire
this God
more
and that we
might reflect
more and more
upon his
grace
and the
wonder of
his
forgiveness
but thirdly
there's the
waiting
verses 5
and 6
I
wait
for the
Lord
my soul
waits
and in his
word
I put
my hope
my soul
waits
for the
Lord
more than
watchmen
wait for
the morning
more than
watchmen
wait
for
the
morning
he's
waiting
in hope
verse 5
I
wait
for the
Lord
my soul
waits
and in
his
word
I
put
my
hope
you
see
the
progress
he's
making
he's
going
forward
he's
no longer
in the
depths
because
he sees
something
of the
grace
and the
forgiveness
of God
now
he's
waiting
upon
the
Lord
but
this
is
not
an
idle
waiting
he's
not
twiddling
his
thumbs
waiting
for
something
that
might
or
might
not
happen
he's
waiting
in
confidence
he's
waiting
in
faith
and
you
notice
how
his
whole
soul
is
involved
in
this
waiting
I
wait
he
says
my
soul
waits
and
that's
repeated
in
verse
6
my
soul
waits
if you
like
he's
waiting
with
the
whole
of
his
being
he's
waiting
with
the
involvement
of
his
whole
heart
for
God
to
come
to
him
to
intervene
in
his
life
and
in
his
personal
experience
and
how
can
he
do
this
with
such
confidence
how
can
he
wait
in
hope
well
the
latter
part
of
verse
5
tells
us
in
his
word
I
put
my
hope
in
other
words
he's
looking
at
scripture
he
would
have
had
the
law
available
for
him
and
he
would
have
read
the
law
and
I
would
suggest
to
you
that
he's
looking
at
some
verses
that
are
found
in
Deuteronomy
30
they're
not just
found
there
but
they're
found
elsewhere
in
the
law
they're
those
verses
that
speak
to
us
of
the
fact
that
God
is
ready
to
forgive
his
people
when
they
fail
remember
God
said
that
if
you
come
into
the
land
and
you
walk
with
me
then
I
will
bless
you
with
an
abundance
I
will
be
with
you
I
will
watch
over
you
but
if
you
fail
then
curses
will
come
upon
you
now
what's
your
hope
then
well
there
is
no
hope
except
the
Lord
continues
to
be
gracious
he
goes
on
to
say
when
you
are
driven
away
into
a
far
country
when
things
get
difficult
when
you
have
turned
away
from
me
if
you
turn
back
to
me
with
all
your
heart
and
if
you
seek
to
follow
my
ways
and
walk
as
I
would
have
you
walk
then
I
will
bless
you
again
so
what's
the
psalmist
doing
he's
waiting
in
hope
because
of
God's
word
gives
him
hope
and
God's
word
gives
each
of us
hope
as
well
we
have
much
more
than
the
psalmist
remember
those
words
in
1
John
if
we
sin
if
we
fail
well
if
we
confess
our
sins
he
is
faithful
and
just
to
forgive
us
our
sins
and
to
cleanse
us
from
all
unrighteousness
if
the
devil
whispers
into
your
ear
you're
a
Christian
you
failed
and
you
failed
miserably
don't
wash
over
your
sin
but
come
to
him
realizing
the
seriousness
of
your
sin
but
know
also
that
there
is
forgiveness
with
him
his
word
tells
us
and
the
blood
of
Christ
will
never
lose
its
power
till
all
the
ransomed
church
of
God
be
saved
to
sin
no
more
in
his
word
we
may
put
our
hope
because
his
word
is
true
so
he's
waiting
he's
waiting
in
hope
and
he's
waiting
in
anticipation
verse
six
he
uses
the
illustration
of
a
watchman
can
you
imagine
an
old
watchman
in
the
psalmist
day
he's
tired
he's
weary
yet
he has
to keep
alert
he has
to keep
a lookout
for the
enemy
may
come
at
any
time
what's
he
looking
forward
to
well
he's
looking
forward
to
his
breakfast
he's
looking
forward
to
the
warmth
of
his
barracks
he's
looking
forward
to
a bit
of
shut
eye
he
wants
his
rest
so
you
can
see
him
waiting
with
anticipation
for the
morning
for the
dawn
of a
new
day
perhaps
you know
what it's
like to
be like
that
washman
some of
you I
know will
have sat
by the
side
of a
bed
of someone
you love
who is
near death
and the
night
goes by
and you
hear the
breathing
and it
seems to
be getting
weaker
what you're
doing
you're
longing
for the
morning
time
can't
go by
quick
enough
it's a
difficult
time
well the
psalmist
would
understand
the feelings
of somebody
who's been
at that
particular
position
but then
the psalmist
takes us
up to a
new level
my soul
longs
waits for
the lord
more
than
watchman
for the
morning
and then
in case you
haven't heard
him correctly
he says
I know
what I'm
saying
I know
the watchman
waits for
the morning
and longs
for the
morning
and anticipates
the morning
I am
longing
even more
than that
my soul
waits for
the lord
more than
watchmen
wait for
the morning
repeating
himself
emphasizing
that he's
waiting for
the lord
to intervene
on his
behalf
we think
of those
old testament
saints
how they
were waiting
and longing
for the
messiah
to come
I think
of old
simeon
as he
was waiting
for the
messiah
he saw
israel
in their
condition
in their
helplessness
and in
their
hopelessness
but he
was waiting
in hope
he was
waiting
with
anticipation
he was
longing
because the
lord
had told
him
that he
would not
see death
before he
had seen
the lord's
christ
but then
the morning
came
now let
your servant
depart in
peace
for mine
eyes have
seen
your
salvation
way back
in the
old testament
isaiah
was also
waiting for
the lord
and this
is what
he says
in isaiah
40
and verse
31
those who
hope
or those
who wait
in the
lord
will renew
their strength
they will
soar on
wings like
eagles
they will
run
and not
be weary
they will
walk
and not
be faint
a friend
of mine
was
preaching
on this
particular
verse
and he
was thinking
of the
depths
of which
we can
sink
and when
we are
in the
depths
we cry
out to
god
and we
meditate
upon his
grace
and we
wait upon
him
and as
we wait
upon him
and trust
in him
and the
wonder of
his
forgiveness
we mount
up with
wings as
eagles
and what's
a mountain
to an
eagle
it's
nothing
is it
and the
lord lifts
us up
in his
grace
and in
his
goodness
so there's
the desiring
of the
psalmist
there's
the reflecting
of the
psalmist
there's
the waiting
of the
psalmist
and finally
there's
the exhorting
of the
psalmist
in verses
7
and 8
oh
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
first
first of all
in this
exhortation
it's a
call to
Israel
and you
notice how
the emphasis
changes here
he's been
saying through
the psalm
I cry
my voice
I wait
my soul
he's
concentrating
on himself
and his
personal needs
and desires
and it's
understandable
because he
has been
in the
depths
as he's
poured out
his soul
he's conscious
of the
lord's help
and now
he wants
others to
know that
the lord
is good
that he
has put
his hope
in the
lord
and he's
not
disappointed
and he
calls upon
them to
do the
same
oh
Israel
he says
put
your
hope
in
the
lord
and as
I bring
this message
to a
close
I say
to the
folks
of
Cargillide
put
your
hope
in
the
lord
and I
can do
that
as
for the
same
reason
that the
psalmist
did it
you notice
that his
exhortation
is based
on the
very
character
of god
why
can they
put their
trust
in the
lord
why can
they put
their
hope
in the
lord
well
because
of his
unfailing
love
they knew
their
history
did
Israel
they knew
the story
of Abraham
being brought
out of
Ur of the
Chaldees
they know
how god
had watched
over
Abraham
they know
how god
had watched
over them
as they
found
themselves
in
Egypt
how he
had watched
over them
and sent
Joseph ahead
that they
might have
something
to eat
god
had been
with them
god
had loved
them
and even
though they
had failed
him again
and again
he had
not failed
them
read through
the book
of judges
they sinned
and they
failed
but god
had shown
his unfailing
love
by raising
up a
judge
god
had been
faithful
even when
they had
failed to
be faithful
themselves
his love
had been
constant
put your
hope
in the
lord
for with
the lord
is
unfailing
love
but it
wasn't
just an
unfailing
love
was it
it was
a redeeming
love
they had
the sacrifices
they knew
about the
passover
where god
had delivered
them
under blood
from
captivity
in
Egypt
and all
of this
sacrificial
system
pointed
to
god
as being
a
redeemer
god
but to
the eye
of faith
that was
looking forward
to the
coming of
another
redeemer
the lord
jesus christ
one who
was born
of a
virgin
born to
redeem
those
who were
under
the law
so put
your hope
in this
god
this god
of unfailing
love
this
redeeming
this
redeemer
god
and he
can exhort
them with
confidence
he
himself
will
redeem
israel
from all
their
sins
it
will
happen
he's
looked at
his own
sins
and he
knows
that god
has
come
to him
and god
has
redeemed
him
that god
has
blessed
him
and perhaps
he's looking
forward as
well
to the
coming of
one
who would
give his
life a
ransom
for many
the one
of whom
the apostle
paul
wrote
in
ephesians
chapter 5
who
loved
the church
and gave
himself
for her
the lord
will
redeem
his
people
and you
and i
who so
often sin
and fail
against him
the day
will come
and have
every confidence
in saying it
because the word
says it
when we
will be
presented
thoughtless
without
spot
without
blemish
absolutely
perfect
it will
happen
he himself
will redeem
his
spiritual
Israel
from all
their
sins
so where
are we
today
in that
spiritual
barometer
perhaps
we're in
the depths
will cry
out to
god
desire
him
above
everything
else
reflect
upon
the
wonders
of his
grace
wait
upon
him
and there
is a sense
in what i
want to say
is wait
no longer
look
to christ
for with
him
is full
redemption
just over
ten years
ago
i had the
opportunity
of going up
to the
north of
norway
it was in
the month
of june
and some
of you know
that that's
the land
of the
midnight
sun
and we
were coming
back
we were
coming from
the airport
as we just
arrived there
and it was a
bit of a dull
evening we
couldn't see
the midnight
sun though it
was about
eleven o'clock
at night
it was quite
overcast
and rosemary
asked our
host
where's the
best place
to see the
midnight sun
he gave me
some wise
gave her some
wise words
he said i
think the
best place
to see the
midnight sun
he says
is to
pull the
curtains
you see
where we
were staying
face
out into
the sun
so at
midnight
we
pulled the
curtains
and the
sun shined
on upon
us
at
midnight
in the
depths
my
friends
pull the
curtains
of this
psalm
and let
the sunshine
of god's
love
shine upon
you all
amen
let's pray
father
sometimes we
do indeed
find ourselves
in the
depths
not just
because of
sin
but for a
number of
different
reasons
oh lord
we pray
that you
will grant
us all
the grace
that we
need
to pull
aside the
curtains of
unbelief
and to
see you
in all
your
glorious
grace
to see
you in
the person
of our
saviour
the lord
jesus
christ
and know
that his
blood
has not
only cleansed
us from
past sin
but also
of present
sin and
future sin
and help
us to know
beyond a
shadow of
doubt
that the
day will
come when
we will be
presented
faultless
thank you
heavenly father
for loving
us
in christ
amen
and