WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:16.879 In Psalm 130, let me read it out loud for us, eight verses. 00:00:19.940 --> 00:00:22.760 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. 00:00:23.920 --> 00:00:25.900 O Lord, hear my voice. 00:00:25.899 --> 00:00:31.239 Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy. 00:00:33.159 --> 00:00:38.679 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 00:00:40.019 --> 00:00:43.719 But with you there is forgiveness that you may be feared. 00:00:45.480 --> 00:00:51.340 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope. 00:00:51.340 --> 00:01:01.020 My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. 00:01:03.740 --> 00:01:13.480 O Israel, hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. 00:01:14.920 --> 00:01:18.719 And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities. 00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:24.179 This is God's holy and authoritative word. 00:01:24.180 --> 00:01:41.600 We bring a lot of hardship upon ourselves through our own sins in life, and our sexual immorality, selfish ambition, dissensions, drunkenness, envy, fits of rage. 00:01:41.599 --> 00:01:48.519 They all leave behind, you know, spiritual, emotional, physical, and relational wreckage. 00:01:49.339 --> 00:01:55.959 And sometimes we feel like we're drowning in this sea of trouble that we have created for ourselves. 00:01:56.379 --> 00:01:59.799 And we feel overwhelmed in over our heads. 00:02:00.659 --> 00:02:03.179 And that's the condition of the psalmist in Psalm 130. 00:02:03.180 --> 00:02:14.760 But he tells us in such times that we should cry to the Lord and wait on the Lord, for with him there is sure forgiveness and redemption. 00:02:15.900 --> 00:02:19.580 And so in the first four verses, he talks about how we should cry to the Lord. 00:02:20.040 --> 00:02:24.960 And then in the second half, verses 5 to 8, he talks about how we should wait on the Lord. 00:02:25.700 --> 00:02:27.760 So let's first look at the first four verses. 00:02:27.759 --> 00:02:32.719 The psalmist describes his condition in verse 1 as being in the depths. 00:02:33.739 --> 00:02:34.539 He says in verse 1, 00:02:34.620 --> 00:02:36.939 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. 00:02:37.620 --> 00:02:40.819 The depths is an often used biblical image. 00:02:41.780 --> 00:02:45.340 It's a picture of deep, turbulent waters. 00:02:46.819 --> 00:02:55.599 Imagine someone, you know, drowning in the water, being tossed out in sea, head low, you know, just tilted back, mouth open. 00:02:55.599 --> 00:03:01.419 Just kind of eyes glazed over, hollow. 00:03:02.400 --> 00:03:04.780 And it's a picture of imminent death. 00:03:04.879 --> 00:03:07.439 Someone just being overwhelmed in over their heads. 00:03:07.620 --> 00:03:10.419 That's the kind of thing the psalmist is talking about, the depths. 00:03:11.199 --> 00:03:14.000 He's about to be engulfed and consumed by the water. 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:17.740 And he cries out to the Lord. 00:03:19.039 --> 00:03:24.680 And the Lord is in all caps in verse 1, which means it stands for the proper name of God, 00:03:24.819 --> 00:03:31.699 which Jewish scribes omitted and substituted the word Lord in, out of their reverence for God's name. 00:03:31.699 --> 00:03:40.039 But the word Lord in verse 2 is not in caps, which means it's actually the word Lord, meaning master. 00:03:40.739 --> 00:03:51.379 So if you scan the psalm, you'll notice that throughout verses 1 to 6, the psalmist alternates between Lord in all caps and Lord, master. 00:03:51.379 --> 00:04:03.060 And by doing this, he is confessing that the Lord, the proper name, the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Yehovah, the Lord is my God. 00:04:03.340 --> 00:04:04.419 He is my master. 00:04:04.659 --> 00:04:05.599 He is my king. 00:04:06.579 --> 00:04:10.219 He's aligning himself with the faith handed down to him through history. 00:04:10.219 --> 00:04:17.620 And so please, he's saying, God, you, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, you are my God. 00:04:17.699 --> 00:04:18.639 You are my master. 00:04:18.759 --> 00:04:20.000 Please hear my voice. 00:04:20.540 --> 00:04:23.579 Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy. 00:04:24.699 --> 00:04:31.459 But as he cries out to God, he becomes sharply aware that he has no claim on God. 00:04:32.740 --> 00:04:37.899 God doesn't owe it to him to listen because he's a sinner. 00:04:37.899 --> 00:04:41.500 He has violated God's will. 00:04:41.719 --> 00:04:43.620 He has alienated himself from God. 00:04:44.639 --> 00:04:50.719 And in some part, at least, the psalmist seems to see his overwhelming troubles as the consequence of his sins. 00:04:51.639 --> 00:04:55.979 And this is why he cried out in verse 2 for mercy, not for justice. 00:04:56.159 --> 00:04:57.439 He doesn't ask for what I deserve. 00:04:57.500 --> 00:04:58.620 I deserve better than this. 00:04:58.679 --> 00:05:02.739 No, he asks for mercy knowing he does not deserve better than this. 00:05:02.739 --> 00:05:04.019 And so he says in verse 3, 00:05:04.179 --> 00:05:07.459 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 00:05:08.379 --> 00:05:11.439 His argument isn't, Lord, I've done more good things than bad. 00:05:12.219 --> 00:05:14.639 It's not, Lord, I'm better than those people. 00:05:15.319 --> 00:05:20.679 He knows better than to make his own relative righteousness the basis for his acceptance by God. 00:05:21.679 --> 00:05:26.000 And the word mark in verse 3 means literally to keep or to watch over. 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:34.500 So if you, O Lord, should keep track of, if you, O Lord, should not overlook our iniquities, who could stand? 00:05:35.639 --> 00:05:39.680 No one could stand before the Lord God who dwells in unapproachable light. 00:05:39.680 --> 00:05:48.420 And I think often we think we're not all that bad, morally speaking, because we compare ourselves to people who are more or less like us. 00:05:48.780 --> 00:05:53.240 But compared to God's perfect, unerring standards, we don't stand a chance. 00:05:53.240 --> 00:05:59.259 My teeth are cleanest and whitest in the summer. 00:06:00.460 --> 00:06:02.780 At least, that's what people tell me. 00:06:03.620 --> 00:06:08.060 It's the only season when I get complimented on how white my teeth are. 00:06:08.060 --> 00:06:12.920 And the truth, of course, isn't that my teeth are actually whiter in the summer. 00:06:13.480 --> 00:06:19.220 They just look whiter because I have tanned and the surrounding skin of my face has become significantly darker. 00:06:19.660 --> 00:06:19.980 Right? 00:06:20.459 --> 00:06:23.720 And so it's throwing into relief the whiteness of my teeth. 00:06:23.720 --> 00:06:33.920 And so conversely, the perfect righteousness of God, right, throws into relief our own wickedness. 00:06:34.460 --> 00:06:34.580 Right? 00:06:35.200 --> 00:06:38.560 We cannot stand before the Holy God as sinners. 00:06:39.960 --> 00:06:47.560 And not only that, you know, there is not a single person in the world who knows all the sins that you or I have committed. 00:06:48.180 --> 00:06:48.280 Right? 00:06:48.980 --> 00:06:51.640 Not even you or I know all the sins we have committed. 00:06:51.639 --> 00:06:51.680 Right? 00:06:52.159 --> 00:06:57.539 Because we are unaware of many of our sins by either failure of knowledge or failure of memory. 00:06:58.360 --> 00:06:58.479 Right? 00:06:58.579 --> 00:07:04.719 But God sees and knows everything and He forgets nothing. 00:07:06.399 --> 00:07:13.579 Imagine how devastating it would be to meet a person who knows all of your hidden sins. 00:07:14.219 --> 00:07:17.240 All of your ugly and broken past. 00:07:17.240 --> 00:07:24.960 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 00:07:26.699 --> 00:07:28.400 But there is hope for us yet. 00:07:29.000 --> 00:07:29.920 Verse 4 says, 00:07:29.920 --> 00:07:35.759 But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared. 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:39.439 In ourselves we find no hope for mercy. 00:07:39.900 --> 00:07:40.019 Right? 00:07:40.180 --> 00:07:41.920 With man there is vindictiveness. 00:07:42.040 --> 00:07:44.139 But with God there is mercy. 00:07:44.139 --> 00:07:46.459 In God, with Him there is forgiveness. 00:07:46.599 --> 00:07:47.839 Because that's His character. 00:07:48.800 --> 00:07:52.000 As God revealed Himself to His people in Exodus 34, 6-7, 00:07:52.079 --> 00:07:59.079 The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. 00:07:59.519 --> 00:08:05.879 Keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. 00:08:05.959 --> 00:08:07.699 That's who God is. 00:08:08.120 --> 00:08:09.060 That's His character. 00:08:09.060 --> 00:08:11.220 With you there is forgiveness. 00:08:12.060 --> 00:08:15.040 And this forgiveness leads to fear and reverence for God. 00:08:15.620 --> 00:08:17.740 Of course, there are some who presume on God's mercy. 00:08:18.680 --> 00:08:21.259 In which case, mercy actually produces more sin. 00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:28.680 But such people have not truly understood the gravity of their sins and the graciousness of God's forgiveness. 00:08:29.980 --> 00:08:32.100 That's what Romans 2, verse 4 is talking about. 00:08:32.100 --> 00:09:02.080 It says, 00:09:02.100 --> 00:09:07.100 And having taught us to cry to the Lord, the psalmist tells us to wait on the Lord in verses 5-8. 00:09:07.960 --> 00:09:12.580 This second half responds to the first half and is structurally similar. 00:09:13.320 --> 00:09:17.620 So there was a three-fold repetition of the psalmist's cry to God in verses 1-2. 00:09:18.040 --> 00:09:23.360 And there's a three-fold repetition of the psalmist's waiting on God in verses 5-6. 00:09:23.360 --> 00:09:35.039 In the first half, the psalmist asks God to hear His voice. 00:09:35.039 --> 00:09:40.059 In the second half, the psalmist waits on God's word. 00:09:40.059 --> 00:09:44.119 In the first half, the psalmist cried out to God. 00:09:44.179 --> 00:09:46.379 In the second person, I cry to you, O Lord. 00:09:46.779 --> 00:09:51.159 In the second half, the psalmist is testifying to God's people about His hope in God. 00:09:51.219 --> 00:09:51.519 So he says, 00:09:51.739 --> 00:09:54.599 In His word, God, he refers to God in the third person. 00:09:54.600 --> 00:09:57.139 In His word, I hope. 00:09:57.899 --> 00:10:01.360 And then he says that his soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning. 00:10:02.320 --> 00:10:04.060 More than watchmen for the morning. 00:10:04.600 --> 00:10:13.120 Watchmen, the sentinels, those who stay up through the night to guard the city against attack or a stealth attack at nighttime. 00:10:13.120 --> 00:10:16.179 Or against spies or other things. 00:10:16.860 --> 00:10:18.379 They're looking out for enemies. 00:10:18.539 --> 00:10:20.460 And they're wary all night long. 00:10:20.560 --> 00:10:23.019 They're wary of danger and weary from watching. 00:10:23.820 --> 00:10:24.840 Weary from staying awake. 00:10:25.379 --> 00:10:26.940 And they can't wait for the morning. 00:10:27.240 --> 00:10:31.980 When the sun rises and the danger of a stealth nighttime attack passes, 00:10:32.080 --> 00:10:33.460 they can't wait for that. 00:10:33.720 --> 00:10:34.720 To feel relief. 00:10:35.220 --> 00:10:39.180 They can't wait for the morning when they will finally have relief. 00:10:39.820 --> 00:10:41.539 And be able to get some rest. 00:10:41.539 --> 00:10:48.599 And even more so than these watchmen, the psalmist waits for the Lord's deliverance. 00:10:50.899 --> 00:10:52.659 We live in the good times, right? 00:10:53.360 --> 00:10:59.279 I mean, because these people didn't have the means of deliverance that we now have a full picture of. 00:10:59.819 --> 00:11:04.439 But the psalmist still enjoined all of God's people to place their hope in His deliverance. 00:11:04.480 --> 00:11:05.399 Because he says in verse 7, 00:11:05.399 --> 00:11:07.459 O Israel, hope in the Lord. 00:11:07.460 --> 00:11:11.960 For with the Lord there is steadfast love. 00:11:12.139 --> 00:11:14.920 And with Him is plentiful redemption. 00:11:15.620 --> 00:11:18.480 And He will redeem Israel from all His iniquities. 00:11:18.580 --> 00:11:24.560 Once again, the basis for the psalmist's hope is not in his own relative righteousness or deservingness, 00:11:24.639 --> 00:11:26.080 but on God's character. 00:11:26.379 --> 00:11:28.220 In verse 4, he said, 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:29.700 With you there is forgiveness. 00:11:30.500 --> 00:11:31.340 In verse 7, he says, 00:11:31.340 --> 00:11:33.600 With the Lord there is steadfast love. 00:11:34.940 --> 00:11:38.639 And this redemption is not scarce. 00:11:39.519 --> 00:11:40.940 It is not partial. 00:11:41.360 --> 00:11:42.720 But it is plentiful. 00:11:42.860 --> 00:11:43.540 It is full. 00:11:43.639 --> 00:11:44.340 And it is overflowing. 00:11:45.500 --> 00:11:49.019 And with this, He will redeem Israel from all His iniquities. 00:11:49.019 --> 00:11:56.079 And this is fulfilled in the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ. 00:11:59.179 --> 00:12:07.659 In Ephesians chapter 2, it speaks of the work, the redemption in Jesus Christ. 00:12:08.659 --> 00:12:09.960 And it says this, 00:12:09.960 --> 00:12:18.879 But God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with which He loved us, 00:12:19.100 --> 00:12:23.620 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. 00:12:24.139 --> 00:12:27.280 By grace you have been saved and raised us up with Him 00:12:27.280 --> 00:12:30.180 and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. 00:12:30.780 --> 00:12:35.200 So that in the coming ages, He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace and kindness 00:12:35.200 --> 00:12:38.500 toward us in Christ Jesus. 00:12:38.500 --> 00:12:45.980 And earlier in chapter 1, in verse 1, He says the same thing. 00:12:46.139 --> 00:12:49.700 He talks about the same reality in these terms in verse 7 and following. 00:12:49.799 --> 00:12:54.220 In Him, in Jesus, in Him we have redemption through His blood, 00:12:54.980 --> 00:12:57.139 the forgiveness of our trespasses, 00:12:57.539 --> 00:12:59.779 according to the riches of His grace, 00:12:59.840 --> 00:13:03.500 which He lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight. 00:13:04.019 --> 00:13:06.519 So the redemption that the psalmist is speaking of here, 00:13:06.519 --> 00:13:09.840 it came through Jesus Christ and it was accomplished through His blood. 00:13:10.519 --> 00:13:13.000 Him shedding His blood for us. 00:13:14.039 --> 00:13:17.500 Him dying on the cross for our sins. 00:13:18.100 --> 00:13:20.460 Paying the price for our freedom and our redemption. 00:13:21.259 --> 00:13:26.439 And that's the deliverance that the psalmist hoped in that has now been realized for us. 00:13:26.440 --> 00:13:32.400 And because of that, all the more as we wait our full redemption that will come when Jesus returns, 00:13:33.140 --> 00:13:39.280 as we still wrestle with the lingering effects of our sins and the brokenness of our world, 00:13:39.960 --> 00:13:41.360 we are to cry to God. 00:13:41.900 --> 00:13:44.240 We are to hope in Him and wait on Him, 00:13:44.860 --> 00:13:49.500 knowing that plentiful redemption that has been revealed in Jesus will be consummated. 00:13:49.500 --> 00:13:53.779 And we will be redeemed and all our iniquities will be forgiven. 00:13:53.779 --> 00:13:54.779 Thank you.