Psalms 130

The sixth of the seven penitential psalms (see 6), Psalm 130 emphasizes what God does for helpless people who cry out to Him for mercy. Perhaps the Jewish pilgrims used this psalm to confess their sins and seek God’s forgiveness and blessing as they made their way to the sanctuary. (See Heb. 10:19–25 for the kind of preparation believers today need when they approach the Lord.) No matter what our need, when we call upon the Lord in faith, He hears us and makes the changes needed in our lives.

The picture is that of a person drowning and unable to stand on the bottom or swim to safety. (See 40:2; 69:1–3, 13–15; Isa. 51:10; Ezek. 27:34.) The tense of the verb “cry” indicates that the writer had been crying in the past and continued to cry out as he wrote the psalm, because without God’s merciful intervention, he would die. But he remembered the prayer of Solomon when the king dedicated the temple, and he knew that God’s eyes were upon him and His ears open to his cries (2 Chron. 6:40; Ps. 34:15; 1 Peter 3:12). Five times he addressed Jehovah, the God of the covenant (Lord) and three times Adonai, the Master (Lord). We can cry out to God from the depths of disappointment and defeat and from the depths of fear and perplexity. Like a heavy weight, sin drags its victims to the depths, but God made us for the heights (Isa. 40:31; Col. 3:1).

The psalmist moved from the sea to the courtroom, but there the sinner could not stand because of guilt. The only way we can get rid of the sin record is to come to God for His gracious forgiveness, and this forgiveness is made possible because of the work of Christ on the cross (32:1–2; Rom. 4:1–8). The word translated “mark” means “to observe and keep a record,” and God is able to do that (90:8; 139:23–24; Jer. 2:22; 16:17; Ezek. 11:5; Hos. 7:2). Sinners cannot stand before the holy Judge and argue their own case (1:5; 143:2; Ezra 9:15; Nah. 1:6; Mal. 3:2). But God is ready to forgive (86:5; Neh. 9:17), and faith in the Savior brings forgiveness to the soul. God casts our sins behind His back and blots them out of His book (Isa. 38:17; 43:25; 44:22). He carries them away as far as the east is from the west (103:11–12), casts them into the sea (Mic. 7:19), and holds them against us no more (Jer. 31:34; Heb. 10:17). But forgiveness is not a blessing to be taken lightly, for it cost God His Son; therefore, we ought to love and fear God (76:7). If you take seriously the guilt of sin, you will take seriously the grace of forgiveness. Salvation is a serious and costly transaction.

From the courtroom we move to the city walls, where the watchmen are alert as they peer through the darkness to detect the approach of any danger. Nothing they do can make the sun come up any sooner, but when the day dawns, the guards rejoice that the city has been safe another night. When the Lord forgives sinners, it is for them the dawning of a new day as they move out of darkness into God’s marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9; Luke 1:76–79; see comments on Ps. 27). The forgiven sinner is content to wait on the Lord for whatever He has planned for that day. This is not the waiting of hopeless resignation but of hopeful anticipation, for each new day brings new blessings from His hand (119:74, 81, 82; Lam. 3:22–26). If you find yourself forgiven but still in the darkness, wait on the Lord and trust His Word, but do not try to manufacture your own light (Isa. 50:10–11).

Our final visit is to the slave market and the theme is redemption, which means “setting someone free by paying a price.” Israel knew a great deal about God’s redemption, for at the exodus, God’s power had set them free from Egyptian tyranny (Ex. 12–15). They had no hope and could not free themselves, but the Lord did it for them. He gave His people “abundant redemption” that included freedom from slavery, victory over their enemies, and a Promised Land for their home. The slave has no hope, but the child in the family looks forward to receiving an inheritance. All who trust Jesus Christ are children in God’s family and not slaves, and their future is secure (Gal. 3:26—4:7). The psalmist saw a future redemption for the people of Israel, as did Paul (Rom. 11) and the prophets (Isa. 11; 60; 65—66; Zech. 12:10—14:21). Christian believers look forward to the coming of Christ and the redemption He will bring (Rom. 8:18–30).