130 A Song of Ascents.
130:1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!
2 O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleas for mercy!
3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
4 But with you there is forgiveness,
that you may be feared.
5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
6 my soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning,
more than watchmen for the morning.
7 O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with him is plentiful redemption.
8 And he will redeem Israel
from all his iniquities.
Section Overview
Psalm 130, an individual lament, expresses penitence in the context of trust in God’s mercy. It is part of the traditional class of penitential Psalms (other psalms with prominent penitential themes being Psalms 6; 25; 32; 38; 51; 143). The penitential element is geared toward helping worshipers to see themselves as forgiven people, whose only right to enter God’s presence lies in his mercy. The aim of knowing this forgiveness is to strengthen their fear of the Lord (130:4), their reverential and humble reliance and obedience toward him.
In the first four verses the Lord is addressed directly, as “you.” Appeal (vv. 1–2) and assurance (vv. 3–4) make up the two subsections of this first half of the psalm. In the second major section the focus is on “hope” (vv. 5–8): each singer declares his hope (vv. 5–6) and then calls on his fellow worshipers to hope (vv. 7–8), again forming two subsections. The psalm climbs from “out of the depths” of misery over sin to confession of it (vv. 3–4) and to hope (vv. 5–6) and assurance (vv. 7–8). The tone is urgent, and the topic is the singer’s “pleas for mercy.”
Section Outline
I. My Appeal (130:1–4)
A. O Lord, Hear My Cry for Mercy! (130:1–2)
B. With You There Is Forgiveness (130:3–4)
II. Hope in the Lord! (130:5–8)
A. I Hope in the Lord (130:5–6)
B. Let All Israel Hope in the Lord (130:7–8)
The confidence of subsection I.B. matches that of II.B., with the repetition of the word “iniquities”; not only does the Lord not “mark” them (v. 3) but he will “redeem” Israel from them all (v. 8). In three places (vv. 2, 3, 6) the psalm uses the Hebrew “Lord” in parallel with the special name “Lord” (Hb. yhwh).740
Response
Psalm 130 aims to foster among the people of God an aspiration to be the ideal Israel, in which every single member readily acknowledges his or her dependence on God’s mercy and grace. Hence the ready acknowledgement of one’s sins and shortcomings should be carried out in a spirit of confident assurance, not of despair or self-hatred. This confession leads to fuller experience of the Lord’s steadfast love and trustworthiness.
The wording of the psalm, with its address to one’s fellow worshipers (v. 7), fits well with the psalm’s place in the Songs of Ascents. The rites of the sanctuary are the occasion on which, above all else, the Lord’s steadfast love is recounted through the story of creation and fall, the call of Abraham’s family, and God’s patience with the people of Israel. Furthermore, the sacrifices administer these words of grace to the worshipers, and the peace offerings consummate these words of assurance as the worshipers enjoy a meal together in God’s presence.
Christians, who are confident that in Jesus God has “redeemed his people” (Luke 1:68), are encouraged to confess their sins readily and frequently (as in the Lord’s Prayer; Matt. 6:12). Further, the feast of the Lord’s Supper is, at its root, a meal with Christ as host, held in company with one’s fellow worshipers. Christians, then, can use this psalm to share in the joyful exercise of confession, assurance, and mutual encouragement.Psalm 130
Psalm 131