Heard in the Depths (Psalm 130)
This sermon was preached on 31/10/2010
The author of the psalm is not identified, which means that we do not know who wrote it or when it was written. All that we know is that it was placed within this collection of psalms of ascent because the arrangers regarded it as being suitable for singing by the visitors to the annual festivals in Jerusalem. As they made their way round the city, one activity of their hearts should have been to think of the mercy of God. There had been many examples of divine mercy shown to the city.
We, too, are in the midst of a spiritual journey. It is appropriate for us to imitate the pilgrims of the Old Testament period and think about the mercy of God. There is much in the heavenly Jerusalem that helps us focus on this amazing outlook of the Lord.
Afar (vv. 1-2)
The psalmist says that he is in the depths, a graphic word picture of a man overwhelmed by powerful waters. The verb indicates that he has been there for a while, so this is the assessment of an experience believer. There are several reasons why a believer could be in the depths: difficult providences in his personal life, denial of hopes that he may have anticipated, a sense of desertion by God. We only have to think of the experience of Job and realise that many troubles can come our way almost in a moment. Yet such experiences are not the primary reasons for his despondency at the time. The psalmist’s mention of sin in verse 3 tells us what was the cause of his dejection.
There are probably two possible sources of sin that are troubling him. One possibility is that it is his own personal sins that have caused him distress. These sins would not have been merely outward failures but an awareness of inner attitudes of his heart and evil thoughts in his mind. While it is the case that an experienced believer can be guilty of outward sins, it is usually the case that he is more aware of lack of inner conformity to the likeness of Jesus.
We can imagine a believer preparing to take part in the feasts of Israel. As he searched his heart, he would become aware of sinful tendencies. He would realise his sense of ingratitude or his failure to realise that he could only approach God on the basis of a sacrifice. Or he may have recalled some wrong thoughts he had or wrong words he had said.
It is important for us to have these types of experience. Sadly, today it is often suggested that a believer should never be in the depths (I mean spiritual depths). Yet, as Spurgeon put it, ‘The very best prayer in all the world is that which comes from a broken heart and a contrite spirit.’ It is worth while going down to the depths if they teach us to cry to God. Such experiences teach us that we cannot have confidence in any other than God.
The other source of sin would have been the national sins of Israel. At the time these psalms of ascent were arranged into their current order, the people of Israel were under the rule of foreign empires. From a human point of view, the reason for their bondage could be explained by the greater strength of these empires and the inability of Israel to overthrow them. But the psalmist knew better. He realised that the weakness of God’s people was due to their sins, that they had departed from the Lord even although the feasts were still taking place.
We live in a similar situation today, a situation in which the cause of God in our nation is weak. Like the pilgrims attending the annual feasts in Jerusalem we have our gatherings, whether weekly ones or those on special occasions. Yet even our gatherings are reminders of better days.
While we don’t have to specify here the sins that were committed, it is important that we should be in the depths about our personal failures and our communal failures. These features should make us sad, and penitent.
Nevertheless the psalmist knows where help can be found, and it is in the God against whom they have sinned. Therefore he turns to the Lord and asks for mercy. We should note his attitude as he draws near to God: there is a mixture of boldness (he asks the Lord to open his ears) and there is an expression of humility (he pleads for mercy). We can understand why he should be humble, after all he is aware of personal or corporate sin. (In passing we can say that pride begins in a believer when he forgets that he is a sinner.) But how can a sinner have a holy boldness in the presence of God? The answer is that he knows the character and the promises of the God to whom he is speaking. Spurgeon comments that we should ask the Lord to hear our voice even if it is faint because of our distance, broken because of our distress, and unworthy because of our iniquities.
Amazement (vv. 3-4)
The psalmist confesses the holy character of God in verse 3 and says that if the Lord treated him as he deserved he would have no expectation of help. Of course, it would have been foolish for the psalmist to look to the justice of God by itself. Yet he knows something wonderful about God, an aspect of his character that brings comfort from all of God’s other attributes and abilities. This aspect is God’s desire to forgive. As another psalm says, ‘The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy’ (Ps. 145:8).
Imagine the psalmist in Jerusalem on the Day of Atonement. As he thought of the mercy of God he would see it connected to the blood of the lamb that was slain and taken into the holy of holies by the High Priest as cover for the sins of Israel for a year. The psalmist would say to himself, ‘God is forgiving towards me because a sacrifice has been made on my behalf.’
Or we can imagine the psalmist reflecting on how God had restored the nation from the captivity in Babylon. The Israelites had deserved that punishment because of their sins. Now they had been restored, but the reason for restoration was not in themselves but in the gracious commitment of God, a commitment that he had revealed through his many promises.
Of course, we have a greater Lamb than Israel had. Our Lamb is Jesus himself, the sacrifice provided by God. In him we see God’s commitment to us as he fulfils his promises to bring a Saviour. Jesus tells us that God is forgiving, that he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
It is the knowledge of this characteristic of God that makes a sinner bold and confident in the presence of the God whom he has sinned against. We only have to think of David in Psalm 51. How bold he is and yet how humble as he confesses his sins and anticipates being restored to God’s service. Our confessed sins are not a barrier to fellowship with God.
There is a wrong kind of fear that some people have which causes them to be frightened of God. Although they have a sense of dread, it is not accompanied by love and gratitude, nor with confession of sin. The reality is that it is only the person who has tasted God’s forgiveness who can fear him properly. ‘One cannot fear God without a sense of forgiveness. This is the fruitful root of piety. None fear the Lord like those who have experienced his forgiving love. Gratitude for pardon produces far more fear and reverence of God than all the dread which is inspired by punishment’ (Spurgeon).
Anticipation (vv. 5-6)
The psalmist then likens the posture of his soul to the watchmen who stood on the walls of a city looking for the coming of daylight. This illustration tells us that there was expectancy of deliverance in the heart of the writer. The reason for his confidence was not in his earnest prayer but in the sure word of God.
Obviously, this suggests to us that when we pray for a particular matter to God, we should look for any promises that he has made concerning it. From one perspective, prayer is merely asking God to fulfil his own promises.
The illustration also reminds us that the coming of God in such situations is like the coming of the daylight into the darkness. Malachi describes some thing similar when he says: ‘But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall’ (Mal. 4:2). We get the same imagery in Psalm 30 where David says that God has taken him out of a pit: ‘You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness’ (v. 11).
What the illustration depicts is not partial release but complete release from the problem. We can imagine a person who is in the depths because of sin he has committed. He locates a suitable promise in the Bible and receives a sense of encouragement from it. We can describe his situation as being neither darkness or daylight. What he needs to do is take that promise and ask God to apply it to his heart, to pray expectantly that the faithful God will keep his word.
Sometimes we wonder if our faith is being exercised correctly in such situations. Faith expresses itself in a variety of ways depending on the circumstances. Here the expression of faith is not only like the expectancy of people who knew that the dawn would come; rather it is like the longing for the dawn that these watchmen had. Faith includes longing for the deliverance of God.
Another aspect of faith that is indicated in the imagery of waiting is that of submission. The watchmen as they stood looking for signs of daylight had no power to make it appear. Similarly, we wait upon the Lord not because we suspect he will not hear us but because we recognise that he knows the best time to answer us.
The reason why faith perseveres is that the believer knows that what God will give is worth waiting for. When deliverance comes, it will be so marvellous, similar to what the psalmist prayed for in Psalm 40:1-3: ‘I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD.’
Affirmation (vv. 7-8)Out of his own experience, the psalmist is able to comfort others. The pilgrim at the feasts can say to others, ‘Look what the Lord did for me. I know he can also do it for you.’ We can almost imagine him giving his testimony as he uses the word of this psalm to describe what has happened to him. His words in these verses are a reminder that although each Christian has an individual path, it is a similar path to other believers. Because he has been forgiven much and rescued from great danger, he understands the needs of every other believer and he is sympathetic to them and confident about their deliverance and forgiveness as well.