From the Depths to Deliverance
Psalm 130
Many of the 150 psalms recorded in the Old Testament were written by David, King of Israel, and they vary between praise and petition. In some, David gives praise unto God for the wonder of His Person, and the power of His might as One who provides for and protects His people; as well as being the One who bends low to rescue humanity from the depravity and destructiveness of sin. In the remaining psalms, David cries out unto God for deliverance from trouble in which he finds himself.
This 130th Psalm is one of the Penitential Psalms in which David expresses the sorrow in his heart because of sin. As recorded in scripture, “David was a man after God’s own heart,” yet he was a man of like passions as each of us. He knew his flesh was frail and weak….and that he was often in bondage to the sinful nature of his own heart….and in this psalm, it is with that understanding that David cries out to the Lord.
There are three things I want us to consider from this psalm, and the first is: Wailing In Want of Forgiveness.
In verse 1 David said: “Out of the depths have I cried to You, O Lord….”
Most of us have somewhat of an understanding of the “depths” because we have been there. The depths are that lowest point of human life…perhaps known as the “depths of despair,” the depths of “discouragement or depression,” or the depths of “guilt and shame.” The depths cause us to feel as though we are in a deep, dark hole from which are not able to see any light of hope. The depths are a place where we feel so all alone, as though there is no one who understands, or even cares about us as we go through our ordeal.
The depths from which David cried were the depths of guilt and shame caused by sin. Sin brought about a deep misery, and misery brought forth deep sorrow. Even though David, for the most part, walked in obedient fellowship with God, we know that he sinned against God and his fellow man when he committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband Uriah killed in the heat of battle. He took Bathsheba to be his bride in a desperate attempt to conceal his shame, but what was hidden sin on earth became open scandal in heaven: for nothing is ever hidden from the all-seeing eye of God. David’s running from God caused his heart to become burdened with guilt….and it caused the wellspring of joy to dry up within him.
In Psalm 32:1-4 David describes that feeling of emptiness caused by unconfessed sin, saying: “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all day long.. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was turned into the drought of summer.”
What a terrible feeling…..and most certainly, what a terrible position to be in! Sin separates man from the presence of a Just and Holy God. And, even when that man is saved by the grace of God and has the assurance of a permanent, eternal relationship through the seal and promise of God’s indwelling Spirit, sin causes fellowship to be broken because man usually tries to ignore God with the foolish hope that He will remain unaware of our transgressions.
It has been said that “sin will take you farther than you want to go; keep you longer than you are willing to stay; and cost you more than you are willing to pay.”
That was certainly the way it was in David’s case…..and his sin and disobedience caused him to stray away from the fellowship of God until he finally felt so far away and in a deep, dark hole of guilt and shame.
In Psalm 40:2 David described his situation as being “in a horrible pit, trapped by miry clay….” The only way I can describe “miry clay” is by that which I remember as a kid growing up in East Texas. The fields were a black clay that was good for nothing but growing cotton. If you ever tried to walk across one of those clay fields when it was wet, you didn’t get very far because the clay would stick to your feet, and the further you walked the bigger and heavier your feet became. You couldn’t begin to shake the clay off---it had to be scraped.
In similar fashion, David proclaims that the presence of un-confessed sin is like a weight that holds you down. It entraps you!!!
Now, notice again in verse 1 David said: “Out of the depths, I have cried to You, O Lord…”
David’s cry unto the Lord was not a whisper of a prayer. Nor was it casual or without meaning. Rather it was a heart-felt cry that came from deep within as a wailing caused only by a contrite, or deeply grieved spirit. It was a cry in which David pled for the ear of God that he might be heard in his moment of despair.
There are many different kinds and degrees of prayer ranging from the coldest and most casual to the most intense agony. Everyone prays, but few “cry.” But of those who do “cry unto God,” most would say that they “owe it to the depths.” There is nothing that causes one to recognize their need for God and the deliverance that only He can bring like those moments of great trial in our life; especially trial which comes as the consequences of our own sin.
In the book of Jonah, 2:1-2 we find that Jonah has spent three days and nights in the belly of the fish. He was in a deep, dark chasm of despair caused by his willful disobedience to God. With no place to go and no one else to look to, and being in the greatest misery he had ever known, Jonah cried out to the Lord. Verse 1-2 tell us: “Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly. And he said: “I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, and He answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and You heard my voice.”
The word “Sheol” is the Hebrew word for “grave,” or the “world of the dead.” Jonah saw himself as a dead man in the sense that he was cast into a pit of darkness and loneliness beyond his ability to help himself. But unlike a dead man who is no longer able to feel anything, Jonah’s senses of feeling were intensified. In his despair he cried out to the Lord for deliverance and the Lord heard his cry!
Beloved, God is always listening! He is ever waiting for those who would call upon Him in faith; those who would call with a penitent spirit. James, the brother of our Lord wrote and said: “God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble.”
As we look back to our text, again, it is David’s sin that caused him to cry out to the Lord. He was deeply convicted. He was tired of living a life that caused guilt and shame. He was tired of being separated from the fellowship he had once enjoyed with God. And in verse 3 David reflects upon this truth, saying: “If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared.”
Wait a minute? Doesn’t God keep record of our sins? Doesn’t He write them down in the books of record for that day in which we shall give an account? Yes! He does! But, the fear of that day was removed from David’s heart by the understanding that there is forgiveness with God!!! He abundantly pardons all who come to Him in faith….to those who call upon His name. By the shed blood of His Own Dear Son the record is wiped clean, or else no man could stand before His judgment.
The second thing I want us to consider is Waiting for Deliverance.
In verses 5-6 David declared: “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word do I hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning….”
Waiting is difficult for most of us. We live in an instant society of instant everything. We become impatient if our computer takes longer than 15 seconds to respond to our commands. But waiting is a great part of life’s disciplines, and therefore God often exercises the grace of waiting before Him. Waiting has four purpose:
1] It causes us to practice the patience of faith.
2] It gives us time to prepare for the blessing of God.
3] It shows us the Sovereignty of God in that He acts just when and just as He
pleases.
4] It makes the blessing sweeter when it arrives.
What we need to understand concerning the times of our waiting is that our waiting is not to be so much for the event, as for the Lord of the event….or the Lord in the event.
The question here in this passage is: “Why is God making David wait for deliverance? Why must He wait for forgiveness of His sin? Is God delighted by watching David in deep misery of heart and soul? No! Not at all! And, in fact, though it would appear that David is waiting for forgiveness, he is, in all actuality waiting for the One who alone can forgive….and that, of course, is the Lord God, who shed His blood to atone for the sins of man.
The word “waits” means that “in the quiet stillness David trusted in God’s Word concerning the coming of the Promised Messiah.” David knew that only at the coming of Jesus Christ would there be true deliverance from sin’s penalty and power. Only then would the waiting, longing soul find true deliverance from the burden of sin and the law. All of David’s hope lay in the promise of God made unto Abraham hundreds of years before. And like the one who waits longingly for the darkness of night to be dispelled by the rising of the morning sun, so David waited for the darkness of the soul ensnared by sin to be set free by the light of Him who would be the Light and the Life of men.
Last of all, we should consider Waking to the Hope Within.
In verse 7 David declares: “O Israel, hope in the Lord…” Israel, as a nation, like so many in our world today had placed all of their hope in themselves. Living under the law, and trying to be obey it, caused a tremendous burden and sense of inadequacy, because if a man failed in one point of the law, he failed in all. David calls for the nation to forget trying to save themselves…..but to turn and place their hope and trust in the Lord God, because He is great in mercy, and with Him, there is abundant redemption. He will be the One to redeem Israel from all of their iniquities.
Wednesday night in our Bible study, we talked briefly about the mercy and the grace of God. His grace is set apart from our works because no man can be justified by the deeds of the flesh. Grace is simply unmerited favor bestowed abundantly upon us through faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord. We cannot work for our salvation. We cannot earn it’s reward. Salvation is simply a free and loving gift of God to all who call upon the name of Jesus. The problem is that there are so many who will not call. They let foolish pride stand in their way, or else they procrastinate until it is eternally too late.
Isaiah the prophet told the nation Israel, in Isaiah 55:6-7: “Seek the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God for He will abundantly pardon.”
Beloved, there is forgiveness with the Lord! There is reconciliation for the soul that has been separated from God by sin. He will abundantly pardon! In other words, He will heap forgiveness on us that far exceeds what we deserve. He will remove every stain of sin that would condemn us in the day of judgment. He will take our sin from us and remember it no more. Through the precious blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, we shall appear before our Father as those who are holy and without blame in the love of Jesus Christ.
In closing, this morning, I would ask you: “Are you living in the depths?” There is deliverance in the Person of Jesus Christ as you place your faith and trust in Him. “Are you willing to call on Him?” His ear is attentive to the cry of the soul that desires to be set free. What about you this morning? Would you simply, where you are, cry out to Him? With every head bowed, and every eye closed, there are some this morning who need to be delivered. Perhaps it is from the penalty of sin because you have never called upon the name of the Lord for salvation. Perhaps it is for deliverance from some besetting sin that has a hold on your life. Though it may sound cheap, freedom is just a prayer away.
