Psalm 130 - The Depths of Despair

Don't wait till you hit the depths to cry out to the LORD!

Anne of Green Gables

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Psalm 130

A song of ascents.

¹ Out of the depths I cry to you, LORD;

² Lord, hear my voice.

Let your ears be attentive

to my cry for mercy.

³ If you, LORD, kept a record of sins,

Lord, who could stand?

⁴ But with you there is forgiveness,

so that we can, with reverence, serve you.

⁵ I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits,

and in his word I put my hope.

⁶ I wait for the Lord

more than watchmen wait for the morning,

more than watchmen wait for the morning.

⁷ Israel, put your hope in the LORD,

for with the LORD is unfailing love

and with him is full redemption.

⁸ He himself will redeem Israel

from all their sins.

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Canons of Dordt

Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election

Point 2 - Limited Atonement

Point 3 - Total Depravity

Point 4 - Irresistible Grace

Point 5 - Perseverance of the Saints

Article 2: The Believer’s Reaction to Sins of Weakness

1. Hence daily 

   1. sins of weakness arise, 

   2. and blemishes cling to even the best works of saints, 

      1. giving them continual cause 

         1. to humble themselves before God, 

         2. to flee for refuge to Christ crucified, 

         3. to put the flesh to death more and more 

            1. by a spirit of supplication [prayer]

            2. and by holy exercises of godliness [piety / Spiritual Disciplines], 

         4. and to strain toward the goal of perfection, 

      2. until they are freed from this body of death and reign with the Lamb of God in heaven.

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Summary

My wife and I raised four daughters, so with five women in the house, it meant we watched lots of movies like Anne of Green Gables. At one point where it seems like Anne will have to go back to the orphanage, she cries out "I'm in the depths of despair," to which her guardian Marilla, always with the stiff upper lip, replies, "To be in the depths of despair, is to turn your back against God."

For all of Aunt Marilla's wisdom, the psalmist who penned Psalm 130 would have disagreed with her on this point. He realized that often it's only out of the depths that we cry to the LORD. Since we don't know who in particular wrote this psalm, we don't know the particular situation that gave rise to it.

But not knowing what the depths looked like for the psalmist is actually a gift, for if we did we'd restrict our definition of the depths to only those situations that perfectly matched whatever the psalmist had experienced, when the reality is that the depths look different for everyone. But one thing seems clear: the psalmist’s depths have something to do with his record of sins, which he rejoices the LORD does not keep.

Notice that this psalm of assent, which the Israelites sang together in small groups as they ascended up the hill to worship at the Jerusalem temple, only has one request of the LORD. Most of the prayer acknowledges who God is and what it's like to wait for Him with our whole being, but the one thing the psalmist asks the LORD for is that His ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.

  Dig Deeper  

Psalm 130 nicely unpacks what the Canons say your daily sins of weakness and blemishes should drive you towards. The should give you continual cause to:

• Humble yourself before God:

¹ Out of the depths I cry to you, LORD;

³ If you, LORD, kept a record of sins,

Lord, who could stand?

⁶ I wait for the Lord

more than watchmen wait for the morning...

• Flee for refuge to Christ crucified:

⁴ But with you there is forgiveness...

⁵ I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits,

and in his word I put my hope.

⁷ ...for with the LORD is unfailing love

and with him is full redemption.

⁸ He himself will redeem Israel

from all their sins.

• Put your flesh to death more and more 

  • by a spirit of supplication

² Lord, hear my voice.

Let your ears be attentive

to my cry for mercy.

⁵ I wait for the LORD,

my whole being waits

• and by holy exercises of godliness

⁴ But with you there is forgiveness,

so that we can, with reverence, serve you.

⁷ Israel, put your hope in the LORD

AAA Prayer (About)

• ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, with whom there is forgiveness, unfailing love and full redemption;

• ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that, having been forgiven of your sin, you would with reverence, serve the LORD;

• ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

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Read the New Testament in a year! Today: 1 Peter 2