This week in our L3, we have been reading through Psalms 120-132. In these Psalms, we find songs of prayer for deliverance (120, 129, 130), songs of confidence in God's providence and power (121, 124, 125 - the Psalm from which the song "Those Who Trust" was written, 127, 132), songs of celebration (122, 126), a cry for mercy (123), a song of wisdom (128), and a song of peace (131). In your Bible, you may see a heading over each of these Psalms: "A Song of Ascents." These were songs that the people of Israel sang as they ascended the hill on which Jerusalem was situated, "the mountain of the Lord" (Isaiah 30:29 ESV).
My favorite of these Psalms is 130. In this Psalm, we see the Psalmist mourning his sin and guilt, and his resulting desperation for God's mercy. We can also see the teaching of a righteousness given by faith. The beginning of this Psalm is where each of us truly begin our relationship with God - we need to recognize the depth of our sin, and our desperation for God's mercy. Self-help is not an option for our redemption. God must do it. Verse 3 shows the gravity of the situation, recognizing that if God decides to count all of our transgressions against us, we don't have a chance! It is only because of His grace and mercy that we have hope.
In verse 4, we also get a clearer picture of what "the fear of the Lord" looks like. Notice that forgiveness is the cause of the Psalmist's "fear" of God. If the Psalmist's relationship with God were like that of a slave or servant to a master, this "servile fear would have been diminished, not increased, by forgiveness" (Derek Kidner, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries: Psalms, 482). Instead, "fear" in the Old Testament "means reverence and implies relationship" (Kidner, 482).
Through the rest of the Psalm, the Psalmist speaks of his hope in the Lord and his word. He speaks of God's "steadfast love" and "plentiful redemption" (v. 7). And then there is the bottom line: God "will redeem Israel from all his iniquities." Notice who is the one doing the redeeming and forgiving. It is God. Not us. Not the Psalmist. He is well aware that he cannot rescue himself from his sin. The Psalmist must to turn to God and trust in Him to forgive us through His mercy, His steadfast love, and His plentiful redemption, even though the Psalmist was not yet aware of the means of this ultimate forgiveness (Jesus Christ).
This Psalm takes us through the journey that we all must walk, from desperation and guilt in our sin to hope, forgiveness, and redemption in Jesus Christ, our Redeemer.
To think on this Psalm further, listen to this recording of a piece from composer John Rutter's Requiem, entitled "Out of the Deep," which comes almost verbatim from Psalm 130:
Out of the Deep
About a decade ago, this song made me take a close look at Psalm 130, and helped me to see its beauty and value for us today. Enjoy!
May we each recognize our desperate need for mercy, forgiveness, and redemption from our deep sin. We have no hope without Christ! May we each remember and thank Him for His work on the cross to rescue us and to wash away our sin.
In the Son,
Bill Horn
FBC Worship & Arts Pastor