I might please Almighty God to
bless us together this evening as we meditate in his holy word. Let's turn to the book of Psalms
and Psalm 130 and we'll read the fourth verse. Psalm 130 and
reading the fourth verse. There is forgiveness with thee
that thou mayest be feared. How little we often consider
the importance of such a statement as this. It's a blessing when Almighty
God and none less convinces us and convicts us of our sinful
condition and the need we have of forgiveness. As I have said on a number of
occasions, if we are to be found in heaven at last, we shall know
the blessing of forgiveness. The reason for that statement
is that heaven is a holy place. There is no sin in heaven, not
the smallest vesture of sin. And therefore, you and I need
to be cleansed from all our sin. Indeed, we need to be washed
in the blood of the Lamb, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We need to know that the debt
that we owe to God because of our sins and the debt that has
been paid to take away those sins, has been done by the Saviour,
the Lord Jesus Christ, and it has been done on our account. True religion is a very personal
thing. You and I cannot go to heaven
on our parents' religion. We can't go on our friends' religion,
on our relatives' religion. We have to have that personal
religion ourselves, that personal evidence that we are born again
in the spirit of God and that we are indeed ready to be found
in heaven. this fourth verse starts with
a but there is forgiveness and the but of course means that
something's gone before which is the reason for this word but
and in these previous three verses we just are able to read something
of the psalmist's innermost feelings and again religion is not something
which is you know we wear on our arm as it were it's something
between our soul and God and so he tells us the beginning
of this 130th Psalm out of the depths have I cried unto thee
O Lord now you may say tonight I don't understand what that
means and it's always good to be honest in the things of God. And never pretend to understand
when you don't understand. Because you can always come to
God and ask Him to give you an understanding. Well, depths mean
it's a long way down. It's a long way down. As are
depths. And that means sometimes in our
spiritual life we go a long way down, deep down, far off from
God. We perhaps don't seem to have
any religion. Perhaps we've lost our religion
it seems. And we're in a case of great
need. And we're in the depths. But
we read here the Samist was there, but in that depth what did he
do? Did he just accept it as a situation
which existed? No he didn't. He says, have I
cried unto thee, O Lord. That means he prayed to God out
of his heart. It wasn't just something he thought
about, he sought to pray. It was from his heart. And what
a blessing that is for you and me if we come into that position
where God has touched us so that we have prayed a real cry to
God. You know, when someone cries,
it's like a babe crying, you know. A babe can't explain, can
it, what it wants. But it can cry. And the cry draws
the parent's attention, that there is a need. And so, when
you and I come to God, when we feel to be perhaps out of the
secret, Far off we can cry unto the Lord. It doesn't have to be a clever
prayer. It has to be a very simple prayer
from the heart. I cried unto thee, O Lord. What
a blessing if God has given us such a prayer. Now you know whether
you cry unto God or not. I have no knowledge of that.
God knows and you know what a blessing tonight if you have had that
cry from your heart to God for mercy there you are deep down
we read together as I said in that 40th Psalm which is very
descriptive it's good to just realize God has given us these
things and David here tells us He was in this pit. He was in
this pit. He tells us, I waited patiently
for the Lord. It's not always easy to be patient.
The Lord tells us, your time is always, but my time is not
yet. God has his time, his way. and you and I will have to conform
to that time scale. We may perhaps want things to
be hurried up. Well, David tells us, he waited
patiently. He waited patiently for the Lord. And did he wait in vain? He didn't. And those who do wait patiently,
those who have cried unto the Lord and wait patiently, He tells
us, the Lord inclined unto him and heard his cry. And that's wonderful, isn't it?
How amazing that is to think. Again, we need to consider it's
almighty God who has billions of people under his control. that the thing that he looks
down upon you and me as little individuals and he hears our
cry he doesn't turn away he didn't turn away from David did he?
because David tells us he brought me up he didn't bring himself
up you'll find you've got no ability yourself But what a mercy to be able to
cry to God and He comes and brings us up also out of a horrible
pit like this, out of the depths. Yes, out of the depths, a horrible
pit, out of the Maori clay. And if you've ever tried to walk
on Maori clay, you'll find it very, very difficult. slips and
slides and you can imagine what it would be like if you're in
a pit with a Maori clay science. It's virtually impossible to
get yourself out. Well, here we have this statement. He, God. God comes and brings
us out. We might have got ourselves in
a real mess because of our sins. We may have walked contrary to
God. And God tells us, if ye walk contrary to me, I will walk
contrary to you. We may sometimes think in our
life we can get away with things that we're doing. You can't get
away with things that you're doing. God knows what you're
doing. You can't hide anything from God. You can't even hide
your thoughts from God. he knows all about you totally
and completely and so he tells us he, almighty God brought me
up also out of a horrible pit out of the Maori clay and set
my feet upon a rock and established my goings so what that means
is he was taken out of the pit and he was put on a rock rock
which was immovable, solid, stable, and as we know the scriptures
refer to the blessed Savior as the rock. Just think of that,
taken out of the pit, brought up and put on a rock. And not only that, not left there,
but then established my goings. That means taught the things
of God, taught the way of God, taught about the glorious work
of the Saviour. How wonderful isn't it to think
that this God has brought us up out of the pit, out of the
depths, he's heard our cry, Never give up. Never give up
crying. Because we have a kind and a
gracious God who knows what he's doing. And what he's doing, he's
dealing with our souls in love. He's bringing us into that position,
like you heard recently, I think in our Bible study, with regard
to the prodigal son. What was the changing point in
his life? He began to be in want. What a blessing that is for you
and me. If in our spiritual life we've
sailed on aimlessly until the Holy Spirit has come and stirred
us up, shown us what a mess we're in, shown us all the evil of
our heart, we realise as the hymn writer says we're lost and
ruined in the fall and then to know the wonderful blessing of
deliverance well there was that change in the prodigal son he
began to be in want and that was the beginning of his return
to his father The beginning of his acceptance into the household,
the beginning of a wonderful time of rejoicing. And then we're
told, and he has put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto
our God. That won't be the song of the
world. That won't be the song of the vanities of this life.
It'll be the song of the redeemed. It'll be the song of those who
are saved, those who are blessed with the forgiveness of their
sins. But there is forgiveness with
thee, that thou mayest be feared. Wonderful, that new song. Well,
you stand before God and you know before God whether any of
this is true in your life. and whether God has. Put a new
song in your mouth. It may not be very loud, but
it's a good change, isn't it? And the song was this. Praise
unto our God. Praise unto our God. When did you last praise God
for his mercy to you? When did you last praise God
for bringing you up out of the horrible pit, for bringing you
up out of the depths, for hearing your cry. When last did you praise
God? Now the word of God tells us
this, many shall see it and fear. and shall trust in the Lord. Again, the Word of God tells
us that the children of God are His witnesses. Ye are my witnesses. And how wonderful it is when
God takes a sinner, shows them His love towards them, shows
them His mercy, shows them what He's done for them. What has
he done for them? Well of course he's given his
life. Just coming back to this 130th
Psalm. The second verse tells us, Lord
hear my voice, let thine ears be attentive to the voice of
my supplication. If you're in a case of need you'll
want God to hear your prayer. You won't want to just pray and
tick a box and think I've done that little duty. Because you're
in want, because you have a need, and you want God to hear and
to answer your prayer. You understand. Then what the
psalmist says here, Lord, hear my voice. You want God to hear
you. Yes, it may not be a great shout.
You may feel very weak. Often we do. The Lord knows. Lord, hear my voice. Let thine
ears be attentive. There's not a great shout, Lord,
but do hear my voice. The voice of my supplications. And then he says, if thou, Lord,
shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? None of us would
stand if God was to mark us. Each of our sins, what a mess
it would be, how far off we would be, how impossible would be our
case. That's why he says, if thou,
Lord, shouldst mark it, if it is, O Lord, who shall stand? Well, but, says the psalmist,
Notwithstanding all the badness in my heart, the bad things I've
said, the bad things I've done, but there is forgiveness with
thee that thou mayest be feared. This is the gracious God that
you and I have to deal with. Isn't it wonderful that we have
such a God? in the prophecy of Isaiah. Isaiah starts in the very first
chapter and he tells us in this chapter about himself. He says this in verse 18. God's speaking in this way. Come
now, says God. Come now. Not tomorrow. Not in a week's time, come now
and let us reason together, saith the Lord. Again, consider that,
to think that God invites us to come to him and to have a
conversation. That's wonderful, isn't it? The
almighty God invites us and worthy sinners to come to him and not
come some other time, but come now. The door of God's mercy
stands open all day to the poor and the needy that knock by the
way. Come now and let us reason together,
saith the Lord. And then he comes and we have
a very clear description here. Though your sins be as scarlet
That means they are full of sin. Full of sin. Sins be a scarlet
and they're bad sins. They're not little things. They're
evident. They're seen. They can't be hidden. We can't
hide anything from God anyway. God sees and knows everything
about us. But he says, come now and let us reason together, saith
the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white
as snow. White as snow. No evidence of
any sin. Though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool. That's a wonderful picture, isn't
it? To take away all our sin. And then he goes on to say, if ye be willing and obedient, ye
shall eat the good of the land. That means you and I will benefit
spiritually. We'll rejoice in the good news
of the gospel. We'll love to hear about the
life of Jesus. We will love to hear about the
power of his redemption. and his sinatonian sacrifice
we would love to hear it, it would be food and drink, it would
be good but then he says but if ye refuse and rebel so many
people my friends refuse and rebel against God they say I
will not have this man to rule over me And if so, if we do refuse
and rebel, ye shall be devoured with a sword, for the mouth of
the Lord hath spoken it. See these words are very solemn
words, aren't they? They're very encouraging words,
but they're very solemn words. And we should not therefore think
that God's word is irrelevant. We shouldn't think that God understates
or overstates his truth. No, it's very true. And therefore
how necessary it is that we understand the need for this great and wonderful
gift of forgiveness. And so he says, the psalmist
says, but there is Forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be
feared. That we shall fear God. You know
the scriptures tell us the fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. The beginning of spiritual wisdom. To fear offending God. Now that's a good sign in our
lives if we fear to offend God. you look around so many people
today care nothing about bringing their own views to God they don't
have any fear of God and how wonderful if God has put into
your heart and it's God's work put into your heart the fear
of the Lord that you desire to do that which is right and not
to be left to do that which is wrong But there is forgiveness
with thee, that thou mayest be feared. It's a great statement,
isn't it? To come to God, believing He's
a God that knows about us, a God who hears our cry, and a God
who forgives us of all our sins, so that we are whiter than snow. Isn't it a great truth, humbling
it is, to lift us up then out of the depths. We may be grovelling
around in the bottom of the pit. What are we told to do? Look
up. Look up. Where? Look up to the Lord Jesus Christ. And what do we see there in the
Saviour? We see all our salvation. What do we see? We see what He's
accomplished. We see the price that He's paid
for us, for our redemption. It's a wonderful blessing, isn't
it? We have in the Word of God, two
very wonderful statements, two wonderful words which are an
encouragement to us and in the epistle of Paul to the Ephesians
we read this and this is very humbling to think that you and
I as unworthy sinners come within these words. The first chapter
he tells us this, in the fourth verse, according as he has chosen
us in him before the foundation of the world, before there was
anything. Father, Son and Holy Spirit chose
us. shows us in Him, in the Saviour,
before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy
and without blame before Him in love, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according
to the good pleasure of His will. Again, it's hard for us to realise
that Almighty God could have good pleasure to such an unworthy,
hard-hearted, rebellious sinner. And yet this is the Word of God. According to the good pleasure
of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, free
unmerited favour of almighty God wherein he hath made us accepted
in the beloved accepted in Christ in whom we have redemption through
his blood the forgiveness of sins according to the riches
of his grace wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom
and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery of his will,
according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself. These are great truths, they're
hard really to be able to assimilate, to think that they have an application
to such unworthy people as we are. And yet this is, blessed
be God, the truth of God. And we know that the word of
God is true. The Lord Jesus says so. Thy word is truth. That in the dispensation of the
fullness of times, he might gather together in one all things in
Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even
in him, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance. Unworthy sinners, needing salvation,
can't produce it ourselves, in whom also we have obtained and
inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will,
that we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted
in Christ. We are for the praise of his
glory. If we're those who are chosen,
those who are redeemed, and never underestimate the cost of your
and the cost of my redemption. Oh it costs the Lord of life,
his life. And it's good just to ponder
sometimes what that really means. The apostle, when he wrote to
the Colossians, used a very similar phrase. He tells us in the first chapter, verse 10,
that ye might walk worthy of the Lord until all-pleasing,
being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge
of God. If the Lord is working in your
heart and my heart, we will want to know more of Christ. We'll
want to know more of the glorious work of redemption. We'll want to be able to thank
and praise him from our heart, not just a mere head knowledge,
but because we have the indisputable evidence that we are amongst
those for whom he has given his life. For this cause, since the
day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to desire
that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in
all wisdom and spiritual understanding. that you might walk worthy of
the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work and
increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might. See, God gives us strength. The Apostle Paul tells us when
he wrote to the Philippians, I can do all things through Christ
that strengtheneth me. There's the secret. Not in our
own strength. The Apostle knew his need and
he proved the strength of the Saviour. And what a blessing
for us today if we prove the strength of the Saviour. Strengthened
with all might according to his glorious power unto all patience
and longsuffering with joyfulness these are not gloomy things this
is good news this is joyful things to think the Lord has come and
redeemed us taken us from the pit brought us up giving thanks
unto the Father which has made us meet to be partakers of the
inheritance of the saints in light what a grand and glorious
prospect that is for the Church of God the redeemed church of
God, those who know the truth, this great and wonderful statement,
but there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared. And so we have this wonderful
word, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness. That's
where we were. That's where we were. And if
you've been brought out of it, you'll know that you were in
darkness. you may still be in darkness
I don't know but if you are pray earnestly the Lord will bring
you out of darkness into the marvellous light of the gospel
who has delivered us from the power of darkness it's a very
great power darkness is and has translated us, changed us into
the kingdom of his dear son in whom we have redemption through
his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. You see, Christ the
Lord died upon the cross at Calvary. He shed his most precious blood
in order to atone for our sin. That's why this word is so true
and so precious. In whom we have, and I hope all
of us can come within This word, we, we all need to, we all must,
if we're to be saved. In whom we have redemption through
his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. Well, what a mercy,
if that's true, of you and me. If it is, and we have the evidence
of it, We'll praise God for it. We'll thank him for it. We'll
rejoice in the great and glorious work of salvation and all that
he accomplished when the Lord Jesus was on the earth. And you'll
never underestimate the cost of your salvation to think that
God himself endured punishment due to you and me. He bore the
punishment instead of us. What a Saviour! What a God! How wonderful the plan of salvation
is, that because of that by His grace, one day we shall be with
Him in glory forever and ever. You know, the psalmist goes on
in the fifth verse, he says, I wait for the Lord, my soul
doth wait, and in His word do I hope. Are you hoping tonight? Pray on. Pray on. And he tells us, My
soul, our innermost being, waiteth for the Lord more than they that
watch for the morning. I say more than they that watch
for the morning. Let Israel, the church of God,
hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy. Isn't that
again a glorious truth? We have a God of mercy, who doesn't
deal with us as our sins deserve, and doesn't cast us off, and
tell us there's no hope for you. There's every hope. The word of God is full of encouragement. And Israel, hope in the Lord,
for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. It's not lacking. It's not lacking. There's plenty as redemption.
And finally, the last verse tells us, and he shall redeem Israel. That means he shall redeem the
church of God from all his or her iniquities. You see, the
Lord will redeem us from all our sin. Won't stand in the way. The devil might tell you it will. But it won't. Freely, ye have
received. Oh, my friends, what a mercy
that is. And just think of those wonderful
words in the epistle of Paul to the Romans, where he tells
us the great truth of God in the eighth chapter. He opens
with these words, words which are probably familiar. He says
this, there is therefore now, today, there is Therefore now, no condemnation. No condemnation. We are condemned,
left to ourselves. We deserve to be condemned because
of our disobedience to the law of God. We've sinned. We've sinned
and we've sinned. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus. What a blessing, my friends,
tonight, if we have the evidence that Christ has died for us.
He shed his most precious blood in order to redeem our souls.
And if so, we are in Christ Jesus. Do you know what the result is?
Who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. What does
that mean? It means we're a new creature.
It means we're born again by the Spirit of God. And we desire
to follow our Master's example. For the law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death. For what the law could not do,
in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son
in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in
the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled
in us who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit. What a blessing if God gives
us the heavenly desire to walk after the spirit and not after
the flesh. Well we should be very thankful
for these grand and glorious truths. but there is forgiveness
with thee that thou mayest be feared and then we have that
wonderful statement in the epistle of John the first epistle of
John and the first chapter and the 7th verse which is a great
encouragement to each one I'm sure the 9th verse the 7th verse
is ok I'll read that to start with but if we walk in the light
as He is in the light we have fellowship one with another that's
an evidence of life when you and I have fellowship with one
another those who are born again in the Spirit they're our best
friends they're our kindred we enjoy being with them we like
to be with them it's not anything a hardship it's complete contrary
to being with the world if we say that we have no sin we deceive
ourselves and the truth is not in us if we confess our sins
this is the great and glorious truth if we confess our sins
he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from
all unrighteousness what a blessing it is when you and I are able
to come to bow down before God confessing our sins it's between
your soul and God mercy doesn't go around telling everybody about
your confession but you can come to God pour out your heart unto
God confess all your sins and realize this great truth, but
there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared. Well, it's a great mercy, my
friends, if you and I know something of this great truth. Don't we know forgiveness? Or do we desire forgiveness?
And have we the wonderful evidence that we've been, perhaps we are,
in the depths. And God is dealing with us in
love to our souls. And if he brings us out to put
that new song in our heart, even praise unto our God. My friends,
praise is comely. Praise brings honour and glory
to God. And what a debt you and I owe
for our salvation. A debt that you and I could not
possibly pay. Just think trying to satisfy
the demands of God's holy law for one sin. We couldn't do it.
You think of the magnitude of our sin. The Lord Jesus Christ
has taken all our sin. It's washed away in the precious
blood of the Lamb. What do we say? Glory to God. I hope we do, and I hope we can
praise his name for all that he's done and for the glorious
truth that the word of God contains to encourage us and to believe
this great truth, but there is forgiveness with thee that thou
mayest be feared.