let us turn to the psalm that
we read the 130th psalm I suppose it's probably one of the most
well-known of all the psalms and you're probably aware that
the great Puritan divine John Owen has quite a treatise in
which he opens up the content of this short psalm just eight
verses and I want us tonight to turn to consider in particular
the verses 5 and 6 Psalm 130 the verses 5 and 6 the theme of waiting
upon the Lord the psalmist says I wait for the Lord my soul doth
wait And in his word do I hope my soul waiteth for the Lord
more than they that watch for the morning. I say more than
they that watch for the morning. And as we take up this theme
of waiting upon the Lord, I want to deal with some three headings
this evening. First of all, to consider the
motivation. what should move us to thus engage
in this exercise of waiting. Real waiting is not something
passive, but there is certainly a deal of activity in the souls
of those who are waiting upon the Lords. Well, what's the motivation?
And then, secondly, to say something with regards to the manner of
this waiting, the way in which we are to wait upon the Lords. And then, last of all, to think
of the soul as it's mounting up to heaven. Come to that climax
as it were. Those that wait, they mount up
and approach the Lord God himself in heaven but first of all the
motivation and it really centers in the Lord God himself and God
as he has revealed himself here in scripture that's quite evident
isn't it from the opening clause of verse 5 I wait for the Lord
I wait for the Lord. And then in His words, do I hope,
it's in His word that God has spoken, it's in His word that
God has revealed Himself. And what do we learn when we
come to the word of God concerning the character of the God that
is the creator and sustainer of all things? Well, some three
things surely we see in this psalm. Firstly, We have dealings
with a God who is merciful. He's a merciful God. Look at
what we read there in verse 7. For with the Lord there is mercy. Oh, He is a merciful God. And
how are we to wait upon Him? How are we to come to Him? Well,
we have the example in the New Testament of one who thus came,
waiting upon God in his prayer. I think of that publican of whom
the Lord speaks in Luke 18. Remember the two men who go up
to the temple at the hour of prayer? One was a Pharisee, a
very self-righteous man. The other was a publican, a most
despised person amongst the Jews. And we're told of that publican,
how he waited, how he felt he could hardly begin to approach
or draw near to God. We read of the publican standing
afar off, and though he smote upon his breast, he couldn't
lift his eyes to heaven, he smote upon his breast, and he cried
out, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Oh, he was one who came suing
for mercy. And this is the God, you see,
that we are to wait upon. He is a merciful God. The word that we have there,
the cry of the publican, God be merciful to me, a sinner,
literally it's the word propitiation. God be propitious to me, a sinner. And we think of what propitiation
is. It's a technical term, it's a
theological word, but it's a biblical word also, and of course we find
it there in John's first general epistle twice. There in chapter
2 and verse 2, speaking of the Lord Jesus, He is the propitiation
for our sins, says John. Or the Lord Jesus is the propitiation. And then again in chapter 4 and
verse 10, here in his love, not that we love God, but that he
loved us, and sent his son to be a propitiation for our sins. Propitiation has that idea of
God making a merciful provision. God who is holy and righteous
and just, and can by no means clear the guilty. How then can
sinners find acceptance with Him? He must have mercy upon
them. And where is that mercy expressed
in the person and work of the Lord Jesus when He comes to make
that great propitiation? Because God has visited His just
wrath, His holy indignation upon the person of His only begotten
Son. in order that the sinner might
know mercy and the forgiveness of sins. Again, we have the word
propitiation there in Romans chapter 3 and verse 24 concerning
the Lord Jesus whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through
faith in his blood. And the words there the particular
form of that word, it's only used on one other occasion. It's
also there in Hebrews 9.5 where, as the apostle is speaking of
the furnishings in the tabernacle, he makes mention of the mercy
seat. It's the same word. You see, going back to Romans
3.24, we could render it that the Lord Jesus Christ is that
one whom God hath made or whom God has set forth, I should say,
to be a Mercy Seat. The Mercy Seat in the Tabernacle
was the place where the propitiation was made. On the Great Day of
Atonement when the High Priest goes into the Holy of Holies
and takes the blood of sacrifice and sprinkles it upon the Mercy
Seat. God now propitious to His people. This is the God that is set before
us in here in this particular psalm. For with the Lord there
is mercy. Oh, He's a merciful God. He's
a merciful God. And not only a merciful God,
He's a redeeming God. How does it continue there in
that seventh verse? With Him is plenteous redemption,
and He shall redeem Israel. from all his iniquities. This
is the one that we are to wait upon then, a God who redeems
his people. The Lord Jesus Christ is that
one who has paid the price of redemption, has paid that great
debt that he's owed to the Holy Lord of Gods. The very purpose
of His coming, when the fullness of the time was come, God sent
forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem
them that were under the law. Oh, He has come to stand in that
very low place of all His people and to suffer and bleed and die
as their substitute. He has paid the ransom price
Again, the language that we have in the book of Job, the words
of Elijah there in chapter 33, deliver him from going down to
the pit, I have found a ransom price. This is a God that we
come to who has made provision for his people in one who is
able to answer all the demands of that Holy Lord of God. and
he has paid what the law demanded, the ransom price and satisfied
all that the law requires and he has done it in living, he
has done it in dying he has answered the law in terms of all its holy
commandments by a life of sinless obedience honouring it, magnifying
it by a righteous life and then dying and in dying of course
answering the same Lord now not in terms of all its requirements
but answering now with regards to all its penalties bearing
in his own person that punishment that was due to his people. And now we see redemption, propitiation,
justification, these things all bound up together. As I said,
when that publican goes into the temple and feels himself
to be so utterly unworthy ever to approach God, he waits upon
God and what does he do? He sues for mercy. God be merciful
to me. God be propitious, literally. God be propitious to me. And
I refer to those words in Romans 3, 24, but see how the Apostle
Paul develops things there. He says in verse 24 he speaks of justification,
being justified freely by the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus whom God has set forth to be a propitiation." We see
justification, we see redemption, we see propitiation in those
two verses 24 and 25. Justified freely by His grace
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus whom God has
set forth to be a propitiation. All the Lord Jesus said is that
one who has come and satisfied the justice of God. God is a
merciful God, God is a redeeming God, and He is a forgiving God.
And all these things stand before us in this short psalm. Verse 3. If thou, Lord, shouldest
mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness
with thee. that thou mayest be feared. There is forgiveness. God is a forgiving God. He is
a God ever ready to pardon the sinner. Or think of the language
that we have there in the closing verses of the prophecy of Micah. You know the passage. who is
a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the
transgression of the remnant of his heritage, he retaineth
not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again. He will have
compassion upon us. He will subdue our iniquities,
and they will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. They will perform the truth to
Jacob and the mercy to Abraham, which they were sworn unto our
fathers from the days of old." Here is the motivation, and this
is the God that has revealed Himself in Scripture. This is
the God that we're to come and we're to wait upon. We have these
tremendous passages scattered throughout God's Word. Go and
think of the language of Jeremiah 50 and verse 20 concerning this
Gospel day, these last days. In those days and in that time,
saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for
and there shall be none. and the sins of Judah and they
shall not be found for I will pardon them whom I reserve."
Or where is the believing sinner's sin? Where is his iniquity? Where
are his transgressions? They can't be found. All those
black sins and maybe at times you feel they stand so much against
you but they're all gone. As far as the East is from the
West, so far have they removed our transgressions from us. And
you don't need me to remind you that from the East to the West,
that's infinitive. The North Pole, the South Pole,
those are fixed points on the compass. But there's no fixing
East and West, it's an infinite distance. And that's so far the
Lord has removed the transgressions of His people. Here is the motivation
then to wait. Wait for the Lord. This is what the psalmist says,
I wait for the Lord. My soul does wait and in His
Word do I hope. He has revealed Himself to us
here in Holy Scripture, a merciful God. a redeeming God, a forgiving
God. And all of that wonderfully demonstrated,
revealed to us in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. But secondly, what of the manner
of this waiting? How are we to wait? Most all waiteth for the Lord
more than they that watch for the morning. I say more than
they that watch for the morning." Well, there's something earnest
there. There's some real soul activity. It's not slowfulness. It's not
inactivity. Look at the language that we
have there in the hymn 783. And verse 8, sloth is a dangerous
state and he that flees and he that sleeps cannot be said to
wait. To wait is not slothfulness,
inactivity, doing nothing. Woe to them that are at ease.
In Zion, to wait is not to be easily and to feel comfortable. Know where there is waiting,
there's watching, there's longing, there's expectation, there's
all that exercise of soul. It's waiting in hope, isn't it?
Look at verse 7 and the first part of that verse. Let Israel
hope in the Lord. All hope centers in the Lord. And who is the Lord? It's the
covenant name. It's the great I am that I am.
It's that one that's spoken of at the end of that passage that
we referred to in the closing verses of Micah 7. It's the God
of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. It's the
God of the covenant. And all that we read of God's
dealings with his ancient covenant people in the Old Testament.
and all these things of course written for our learning that
we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have
hope says the Apostle in Romans 15 what a blessed book it is
that the Lord God has given to us we are to hope in this God,
hope in the Lord again think of the language of Paul Romans
8.24 we are saved by hope he says but hope that he's seen
is not hope for what a man seeth why doth he yet hope for it? but if we hope for that which
we see not then do we with patience or endurance wait for it? that's what hope is or just read
those words and meditate in those words Romans 8 and 24 and 25 There's a wonderful definition,
a description of what it is to hope. And we read of Abraham. He's the father of the faithful.
He's a great exemplar of saving faith, Abraham. But also a man
of real hope. We read of him, don't we, in
Romans chapter 4, who against hope, believed in hope. Oh, he staggered not at the promise
of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory
to God. He knew that God was able to
perform all that he had promised. That was his hope. And his hope
was bound up with his faith. And here, in the text, verse
5, those words, in his words do I hope. All His words encourages us thus
to wait on such a God as He is. We are to wait in hope, expecting
that God will indeed answer, but He'll answer in His time,
He'll answer in His way. And it's for us to hope continually
in His words and to trust in His character as He has revealed
Himself to us here in Holy Scripture. Waiting in hope, but also there's
this waiting in prayer. This is the manner in which we
wait. We wait by crying, and calling,
and seeking. Or look at the language that
we have in the second verse, Lord hear my voice. Let thine
ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. This is a praying man. This man
who is waiting upon the Lord, how he gives himself very much
to prayer. Again in verse 6, My soul waiteth
for the Lord, more than they that watch for the morning, I
say, more than they that watch for the morning. Or like the
person tossing, turning on his sick bed through the night watches,
longing, yearning for the breaking of the day. He can get no rest,
he's so troubled. And sometimes maybe that's us,
not necessarily some physical sickness, but we feel sick in
soul and we can't sleep and So many matters crowd in upon us
and they grow and they seem so vast and we're longing for the
morning. Well that's the man that's speaking
here in the text, is it not? My soul waits for the Lord, it's
waiting for the Lord as that poor soul is longing for the
dawning of a new day. It's waiting in prayer. Oh the Lord utters those words,
doesn't he, to the disciples there in the garden of Gethsemane.
He'd taken those favoured three a little way from the others
and told them to watch and pray with him and he goes the stones
thrown away, he's alone and he returns to them, he comes back
three times and they're sleeping. What could you not watch with
me one hour, he says. Watch and pray that ye enter
not into temptation. The Spirit indeed is willing,
but the flesh is weak. Yes, He rebukes them in a sense. Could ye not watch with me? But
how kind, how tender are His words! He acknowledges their
weakness, you see. The Spirit is willing, the flesh
is weak. Think of those words that we
have in the Song of Solomon in chapter 5. I sleep. Says the spouse, the bride of
Christ. I sleep, but my heart waketh. And I think of those words in
the way in which Christ rebukes his sleepy disciples. He sees,
you see, that they're overwhelmed by the flesh. But the Spirit
is willing, the Spirit is willing. It's a word of encouragement.
How we're to watch, how we're to wait. We're to wait in prayer,
we're to look to the Lord and we're to look with that spirit
of expectation that there will yet be the return of prayers.
He doth not say to the seed of Jacob, seek him, I face in vain. Out of the depths have I cried
unto the Lord. Lord, hear my voice, let thine
ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. And so,
in the third place this evening, what we have in this psalm surely
is the mounting up of the soul. All the soul mounts up in prayers
to God. These cries enter into the ears
of the Lord of Sabaoth, the Lord of hosts. these longings, these
desires. Remember the titles of the Psalms
are all part of the sacred scriptures. We should read the titles as
well as the verses and you probably know in the Dutch Bible of course
the titles form the opening verse of the psalm that part of the
inspired text. Now what is this title? Psalm
130 it's a song of degrees it's a song of degrees in fact
all the psalms here in this section from the the 120th psalm to the
134th psalm they're all songs of degrees and the significance
in that what does that title mean? well it's literally songs
of steps or songs of ascents and some say that they are the
psalms that would be sung in the worship of God in the temple
as they ascended the steps up into the temple to worship the
Lord God. These are the various psalms
that they would be singing. But then also we have the idea
of here that these are the Psalms that they would have said even
before they arrived in Jerusalem, before they ever arrived at the
Temple as they were traveling up from all parts of Israel. They had to go, remember, three
times in the year, all the male, all the men folk had to make
that journey to The tabernacle then to the Temple of the Lord
for the three great feasts spoken of there in Deuteronomy 16, verse
16 for the Feast of Passover and the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost
as we would call it and also for the Feast of Tabernacles
the three great Jewish festivals they were to journey and as they
journeyed from every part of Israel going up I suppose initially
to Shiloh but then in David's day would be going up to Jerusalem
and they're going there to worship and they would sing these Psalms,
their ascending. But see the significance here
of the opening words of this 130th Psalm. Is there not a certain
ascending here? Ascending prayers, prayers that
are coming out of the depths of a man's soul. Out of the depths
have I cried unto thee, O Lord, how His prayer is ascending. There's something there in the
very depths of this man's heart, now giving vent as he waits upon
his God and cries to Him out of the difficulties and the desertions
that may be as known and experienced. Can we not say there's a certain
sense in which the language that we have in the 107th Psalm forms
a sort of commentary on these words? Remember that
Psalm that speaks of God's providences in the various situations of
our natural lives and yet It also bears a spiritual interpretation. It doesn't just have to do with
our natural life, but our spiritual life. And we read of those that
go into the deeps. Verse 23 of that psalm, they
that go down to the sea in ships and do business in great waters,
these see the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep.
For he commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth
up the waves thereof. They mount up to the heaven,
they go down again to the depths. Their soul is melted because
of trouble. They reel to and fro and stagger
like a drunken man. They are at their wits' end.
Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He drinketh
them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so
that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad, because they
be quiet. So He bringeth them unto their
desired haven. Or think of the situations of
life. Can we not make that our prayer, that God would bring
us to that desired haven? There were times we find ourselves
going down into the depths, out of the depths. Have I cried unto
thee, O Lord? Or there is the mounting up,
of prayers. Again another psalm, Psalm 71,
verse 20, Thou shalt bring me up again from the depths of the
earth. Oh, doesn't God do that? He brings
His people up out of the very depths of the earth. And you
know, there's another prayer, I should say, another prayer
that reminds us of that, a vivid example really, when we think
of the experience of Jonah, the disobedient prophet, whom
the Lord pursues. And the Lord prepares the great
fish, and Jonah, the disobedient, sinful prophet thrown overboard,
swallowed by the great fish, and then is in the very depths
of the seas. And it's from there, isn't it,
that Jonah utters that remarkable prayer. And we have the record
of each one of the prayers recorded for us in Scripture. The second
chapter of Jonah's book. Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord
his God out of the fish's bellies, and said, I cried by reason mine
affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me. Out of the belly
of Hau cried I, and thou heardest my voice. For thou hast cast
me into the deep, in the midst of the seas, and the floods compassed
me about, and all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.
Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight, Yet I will look again
toward thy holy temple. The waters compassed me about,
even to the soul. The depth closed me round about. The weeds were wrapped about
my head. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains. The earth with
her bars was about me forever. Yet hast thou brought up my life
from corruption, O Lord my God, when my soul fainted within me.
I remember the Lord. And my prayer came in unto thee,
into thine holy temple. They that observe lying vanities
forsake their own mercy, but I will sacrifice unto thee with
the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord." And
you know, that's his prayer. And he didn't pray in vain, did
he? because the last verse of that
second chapter tells us the Lord spoke unto the fish and it vomited
out Jonah upon the dry land and then in the next chapter the
word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time he was a disobedient prophet
and yet the Lord had mercy upon him he's recommissioned in spite
of all his disobedience. But what a prayer! And it wasn't
just a physical experience. It was a spiritual experience.
The waters had come into his soul, he says. And what was he
determined to do? I will look again towards thy
holy temple, he says. My prayer came in unto them,
into thy temple. How could that man possibly know
where the temple of the Lord was? He was completely disorientated. He's in the fish's bellies in
the depths of the Mediterranean. He's at the foot of all the mountains. He doesn't know where he is at
all. Surely we're to understand his desire in terms of the Lord
Jesus Christ who is the fulfillment of the temple. When He says, I will look again
toward thy holy temple, He's looking to Christ. Christ, the
antitype of the temple. My prayer came in unto thee,
into thy holy temple. All the ascendings, you see,
the ascendings, the mountings up of the soul in prayer to God. And God promises. Psalm 68 verse
22, I will bring my people again from the depths of the sea. Well,
that's what God promises. He will bring them, He will hear
them, He will answer them, He will deliver them. But what a
mystery there is. There's such a great mystery
in all the Lord's dealings with us. Psalm 77 and verse 19, thy way
is in the sea. thy path in the deep waters thy
footsteps are not known." How can we see footsteps in the sea? You don't see footsteps in the
sea. You might see footsteps on the sandy beach, but you don't
see any footsteps in the sea, and that's where God works. And
His ways are all together past finding out, but He has given
us His words. And this is where we're to come,
you see. In His words do I hope says the psalmist here in verse
5 all we must search is worth ransack his worth to find some
encouragement in his worth and if we do that we will be those
who are seeking his face will be those who are truly waiting
upon him I wait for the Lord, my soul
does wait, and in His Word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the
Lord more than they that watch for the morning. I say, more
than they that watch for the morning. Or crying to Him, calling
upon Him, out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, O Lord, Lord,
hear my voice. Let thine ears be attentive to
the voice of my supplication. That's the waiting. Oh God, have
mercy and help us to wait in such a spirit as that. Then what
comes? Well, salvation. We can never wait in vain. The
opening words of the Sixty Second Psalm, Truly my soul waiteth
upon God, from Him cometh my salvation, or that that salvation
might truly come to each and every one and all of us. Truly
my soul waiteth upon God, from Him cometh my salvation. May the Lord bless His word to
us. Amen.