Let us turn to God's Word in
the book of Psalms. I'll read Psalm 130. The 130th
Psalm. The Song of Degrees. 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 supplications. If thou, Lord, shouldst mark
iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness
with thee, that thou mayest be feared. I wait for the Lord. My soul doth wait, and in his
words 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. Let Israel hope in the Lord.
for with the Lord there is mercy and with him is plenteous redemption
and he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities." You're probably aware that the
great Puritan divine John Owen has a remarkable exposition of
this particular psalm in the midst of all his prolific writings. is a wonderful portion of Holy
Scripture. And I want us this morning to
take for our text the opening words, the first verse of the
psalm. The psalmist cries out, out of
the depths, have I cried unto thee, O Lord, And in the psalm
do we not see something of the ascendings of his prayer, how
he is raised out of all those depths where he felt his soul
to be. Interestingly, the title of the
psalm is a song of degrees, or as the margin might say, in your
Bible a song of ascents or a song of steps. From Psalm 120 right the way
through to 134 we have this whole series. of the songs of the Greece and
it is said that these are the Psalms that the children of Israel
would sing as they ascended to Jerusalem from the various parts
of the promised land. We know from what we read in
the book of Deuteronomy in chapter 16 how that it was required of
all the men to make that journey to Jerusalem three times in the
year for the feast of Passover and weeks and tabernacles. They were to journey then from
every part of the land and to travel up to the place, Jerusalem,
where David had established the worship of God after he had taken
Zion from the Jebusites And then subsequently, of course, the
tabernacle in the days of King Solomon was replaced by the temple. And so they would ascend and
they would sing these various psalms. But also some say that
the sons of degrees more particularly have to do with how the priests,
as they ascended the steps of the temple, as they attended
to their various duties there in the house of God, would sing
these different songs of degrees. Whichever way we consider it,
they certainly have to do with the worship of God and the ascendings. of the people or of the priests
as they come to worship God, come to address to Him their
prayers. And so this morning as we consider
these words at the beginning of the psalm, I want us to take
up the spiritual significance of those ascendings. Out of the
depths, says the psalmist, out of the depths have I cried unto
thee, O Lord, And first of all what we observe here surely is
the mounting up of the soul of the believer. How the soul is
mounting up to God in those ardent desires, those holy longings
after God. And it reminds us very much of
the God of Jacob and the experience of Jacob in that portion that
we read back in Genesis chapter 28. are we not reminded here
of that ladder that Jacob saw and how that ladder was brought
before his eyes as he lay there and slept and he He dreams, and
in his dream he beholds this remarkable sight. It is the visitation
of God to him, even as he departs from his own father's house.
Remember the words that we read there in verse 12 of that chapter. He dreams, and behold, it says,
a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to
heaven. And behold, the angels of God ascending and descending
on it. And behold, the Lord stood above
it and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham, thy father, and the
God of Isaac, the land whereon thou lightest. To thee will I
give it, and to thy seed. And this ladder reminds us of
those ascendings and those descendings. It is only as the Lord himself
is pleased to first descend to us or to any man or woman that
we in turn can ascend unto God. Oh, how low that ladder that
Jacob saw is set! Why, it is set a little higher
than hell itself As we saw there, it is set up upon the earth. And what of the earth? Well,
John tells us the whole world lieth in wickedness. Is not this world in which we're
living our poor mortal lives the scene of much sin and much
rebellion against God? Is it not filled with wickedness? Is it not the realm of Him who
is the great adversary of souls, even the devil himself? And yet,
here in this wicked world, God has set up a ladder. We read
of those angels of God ascending and descending on it. All the
psalmist elsewhere can cry out concerning God, Thou shalt bring
me up again from the depths of the earth. How often, friends,
We're brought into that situation where we feel that we are in
the depths of the earth, with those who are surrounded by wickedness
on every hand, and yet that is not our chief complaint or our
chief grief. It's that awful sin that we yet
feel in our own heart. It's that spirit of rebellion
that is still in our fallen nature. It is that refusal in us to be
submissive to the will of God. How we kick against God and his
ways and his dealings. Or we read in that 107th psalm,
that psalm that speaks to us of the providences of God, and
yet surely not just the providences of God in natural things. Doesn't
Psalm 107 have some spiritual significance? And we have mentioned
there of those who have to do their business in great waters.
those who go, as it were, into the very depths of the earth. Look at the language that we
find out of there at verse 23 and the following verses. The
psalmist speaks of them 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, and are at their wits' end. Then they cry
unto the Lord in their trouble, and He bringeth them out of their
distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so
that the wives thereof are still, then are they glad because they
be quiet. And so he bringeth them unto
their desired haven. Yes, he's speaking of the mariner.
He's speaking of the sailor and the business that he has to occupy
himself with. But there is a spiritual significance,
surely. He speaks of their soul, in verse
26, melting because of trouble. Or they go down and down and
down again into those terrible depths. Out of the depths have
I cried unto thee, O LORD. Are there not those times when
the Lord does bring us into those situations where we seem to be
overwhelmed We have many things written in scriptures concerning
the experiences of the saints of old. Those things that we
have in the Old Testament that are written for our learning
as poor saints. That we through patience or endurance
and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. And how we see
this clearly exemplified in the experience of Jonah. Think of
the prayer of that man. We have it in the second chapter of the book of Jonah. How he
had rebelled against the Lord his God and gone the very opposite
way that God had commanded. He was to go to Nineveh instead. He had fled to the western extremities
of the Mediterranean. He'd gone to the country of Tarshish,
round about Spain, and yet the Lord had pursued him when he
was there on board ship, and eventually he'd been cast overboard,
swallowed up by the great fish. And then we have his prayer.
Now Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's bellies,
and said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord,
and he heard me. Out of the belly of hell, cried
I and thou heardest my voice for thou hadst cast me into the
deep interestingly you see the mariners on the ship had done
that to him but he acknowledges God's hand in these things thou
hadst cast me into the deep in the midst of the seas and the
floods compassed me about 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, and 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
before ever, yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption. O Lord my God, when my soul fainted
with iniquity, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came in unto
thee, into thine holy temple. It was not just a physical experience
this man is speaking of here, but this is all that is taking
place in his soul. He is in deep waters. Oh, he
feels it. And he cries out in all the agonies
of his soul, he desires that the Lord should come and deliver
him, in spite of his sin, in spite of his rebellion, or the
Lord and his dealings. Does not the Lord hear the cry
of those who are in those deep places? He says again, through
the Psalmist, I will bring my people again from the depths
of the sea. And Jonah was delivered. Jonah
was delivered. But what a mystery in the Lord's
dealings. But all that we might learn in
all those ways of the Lord with us to mount up in prayer, to
call upon His name, to seek His face, to cast out cares upon
Him, acknowledging the strange dealings of God with us. The
psalmist says, thy ways in the sea, thy path in the great waters,
thy footsteps are not known. We cannot fathom, we cannot understand,
but we can begin to cry out unto God, out of the depths. Have
I cried unto thee, O Lord? In these words we do see something
of the mounting up of the soul that feels itself to be in great
troubles. in great trouble and yet in spite
of all that has come that is so difficult and so trying there
is that that should move and motivate that we would be ready
always to be waiting upon God. What does the Psalmist say here
in the course of his prayer? In verse 5 he says, I wait for
the Lord's my soul doth wait and in his words do I hope here
he is in the depths and yet here he is prepared to wait but see
something of the objectivity in his waiting he is not simply so short-sighted that he cannot
see beyond his present troubles his eyes are raised up to the
Lord he looks outside of himself and he looks not only to the
Lord but he puts his confidence in that revelation that God has
given of himself I wait for the Lord he says my soul does wait
and in his words Do I hope? Why? This God is the God of the
covenant. He uses the covenant name, Lord
or Jehovah, that great name, derived from what was said to Moses at the burning
bush, the great I am that I am, the unchanging one. I am the
Lord, I change not. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday
and today and forever. What do we see here that is such
an encouragement to him and motivates him to some hope in the midst
of all his troubles? It is the objectivity of his
faith. He considers God, he considers
the character of God. He is the God who has revealed
himself. He is the God who has given to
his people his words. And what is the word of scripture?
It is a revelation, it is God making Himself known. And how
we see in the course of the Psalm, the Psalmist recognizing God's
character, the sort of God that He is. Why? He is the God of
forgiveness. Out of the depths have I cried
unto Thee, O Lord. He is the God who forgives. Verse 3, If thou, Lord, Should
us mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness
with birth, that thou mayest be feared." Oh, friends, what
a but! What a precious word, but, is. Time of the game when we come
across it here in the Word of God. If God marked iniquities,
none would stand. We'd all be condemned, condemned
forever. Our portion would not be simply
in the depths of the earth, but in the very depths of hell. But,
says the Psalmist, there is forgiveness with them. The Bible repeatedly
tells us of a God who pardons sins. He pardons sins. Oh, that's a great portion of
Scripture that we find at the end of the prophecy of Micah
there in Micah chapter 7 and verse 18 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 forever
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. Oh, who is a
pardoning God like me? or who has grace so rich and
firm. Oh, these men, in their writings,
delight to speak of these things, the goodness of God, the mercy
of God, the God who pardons sins. Again, the language of Jeremiah,
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." Well, this is how God pardons sins. He blots
out all the transgressions of His people. Why, as far as the
East is from the West, so far has He removed our transgressions
from us. North and South, as we know,
are fixed points on the compass. The North Pole, the South Pole.
You travel in a northerly direction, you reach the North Pole and
then you continue your journey, you're travelling in a southerly
direction. But there's no fixed points east and west. Once you
start travelling in a westward direction, you're constantly
travelling in that direction. They're not fixed points. And
that's how far God has removed the sins, the iniquities, the
transgressions of his people as far as the east is from the
west. That's infinitum. They're gone,
buried in the depths of the sea. This is the God that the psalmist
is crying out of the depths unto. He is the God who forgives. There is forgiveness with them.
that thou mayest be feared. But then also we see that He
is a merciful God. He is a merciful God. Look at
verse 7. Let Israel hope in the Lord,
for with the Lord there is mercy. Oh, what a word is this, friends.
What a word is this, mercy. and all that it tells us of God
and the grace of God He is merciful think of the the publicans prayer
when the Lord Jesus there in Luke 18 speaks of those two men
who go into the temple the hour of prayer the one was a a publican
the other a Pharisee, the Pharisee so much respected. Or what I
esteem, the sect of the Pharisees was held in by the Jewish nation
at the time of our Lord's appearing. That sect of the Pharisees came
into being during the period between the Old and the New Testament,
the intertestamental period. But they were zealous, zealous
for God, zealous for the Word of God, zealous for the traditions
of the fathers. Many of those Pharisees were
scribes, they were so looked up to. And here is the Pharisee
in the temple at the hour of prayer, together with the publican. On the other hand, this, the
most despised of all men, in Israel, in the employ of the
Roman authorities, the tax gatherers, that's what a publican was. He
gathered taxes on behalf of the occupying forces of Rome, so
despised. And often times these men abused
their position, not just taking what was demanded by the Emperor,
but taking more. The people despise them. And
yet what does the Lord say? He speaks of these two men and
the Pharisee who is full of himself. He thanks God. He's not as other
men are. He's not as this man. Oh, he
tells God all that he does. He gives tithes of all that he
possesses. All his religion just centers
in himself. He prayed thus with himself,
doubtless he prayed inwardly, but really his prayer goes no
further than himself. And yet, in contrast, how Christ
speaks of that publican, he stood afar off, would not lift up his
eyes unto heaven, smote upon his breast, and what was his
prayer? God, be merciful to me, a sinner. That was his prayer, God, be
merciful to me, a sinner." In fact, as we've said before, the
definite article is here. He says, God be merciful to me,
the sinner. As if he's the only sinner on
the face of the earth, he so feels his sins. He's the chief of sinners, just
as the Apostle says that of himself. And yet the Lord says of that
despised publican, pleading for mercy, this is the man who went
to his house justified, rather than the other. All the mercy
of God. God is merciful to sinners. The interesting thing is that
the word that he uses there in his prayer, God be merciful to
me, the sinner, is really the word propitiation, be propitious. Be propitious to me, the sinner. What is propitiation? Oh, it
has to do with the wrath of God. He wants that God's wrath should
not fall upon him. He deserved the wrath of God,
that man. He deserved to suffer the punishment
of all his sins. And he knew God is angry with
the wicked every day, but he wants God to be propitious. And
God is propitious. Why? Here in His love, not that
we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the
propitiation for our sins. He is the propitiation for our
sins. Even the Lord Jesus Christ is
that One who in His own person, as God-Man, He has borne all
that wrath of God against the sins of His people. Here is the
mercy of God. All we see is in that great work
that the Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished when He died upon
the cross. Let Israel hope in the Lord.
Oh, are we those this morning whose hope, all our hope is in
the Lord, even in our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, for with the
Lord there is mercy. God is a forgiving God. God is
a merciful God. but there's something more in
what the psalmist says here. Here is the encouragement you
see, here is the motivation for him to be waiting upon God, calling
upon God. God is also a redeeming God. How does he continue here in
verse 7? With him, that is with the Lord,
is plenteous redemption and he shall redeem Israel from all
his iniquities there is a price to be paid there is a price to
be paid and the Lord Jesus Christ has paid that price the price
of redemption it is that that is owed to God's holy law that
law that is part of the of the revelation of God Because in
Scripture we see God revealed. Oh yes, we see it ultimately
in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, the glory of the Gospel.
The God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has
shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. That's the gospel.
The law was given by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus
Christ. But there is the law. And the law is part of God's
revealing of himself in the law. We see God in all his strict
justice. We see him in all his holiness. And how the law makes demands.
How the law requires obedience. The soul that sinneth, it shall
die. Those who are transgressors of
that law of God, they're worthy of death. The wages of sin is
death. And God will by no means clear
the guilty. God will not wink at sins. or
there is a price to be paid. There is a debt that's owed to
that Lord of God that the sinner has broken. But the Lord Jesus Christ is
that One who has come to pay the price. When the fullness
of the time was come, Paul says, God sent forth His Son made of
a woman, made unto the Lord to redeem them. that were under
the law that they might receive the adoption of sons. Sometimes men foolishly imagine
that the price has to be paid to Satan in order to free the
sinner from his grip. There's no price owed to Satan,
he's a usurper. He has no just rightful claims
on anything or anybody. No, the price has to be paid
to that holy law of God. And this is why the Lord Jesus
Christ came, to redeem. To redeem them that were under
the law, to deliver them from that law of God. Think of the
language that we have, that lovely portion in the book of Job chapter
33, deliver him from going down to the pit, it says. I have found
a ransom price. Oh, how has God found that ransom
price? Why, the Lord God Himself has
provided that price and He's done it in the person and the
work of His only begotten Son. And redemption, you know, is
bound up with propitiation. We see that in the language of
Paul in Romans chapter 3. Being justified, he says, freely
by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom
God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood. There
we have the two together, redemption and propitiation. redemption,
the ransom price, paid to the Holy Lord of God, the satisfying
of all God's strict justice, but also the propitiation. Oh,
that God who is angry with the wicked every day, how the Lord
Jesus has come and satisfied God by that sacrifice, whom God
has set forth to be a propitiation. Now, it's interesting but the
words propitiation that we find there in Romans 3 and verse 25
is used just once more in the New Testament in Hebrews chapter
9 verse 5. Remember out there in the opening
verses of Hebrews 9 the Apostle is speaking of some of the furnishings
in the tabernacle, in the temple. and amongst them he speaks of
the mercy seat. And it is that word mercy seat
which is the identical word to what is rendered propitiation
back in Romans chapter 3. Literally then we could read
Romans 3 like this, Romans 3.25, whom God hath set forth to be
a mercy seat. Speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ
who was paid the price of redemption God has set him forth to be a
mercy seat. Now how is this? Well in the
in the Old Testament on the Great Day of Atonement
spoken of in Leviticus chapter 16 remember how the high priest
goes on that one day in the year Beyond the veil He goes into
the Holy of Holies. Only the High Priest would ever
enter there. He goes before the Ark of the
Covenant and the Mercy Seat. And He takes with Him the blood
of sacrifice. And He sprinkles blood before
the Mercy Seat. He sprinkles blood upon the Mercy
Seat. He is making atonement. for all the sins of the people,
the great day of atonement. And the people outside, breathless
as they are waiting for Him to come forth from beyond that veil. Or they can hear Him about His
business, the bells on His garments. Would He be struck down dead
before the Almighty? No, He makes the great atonement
as He sprinkles the blood and the Mercy Seat. Why? It's fulfilled
in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's fulfilled in Christ. And
we are those, friends, who can call unto God at that Mercy Seat,
at that Throne of Christ. Out of the depths have I cried
unto Thee. how the psalmist here will encourage
himself in all that God is, all that God has revealed of himself,
I wait for the Lord he says my soul does wait and in his words
do I hope all that God has revealed of himself, a forgiving God and
a merciful God and a redeeming God and all that revelation ultimately
brought to us in the Lord Jesus Christ when God in the fullness
of the time sends forth His only begotten and His well-beloved
Son. Or are we those that know what
it is at times to be in deep waters? We feel it at times. Maybe like Jonah we've rebelled
against the Lord and the Lord has dealt with us. The Lord hides
His face from us and we feel it. Or we're in deep waters there. But ought to be those who would
be ever ready to wait for Him. And to wait and to hope in His
Word. Well let us in the last place
this morning say something with regards to this manner of waiting. What is it to wait? Out of the
depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord, he says. And yet he goes
on to speak of this waiting. What is it to wait? Well, it
is not slothfulness. The hymn writer says, sloth is
a dangerous state, and he that flees and he that sleeps cannot
be said to wait. Waiting is not to be equated
with doing nothing, not to be equated with inactivity. Woe
to them that are at ease. In Zion it is not easy to wait.
Not easy to wait upon the Lord. What is this waiting then? Well,
it is a waiting in hope. It is a waiting in hope. Verse
7, Let Israel hope in the Lord. that Israel hope in the Lord,
for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption." The Scripture speaks in fact
about we are those who are saved by hope. There's a lot said in Holy Scripture
concerning hope. There in the 8th chapter of the
Epistle to the Romans we see Verse 24, We are saved by hope,
but hope that is seen is not hope. For what a man seeth, why
doth he yet hope for? But if we hope, for that we see
not, then do we with patience wait for it. Why? It is bound
up with that faith wherein we are looking to Him who is the
invisible God. Hope that is seen is not hope. But if we hope for that we see
not, then do we with patience, with endurance, wait for it. Oh, we see that the man Abram
knew much of this hoping in God. We read of Abram there in Romans chapter 4. Verse 18, who against hope, it
says, believed in hope. This is Abraham. He staggered not at the promise
of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory
to God and being fully persuaded that what he had promised he
was able also to perform and therefore it was imputed to him
for righteousness. against hope. Here is Abraham,
an old man. Here is Sarah, well past the
age of childbearing. And yet the promise was given
in Sarah shall thy seed be called. Sarah was to have a son. Could
it ever be against hope? He believed in hope. He staggers
not at God's promise. He believes it. Oh, he is strong
in faith. He gives the glory to God. Oh
friends, what do we know of the hope of Abraham? Are we those who are hoping in
His God? Hoping in God's words? Remember the language here at
the end of verse 5, in His Word do I hope. Or when we come to
this blessed book, when we read the Holy Scriptures, does it
encourage hope in our souls even as we wait upon the Lord? When within those deep places,
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 supplications,
to persevere in calling and crying in all our waiting in hope. There
is then, you see here, a waiting in prayer. That's what we have
in this second verse. Lord, hear my voice, Let thine
ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication." We have
that repetition, that parallelism that is so familiar to us in
the book of Psalms, it's part and parcel of Hebrew poetry,
these statements where we have such an emphasis, but very much
an emphasis here on what it means to wait upon the Lord in prayers. Verse 6, Waiteth for the Lord,
it says, more than they that watch for the morning. I say
more than they that watch for the morning. Or like mariners
in a storm. That portion that we've already
read from the 107th Psalm at verse 23 following. Those who
are doing business in great waters. How they wait. The storm is all
about them. Or they long and they yearn.
for the morning, that in great darkness. Or like a person sitting
at a sickbed, a loved one suffering, tossing and turning through the
night, longing and yearning for the dawning of a new day. All
my soul waited for the Lord, more than they that watch for
the morning. I say more than they that watch
for the morning. What do we know of these things?
This sort of religion. this religion of the psalmist
here in this remarkable 130th psalm. We think of the words
of the Lord Jesus to his own disciples there in the Garden
of Gethsemane. He says, What could ye not watch
with me one hour? So are we those who watch and
wait, who call and cry, who want to be seeking the face of the
Lord, desiring that He would yet come and appear for us. Lord, there is so much exercise
to be discerned here in the soul of the child of God, unfolded
to us in this 130th Psalm. Lord, help us then to consider
it, to meditate upon it, and to call upon His name, whatever
be our situation, our circumstances, and the Lord does bring us into
trials and tribulations. These things cannot be avoided,
but to say with the psalmist, out of the depths, have I cried
unto thee, O Lord, Lord, hear my voice, head I nears, be attentive
to the voice of my supplications. The Lord Bless his word to us. Amen.