I want you to open your Bibles
to the Book of Psalms, number 130, Psalm 130. The Word of God needs no recommendation from
mortal men. I know that. The Word of God stands powerful,
sharper than a two-edged sword. The Word is a light, the Word
is a sword, the Word is a hammer. But God's servant Martin Luther,
many of us admire the message he preached and the courage God
gave him and the boldness to preach it. But Martin Luther,
500 years ago, when pressed by some friends to identify what
he considered the greatest of the 150 Psalms, would you know
the ones that he selected? Some friends pressured him. Now,
the Psalms have been a blessing to you all these years. God's
used them in your life. Which of the Psalms do you consider
to be the greatest? Well, he named four, but three
of the four he named, the first one was Psalm 32. You might want
to mark that and read it. The second one was Psalm 51. the Psalm 51, David's psalm of
repentance. And then he named Psalm 130,
this one we're studying today. For that man, and he suffered
so many things for the glory of God, so much trial and persecution,
as few men on this earth have suffered. And once, when he was
under the heaviest persecution at a place called Coburn. He
was under the heaviest persecution, almost standing alone for the
gospel of God's grace, almost alone. The powers of government,
the powers of what's called the church, people betraying him on every
hand, and under the heaviest, greatest affliction at Coburn.
It's recorded that he said to the brethren about him, when
things were so dark, he said, brethren, let's sing
that psalm. Out of the depths have I cried,
O Lord, to thee. And all of them began to sing
this psalm right here. You see, in this psalm, there
are just eight verses. But in this psalm, the Holy Spirit
lays out here through God's servant two opposite passions, two opposite
passions, fear, fear. And I'll tell you this, the person
who has never and does not experience fear in this relationship with
God does not even know God. I'm tired of hearing people say
to me, you're not supposed to fear God, you're supposed to
love God. But one thing I know when you
say that, you don't know God. The beginning of wisdom is the
fear of God. Come, my children, I'll teach
you the fear of the Lord. And back in Old Testament days,
the worship of God was synonymous with the fear of the Lord. You
can write that down. It is said Abraham feared the
Lord. This psalmist deals in this psalm
with fear. Fear in respect to our nature
of sin. Fear in respect to our nature
of sin. And secondly, he deals with the
passion of hope. Hope. How can folks like us have any
hope? Hope in respect to the nature
of God. Mercy. God is love. Fear and
hope. And somebody said, this psalm
records the experience of all who have experienced God's grace. This psalm records. This is how
vital and important this psalm is. It records the experience
of all who have experienced God's grace. Tell me, Is it not true,
in your experience of the grace of God, is there not a depth
of sin realized? Is there not a depth of sorrow
over the realization of that sin? And is there not a depth
of misery because of that sorrow? Misery! How can any man be anything but
miserable in sin? And is there not a mountain? There's the depth of misery,
but is there not the mountain of mercy? Oh, thank God for the
mountain of mercy. I lift up mine eyes. From where? From my depth. If I was up here, I wouldn't
lift up my eyes, I'd look straight over. But I'm down here, therefore
I have to lift them up. I lift up mine eyes unto the
hills, from whence cometh my help. How come my help cometh
from the hills? Because God said I've sat on
the hill, my king. That's the reason. Or look at
it, out of the depths. Hold it there before you. Out
of the depths have I cried. Now this man David had many depths. People are always trying to figure
out when David wrote what David wrote. They said he wrote, The
Lord is my shepherd when he was a shepherd boy. They wrote Psalm
51 when he got in trouble with Bathsheba. I don't believe anybody
knows when David wrote what he wrote. When did David write this? Out of the depths have I cried
unto thee. Out of the depths of sin and
misery and sorrow and affliction. When did he write it? Did he write it when he was out
there on the hillsides and the mountains and the caves running
from sorrow, thinking any moment would be his last moment, feeling
deserted of God, deserted of people? Could have. Did he write it when the hand
of God lay heavily upon him because of his great sin with Bathsheba
knowing that he had ordered the death of his friend, Uriah. Was that when it was he wrote,
Out of the Depths? Oh, God, have I cried. Or perhaps it was when Absalom.
Who do we love more than our own children? And when they turn from the way
of God and when they turn against us, Is there anybody who can
bring us more grief? Do you know anybody? Maybe it
was then when Absalom and his son had turned against him, turned
against his father David, and turned the hearts of the people
against David, and driven his father David out of the capital
city and away from the palace, out into the wilderness. Was
this when he wrote this psalm? Sitting out there on a rock,
when they told him Absalom is dead, and he cried, oh Absalom,
my son, would God I died for you. Was that when he wrote it, out
of the depths? No man's ever been lower, has he? Would God
I died for you. Or maybe he wrote it when he watched
the death of 70,000 of his choice men because he foolishly numbered
Israel. Now you think how low he was
that day. 70,000 fathers, 70,000 widows,
many thousand orphans, as all these men lay dead, because
David in his folly and pride numbered Israel out of the depths."
Huh? Charlie, you could have wrote
it then. Out of the depths. I tell you, whenever it was that
he was crying, it was out of the depths. He knew something about the depths
of Saul. Do you? Until you do, You won't
know much about the power of prayer and the comfort of the
word. You see, out of the depths of
misery, affliction, mental depression, old age, loneliness, do we cry? Let me show you five conditions
of true prayer. Watch this verse. Out of the
depths. Now write this down in your mind
or on a piece of paper. Five conditions of true prayer. First of all, it comes from a
lowly position. Out of the depths, have I cried. You don't bargain with God. I
wish our generation could learn not to talk like this, Lord,
if you'll heal Betty, I'll serve you. You don't talk to God that
way. In fact, you're God, but not
this God. Lord, if you'll bless my business,
I'll give you 10%. Well, your business may be blessed. There won't be God blessing it.
He'll be allowing it to be blessed by the devil to hold you in your
refuge of lies. I'm telling the truth, Mike.
You don't bargain with God. You pray out of the depths. Secondly,
prayer is a fervent appeal. It's not a ritual or a form,
or let's have a little word of prayer, or have a little talk with Jesus.
I have people say to me, say a little prayer for me. Out of the depths, what does
he say? A fervent appeal. Have I cried? Have I cried? Like you take your little baby
by somebody's house, a stranger, a babysitter, you're going, Mama,
don't leave me! That's a cry. That's a fervent
appeal. Don't leave me! Don't leave me. That's when you pray. And thirdly,
it's a direct petition. Unto thee. Out of the depths
have I cried unto thee. Let's forget this chain of command
in prayer. It's unto thee, unto the Lord
God. You talk to God. We hire people to pray for us,
study for us, witness for us. You can't hire anybody to pray
for you. Unto thee. Out of the depths have I cried
unto thee. What's the fourth thing? It's
a reverent spirit. Oh, Lord. Oh, Lord. I'm going to work this over in
a minute. Oh, Lord. I'll leave it for the time. And
then it's a personal need. Lord, hear my voice. Hear my voice. Now, you got a
good grip on your seat there, because I'm going to shock you
right now. But I know this is so. Read verse 2. This, hear
my voice. Lord, hear my voice. Now, why in the world would David
pray that way? Hear my voice. Let your ears
be attentive to my voice, the voice of my supplication. Now,
my friends, don't miss this verse. Don't miss it. Don't miss what
it teaches. David is saying here, this is
all I ask, nothing else matters. Don't pass me by. Lord, hear
me. Hear my voice. Hear me, Lord. Will you hear me? Will you hear
me? Will you hear the voice of my
supplication? Lord, King of Kings, Sovereign,
hear the voice. Will you hear the voice of the
beggar out of the dunghill? I think of Bartimaeus sitting
by that roadside. There are thousands of people,
thousands of people, literally multitudes. The Scripture says
multitudes followed him, multitudes thronged him, multitudes surrounded
him, multitudes on either side. Think of the voices, the shouting,
the laughing, the screaming, the yelling. All the commotion
that was going on. This man, Jesus of Nazareth,
this man who fed 5,000 with five loaves and two fishes, who healed
the sick, who raised a dead man. This man's fame preceded him.
These people just wanted to get a glimpse of him. Zacchaeus had
run ahead and climbed up in a tree just to get a sight of him. And in all that deeing, and all
that noise, and all that commotion, and all that was going on, there
was a blind, dirty, helpless 40-year-old beggar sitting in
the dust by the roadside, and he cried, Jesus, son of David,
have mercy on me! And the Lord stopped. He heard
his voice. There were a lot of voices he
didn't hear. Because he didn't stop till this
man cried. Come on now. You better get with
me now. He didn't stop till this man
cried. He heard his voice. Plenty of
people hollering. Don't you know they were hollering
for his autograph and everything else? God, come to my house,
come to my house, come and eat with me, come and heal my son,
come and heal my daughter, come and do this, come and do that.
They all said those things. But he didn't stop. But he heard Bartimaeus. Listen. Oh, listen. If you've got an
ear to hear, God help you if you don't listen. He's not obligated
to hear anybody's voice. And he doesn't hear every voice. He proved it right there. He
only stopped when this man spoke. But I'll tell you this, this
is why David kept saying this, if he hears you, if he even hears
you, you're saved. If he even hears you. You've
prayed a whale of a lot of prayers he ain't never heard. And I have
too. If he hears you, If your case
comes to His attention, you are blessed. If the King takes note of you and hears you,
something's going to be done. John, I'm telling the truth. That's the reason David said,
oh, here I am in the depths of misery and sorrow and depression
Seeing out of the depths have I cried, cried, like Bartimaeus
of old, I cried, Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears pay attention to
my supplications, because if he does, he always Our Lord said
to the Father, I know you always hear me. If he hears you, I'm saying most
prayers not heard. Because if God, are you hearing
what I'm saying? If the sovereign of heaven hears
you, It's just like a mother goes over by her business and
that little four or five-year-old's around her talking. Uh-huh, that's
right, honey. You're right, honey. She's not
paying any attention to that. Just voices. Mama cut my finger. What'd you say? We got attention
now. If he hears me, you know what
I'm saying? And I tell you, we'd better get
it right. Watch how David went about this thing. Verse 1 and
2. Now, out of the depths, the lowly
position, fervently I've cried. Personally, I've cried unto thee,
O Lord. Lord, hear my voice. It's not
the words I say. It's not the pretty petitions
I bring. It's not the flowery prayer that I pray. It's not
because I'm worried. Lord, Lord, Jehovah. It becomes us to honor Him. It
becomes us, here's something I've got to say, it becomes us
to honor Him and establish at the outset the right relationship
between the sinner and God. Let's establish that at the outset. Do not think little of this.
When our Lord taught the disciples to pray, He said, when you pray,
pray, our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Not a request yet, not a petition. Thy kingdom come, thy will be
done on earth as it is in heaven. Now then, we've established this
relationship, who He is and who we are. And then we say, give
us this day our daily bread. Get it straight. Do not go into
His presence without a pause. to reflect upon to whom we come
and who we are. And that's David here, like Bartimaeus
of old, as he cries out of the depths of helplessness and hopelessness
and inability, have I cried fervently? Oh, Lord, King of kings, sovereign
son of David, hear my voice. Will you hear my voice? Will
you give attention? Will the sovereign, eternal God
attend to my voice? Now, you've got something going
on if he does. Hear my voice? Because he said
in verse 3, what's this? This psalm is just staggering with preaching. If thou, Lord,
if thou, the Most Holy One, the word here, the other word is
Jehovah, this is the Holy One. If thou, God, shouldest mark
iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? If thou, listen to me,
listen carefully, if thou, the Holy One, should in the most
strict justice call every man and woman to account for every
want of conformity to thy holiness, who shall stand? If God should mark every idle
word, and he will. If God should mark and call to
account every evil thought, and he will. If God should mark every sinful
imagination, and every selfish act and every
carnal deed, Lord, who shall stand? If God judges no man except
on the basis of his works, who can stand? If God brings into
judgment this creature with Christ, who shall stand? Dare anyone
here wait? to meet God in that dread day
on the footing of justice and equity? Do you dare? Who shall
stand? Come on now. Look at verse four. But, oh,
I love this little three-letter word. I run into it in Romans. I run into it in Ephesians. Talks
about Scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure
for a good man some would dare die. But God commended his love
for us. In Ephesians, I run into it,
it talks about how we fulfilled the lust of the flesh and the
pride of life and the lust of the eyes and followed Satan and
his power and were children of wrath even as others. But God
And this is what he's saying, O Lord, David said, O God, out
of the depths of misery and sin I crown to thee. Lord, just hear
my voice. Will you hear my voice? If, Lord, you the Holy One should
mark iniquity, who shall stand but this forgiveness with thee? Do you know something? Get this
now. These two verses contain the sum and substance of the
whole Bible. Right here, the whole Bible.
John, the whole Bible is right here in verse 3 and 4. The sinfulness
of every creature and the mercy of Almighty God. Read it, see
if it's not. Verse 3, if thou, Lord, shouldest
mark iniquities, charge iniquities, bring us to judgment on the footing
of justice and equity, who's going to stand? But there's forgiveness
with God. There's forgiveness with God.
That's the good news. There's forgiveness with God
because of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's not forgiveness with
God because we promised to do better, because we're not going
to do better. There's not forgiveness with God because we started attending
church. I hear people say, we got to
get started back to church. Don't waste your time. It's not forgiveness with God
because we joined the church, got baptized. It's forgiveness
with God because Christ loved us and gave himself for us. Read,
turn to the book of Acts chapter 13. Acts chapter 13. Listen to Paul. Acts 13. Verse 38, Be it known unto you
now, men and brethren, Acts 13, 38, that through this man, not
through your will and deeds and works and through the law, through
this man is preached to you the forgiveness, forgiveness, forgiveness
of sin. There's forgiveness with God,
and by this man all that believe are justified from all things
from which you could not be justified for the law of Moses. in whom
we have forgiveness through his blood, redemption through his
blood, the forgiveness of sin. There's forgiveness. There's
mercy with God. But God doesn't... I want to
say this like it ought to be said. God will by no means clear the
guilty. Sin will be punished. The soul
that sinneth must die. God does not arbitrarily, indifferently
forgive sin. He forgives sin on the basis
of the blood and death and sacrifice of his Son. Do you see that?
When I come to God and I say, Lord, forgive my sins, I plead
on the merits of Christ, on the basis that He took my sin and
bore my sin and paid for my sin in His body on the tree. Is that
clear what I'm saying? God has to be just and justify. He has to be a just God and a
Savior. He has to be a holy God and show
His love and mercy. That's why He gave Christ. And
God does forgive sin in Christ. See, be ye kind one to another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God for Christ's
sake forgave you. That's how he forgave you. What's this? That thou mayest
be feared. I said I was coming back to that. What does that
word mean? That thou mayest be worshipped
and revered. Revered. Do you fear God? Do you revere God? The use of His name tells me
a whole lot about what people think about God. I was turning
the television last night I forget how I got on this thing, but
some girl won $50,000. Anybody here see that when she
won 50? You see that? What did she say
at least 10 times? Do you remember? Could you read
her lips? Of course, you're not deaf like I am, Chuck. I could
read her lips. She said, my God, my God, my God, my God, my God. She just kept, well, let me know
right away. She didn't reverence God. standing there taking God's name
in vain. How people use the name of God give you an insight into
what they feel about God, that He may be feared, reverenced,
worshipped. Let me tell you this, now listen
to it. None fear the Lord like those who've seen the Lord in
His holiness. None fear the Lord like those
who've seen the Lord in His sovereignty. None fear the Lord like those
who've seen the Lord in His love. Just as none... What'd our Lord
say? Who will love Him most? The one to whom He forgave the
most. Who will reverence God the most? The one to whom He
gave the most. I'm telling you the truth. There's
forgiveness with thee, there's mercy with thee, and it's in
thy hands that thou mayest be feared. Now watch the next verse,
I'll move quickly. So, now this is the natural results when we find out who we are.
Bartimaeus knew who he was, he knew his inability, he knew his
incapability, his helplessness out of the depths. The king was
passing by, the sovereign king who could do what he will, when
he will, with whom he will. Lord, and David says this, out
of the depths have I cried unto thee, O God, O Lord, O King. Will you just hear my voice?
Will you give attention? Now, if you should mark iniquity,
I'm not pleading any merits or desert, if you should mark iniquity,
Who shall stand? But there's forgiveness with
thee. See what he's doing? But there's forgiveness with
thee that thou mayest be feared. Now he says, I'll wait. I'll
wait. I've made it known. I'll wait. I'll wait for the Lord. This
is the most blessed posture and place for the sinner, to wait
for the Lord. I'll wait. for the Lord. I don't
wait before men. I don't wait on men. I don't
wait before an altar. I wait on the Lord. I wait for
the Lord. He's the only one who can help
me. He's the only one who can cleanse me. He's the only one
who can give me life. He's the only one who can speak
peace. He's the only one who can say, Thy sins be forgiven
thee. There's no need for me to dial in your number. There's
no need in me rushing over to see what you think. I wait for
the Lord. Those who, I wait for the Lord.
Watch this next line. And in his promise do I hope. He's promised to show mercy to
some people. I have his word for that. He
said, I delight to show mercy. I delight to show mercy. So I'm
going to wait. And I'm going to hope in his
promise. I'm going to hope. Stay with me if you want some
help. Those who do not hope in his promise cannot wait. You know why they're trying to
get the job done right now? What's these soul winners? Come
on now, come on, come on, while there's time, wait, come on,
come on, step forward, take your stand for Jesus, do it now while
we wait. We'll sing one more verse. Why are they in such a
hurry? They think that the sinner's
doing it. It's in the sinner's hands. But a man who hopes in
the promise of God and hopes in the mercy of God and hopes
in the grace of God, he can wait. But a man who does not hope cannot
wait. He cannot wait. Sooner or later, God's going
to bless me. He said He would. I'm going to wait. I'm not going
to settle for a counterfeit. I'm not going to settle for a
false profession. I'm not going to settle for your word. I'm
not going to settle for anything less than His speaking peace
to my soul. I hope in the Lord that I'm willing
to wait. And that's what I want this congregation
that listens to me week after week to do. Wait. I'll tell you,
if you've got a hope in His word and a hope in His mercy, And
you boys and girls, I say the same thing to you. If you really
believe God, it's salvations of the Lord. If you believe salvations
of the Lord, you believe God's the only. Bartimaeus, there wasn't
no use him signing a card that fella at the synagogue gave him. It wouldn't help him. There wasn't
any use Bartimaeus conferring with some friend. He's got to
wait on Him to call him. And I'm going to wait. That's
what David said. I've made this thing all known.
You know it and I know it, Lord God. Out of the depths I've cried,
Lord, hear my voice. Hear the voice of my supplication.
If you mark iniquity, I can't stand. I don't have anything
to stand on. But it's forgiveness with you.
And I believe that. And you promised forgiveness.
And I'm going to wait. And I'm going to hope in your
Word. I say, he said, my soul's going to wait. My soul's going to wait. While
I go about my business and my work, my soul's waiting on God.
I wait far more than they that watch for the morning. What do
you see when somebody watches for the morning? Well, years ago,
the people who defended a city watched for the morning light.
They feared the attack at night. Me and out in the foxholes in
the war standing watch, you know, they waited for the morning,
the sun to come up, the light and the gloom. Drive away the
clouds. A mother sits by the bedside
of a little baby with a raging fever, and she just waits. Seems
like things happen at night, don't they? And she waits for
the morning. And David says, Oh, my soul waits
for God more than they that wait for the morning. I'll take no
counterfeit. I'm waiting for the morning light,
the sun to rise and drive away my darkness. Oh, I love for a friend to come
by and encourage you and speak kind words and tell you they're
glad you're around. Somebody sent me a card one time
that says it's not important how many years a man lives, it's
how many people are glad he did. Well, that helps. But I got to
wait on Him, Ron. I got a darkness that you can't
dispel. I got a sin that you can't pardon. I got a guilt that you can't
relieve. I got a record that you can't
blot out. I got a lameness that you can't
heal and a blindness that you can't drive away. I got an old
stony heart that needs to be replaced and ain't nobody can
do that. I got to wait for the one who can. And I'm gonna wait. I'm gonna wait. More than those
that wait for the morning light, I'm gonna wait. Roger, I'm gonna
wait. He can do it. And what they're doing today,
they're settling for counterfeit. They're getting up and running
down the aisle, man, shaking the preacher's hand. He said,
praise God you're saved. No, you're not. You're saved
when God saves you. You're saved when the sun rises
with healing in His wings. That's when you're saved. That's
when you're saved. Somebody has a little quarrel
with their husband or wife and they run and join the church
and get baptized. Somebody gets sick, goes to the
hospital, and the doctor said, you might die. Send for the preacher!
He can't help you. That's not the time to send for
the preacher. That is not the time. That's the time to send for the
Lord. I'll wait for you. What'd he say? Let Israel hope
in the Lord. Thank God. With Him, there's
mercy. Now, that's what I need. I need
mercy. I don't need cooperation. I don't
need a little help. I don't need a little pity. I
need a whole lot of mercy. Mercy. That's what guilty people
plead for, mercy. Guilty people cast themselves
on the mercy of the court. I'm not even going to hire a
lawyer because I'm guilty. I'm just going to plead for mercy.
And you know what he says here? He says, with Him there's mercy
and there's plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty of redemption. Plenty! You sure there's enough
grace to go around? Oh my, there's plenty. Is there mercy, depth of mercy?
Can there be mercy still reserved for me? Reserved? There's plenty! The throne of God is abundantly
full of mercy. Just flows like a river, an unceasing
river. I'll tell you, it's plenteous
because of who redeemed us. The redemption's plenteous because
of the price he paid. It's paid. What a price is paid,
God satisfied. It's plenteous because of where
he is now. And watch verse 8, and he shall,
he shall, I love the shalls of God's Word, he shall redeem Israel. Who's Israel there? Not that
bunch of renegades in Palestine. This Israel is the Israel of
God, and don't let these prophetical preachers get you all stirred
up. God's blessings and mercies are not on that little place
over yonder. God's blessings and mercies are in Christ, and
that seed is Christ, and he's the son of Abraham who's a believer. I'm Israel. You're looking at
a full-fledged Jew right now. You ever heard of a Scotch-Irish
Jew? You're looking at one. I'm Israel. We are Israel who
rejoice in Christ Jesus, have no confidence in the flesh, and
worship God in the Spirit. We're Israel, and all Israel
shall be saved. That's what he says. He'll redeem
Israel from all their iniquities. Let me share this hymn. Our Savior is the God of hope. He works it by His power. Hope
will hold the weak believer up even in the most distressing
hour. True hope looks up for blessings
great and though sometimes they are delayed, yet hope is still
determined to wait until by God they are conveyed. Hmm? You willing
to wait? Hope long will wait, he that
hopeth will wait, and wait, and wait again, and never give up,
until the blessed Lamb, who once was slain, appears to crown my
hope." Is that alright? You say, preacher, you can't
do that. You can't just preach to people
and say, go home and seek the Lord. Why can't I do that? Well, nobody
will ever be saved. What? I thought salvation was of the
Lord. I thought God saved people. I thought God spoke peace to
men's hearts. I thought a sinner did business with God, not with
men. I know that's true. And I'm willing to shut men up
to Christ. I'm willing to say to even our
youngest people here, seek the Lord, call upon Him while He's
near, and wait on Him. And He'll speak peace to your
heart in His own time. And all the peace that anybody
else gives you along the way will not last. I promise you
it won't last. And all this positive mental
attitude and it's fun being saved and whoop up the enthusiasm and
all this sort of thing, it'll die and diminish when the atmosphere
disappears. When you get out there in the
world and have to fight to earn your living and pay your bills
and raise your children, they break your hearts and all these
things. If I give you a peace, it won't last. But if God is
with you, He's with you in trouble and sorrow and darkness and light
and happiness and whenever, and He's your peace. He's your peace. Now that's right, Mike. And there's
not a lot of folks that believe it, but it's still right. I open
His Word and I wait for the Lord. I wait for the Lord, because
with the Lord there's mercy, plenteous redemption, and He's
going to save Israel.