By Pr Isaiah White
“Out of the depths, I have cried to You, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with you, that you may be feared. I wait for the Lord; my soul waits; and in His Word, I do hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning—yes, more than those who watch for the morning. O Israel, hope in the Lord; for with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is abundant redemption. And He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities” (Psalm 130:1–8).
It is the end of the year, and, normally, it is within this season that we celebrate the birth of the Saviour. The psalter in this Psalm resonates with our situation when he sings and prays.
Out of the depth
The worshipper in this Psalm starts with where he is. He is in the depth, which is the depth of iniquities (Verses 1–3).
This is always the official introduction to every human being on Earth.
We have always been in the depths of sin, sinning, and the disasters that are born out of it. The Bible says whoever says they have no sin is a liar, and the truth is not in us (1 John 1:8).
This Psalm reminds us all of not just who we are, but where we are; we are in the depths of iniquities. In his book, “Charles Spurgeon: An Autobiography,” C. H. Spurgeon writes: “Too many think lightly of sin, and, therefore, think lightly of the Savior.”
We all might view sin so flippantly that we would not have understood what the psalmist meant in verse four: “But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared.”
Most of us have never felt that we were in the depths of guilt, so we might not fear God when He forgives our sins.
The lesson is that, whether at the point of conversion or afterwards, those who have truly come to know the Holy One also know something of the depths of their sin and guilt.
Isaiah, the prophet, was surely a godly man before he had his vision of the Lord. But instantly, when he saw God on His throne, with the seraphim crying out: “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts,” (Isaiah 6:5), Isaiah said: “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” At that moment, Isaiah was in the depths!
Hope of the Redeemer
The psalmist acknowledged that whatever problems he had, were deserved because he was a sinner. This should be the Christian attitude at all times.
He also realised that whatever problems he faced, though they were deserved, were attended to by God’s mercy.
He had experienced God’s pardon, which had driven him to fear Him and pursue holiness. That in turn drove him to a passion to continually wait on the Lord.
The sinful self that the psalter discusses in the first half has no alternatives. There is no other remedy to his sin problem; only God can help.
A sinner like myself hopes in a merciful God for their redemption.
First of all, our hope is in God’s Word. Look at verse five: “I wait for the Lord; my soul waits; and in his word, I put my hope” (Psalm 130:5).
We are not just waiting for help. We are waiting for the Lord Himself, and our hope is based on God’s Word.
This is what we celebrate and, at the same time, make intimate with the whole world every Christmas. Those who wait on the Lord, wait in hope. Life is full of waiting, but God will never disappoint you.
Psalm 130 tells us that God will do it Himself! We could not redeem ourselves, and no other human could do it for us.
So, God took it upon Himself to redeem His people from all their sins.
God sent His own Son into the world to die for us so that we might be redeemed.
Even Jesus’ very name proclaims this precious truth. When Mary was pregnant with Jesus, God’s angel told Joseph:
“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
The writer is a
life coach and pastor.
Contact: +256 775 822 833
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