Out of the Depths!

Sunday, May 18, 2025

“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” (Psalm 130:1,2 KJV).

The Psalmist has cried out, and the LORD will hear!

Psalm 130 is known as the “Out of the Depths” Psalm. The Psalmist feels extreme pain in upsetting circumstances. He thus wails in prayer: “[A 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” (today’s Scripture).

In verses 3 and 4, he keeps praying: “If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.” If the LORD took time to pay close attention to and point out “iniquities” (injustices, evils, sins, crookedness), He would strike everyone down. No one would be left to continue! Thankfully, however, with Him, there is “forgiveness” (pardon, a sending away of the sin debt). He should therefore be feared—respected, honored, reverenced.

By the time of verses 5 and 6, the Psalmist reveals his optimism, the grounds that the LORD will hear his prayer: “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.” He is a man of faith, expecting the LORD to keep His word, just as in Psalm 119:81: “My soul fainteth for thy salvation: but I hope in thy word.” Waiting for the Lord here is like someone eagerly anticipating sunrise after suffering a long, unpleasant night.

The Psalmist exhorts Israel to follow his pattern in the final two verses, verses 7 and 8: “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.” As in Psalm 131:3, Israel should put their hope in the LORD, where are “mercy” (pity, compassion, lovingkindness) and “plenteous redemption” (abundant buying back from sin). The LORD will redeem Israel from all iniquities at Christ’s Second Coming and the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Acts 3:19-21; Romans 11:25-27), to which the Psalmist ultimately looks.