O Lord, I Have Waited For Thee: Psalm 130

O Lord, I Have Waited For Thee

Psalm 130

There is nothing little in God; his mercy is like himself, it is infinite. You cannot measure it.

Charles Spurgeon

The depths. The valley. The wilderness. Darkness. These metaphors for trouble and affliction have become familiar as I have journeyed through the psalms. It seems we can only make it a psalm or two before the psalmist is again in a troubling circumstance or his spirit is disturbed within him. But that is so much like life. Rare would be the life untouched by frequent disturbances. Some of our difficulties are even the result of our own sinfulness, and so the pain can feel like a double-edged sword. Pain from the suffering, and pain from the regret. Psalm 130 is one of the penitential psalms, where the psalmist, deeply aware of his sin and its consequences, cries to the Lord for mercy and forgiveness.

He begins the psalm with, “Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!” These depths can often refer to waters and seas and represent chaos. Chaos: a state of utter confusion. What a fitting description. Suffering can feel very chaotic. At times, we won’t know what to do or what to say, how to fix it, or if we should release our expectations, cease fighting, and surrender every aspect to the Lord. What “depths” are you in right now? What failures, regrets, sorrows, and afflictions weigh heavily on you today? The psalmist, even aware that his suffering is a result of his own sin, turns to the Lord.

Spurgeon said, “I have found Christ ten thousand times more kind than I thought.” The psalmist in his desperation turns to his Lord whom he knows has and will steadfastly love him (130:7). Though the psalmist has been unfaithful and has not conducted himself in a manner worthy of his Lord, yet he knows his God is full of mercy, forgiveness, and abundant redemption (130:4,7). “As the air surrounds you, even so does the mercy of your Lord.” And knowing his God, the psalmist, while still in the depths, cries, “hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy!” He’s calling God to be responsive. He’s calling God to evidence His care for His child by hearing his prayers. The psalmist directs his prayer to God because he’s confident His does hear him. In Christ we always have an audience with God. In Christ, we may always draw near with confidence. Whatever depths we cry from, whatever depths of mercy we seek, the sound of our pleas for mercy will reach our Father’s ear.

Confident that the Lord forgives, the psalmist settles his soul to wait for the Lord. He repeats it several times, perhaps truly committing himself to wait in hope on the Lord and in His Word (130:5-7). There is a confident, eager expectation in the psalmist that he will receive a response from the Lord. His God will hear. His God will act. His God will redeem his life (130:8). He says that he waits for God “more than the watchmen for the morning” (130:6). In ancient times, “in time of hostility, the dangers of the night were especially feared and the watchmen eagerly looked forward to the break of day.” Do you see the parallel the psalmist is using? Like the watchmen eagerly searched the horizon for the first break of the new day, so the psalmist was looking for the answer to his prayers with eager, expectant anticipation. For the watchmen, day always came. There has never been a day in the history of the entire creation when the earth did not rotate and the sun did not come up on the horizon. The watchmen were not waiting in vain. “Night may seem endless, but morning is certain and it’s time determined” (Kidner). Neither was the psalmist waiting in vain, and neither are we. “Delayed answers to prayer are not only trials of faith, but they give us opportunities of honoring God by our steadfast confidence in Him under apparent repulses” (Spurgeon). While we wait, we can honor God by continuing to trust, continuing to hope, continuing to cry out to Him.

The psalmist ends by encouraging all of Israel to hope in the Lord (130:7). Hope is to desire with expectation of obtainment or fulfillment; to expect with confidence. As believers, our hope is not in vain. Relief from troubles of this world will be ours. God may choose to relieve our afflictions here or in eternity. If you are suffering painful consequences because of your sinfulness, look to the plentiful redemption we have in Christ. “His redemption is so great that he can even forgive his people from all their sins and free them from whatever adversities they suffer as a result of their sins” (VanGemeren). Perhaps your suffering is not a direct result of your own sin. This psalm is still for you. You, too, can cry out to God from your depths for His mercy. The Scriptures say that while we are in this body, we will groan. Suffering increases the groaning of this life. “We ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:23). And this is our hope, the redemption of our body. We will lay aside our earthly tent, this natural body, which perishes and suffers the effects of the curse. And we will be clothed with a spiritual, heavenly body which will be immortal and imperishable. We will finally be free from all things associated with depths, valleys, wilderness, and death. So let us wait eagerly with perseverance (Romans 8:25).

Let’s pray through Psalm 130 that we would wait in confident expectation for mercy and redemption.

130:1-2 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord! O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy!

Let’s pray:

▫️What defines your “depths” right now? What dark valley, wilderness road, sorrow, or suffering are you experiencing? From these specific depths, cry out to the Lord to be attentive to your pleas for mercy.

▫️In Christ, we may draw near with confidence, and it pleases the Lord to come to Him in faith (Hebrews 4:16; 11:6). Even when we have sinned, we come to Him, not in our own righteousness, but in Christ’s. We will never be turned away.

130:3-4 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.

Let’s pray:

▫️Confess sin and rejoice in the forgiveness we have in Christ. Hear the surety of Psalm 130:4, “But with you there IS forgiveness” (emphasis mine).

▫️Even if we are suffering consequences for our sin, the payment and guilt of our sin has been met in Christ in His crucifixion. Let the knowledge that your payment for sin has been satisfied deepen your reverence and awe of God.

130:5-6 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.

Let’s pray:

▫️What are you waiting for? Pour that out before the Lord, as well as acknowledging His wisdom and His timing as perfect for your life.

▫️The watchmen did not wait in vain. Ask the Lord to give you assurance that you have been heard and that you will obtain the hope waiting for you.

130:7-8 O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

Let’s pray:

▫️Rest in the steadfast love and abundant redemption of the Lord. Those are powerful adjectives: steadfast and abundant. Present your requests, fears, and hopes to the Lord based on His steadfast love and abundant redemption.

▫️God will redeem us from all our iniquities. We do groan, but not without hope. The redemption of our body is coming. What are you anticipating most about our eternal home? Praise God for that gift of sure hope.

May the Lord do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, for His glory and our good. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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