Psalms 130

Psalms 130:1-3

This psalm relates not to any temporal concern, either personal or public, but it is wholly taken up in the affairs of the soul. The Psalms here expresseth, 1. His desire towards God, ver. 1, 2. 2. His repentance before God, ver. 3, 4. 3. His attendance upon God, ver. 5, 6. 4. His expectations from God, ver. 7, 8. And as in water fair answers to fact, so doth the heart of one humble penitent to another.

¶ A song of degrees.

OUT of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD. 2. Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. 3. If thou, LORD, shouldst mark iniquities: O LORD, who shall stand? 4. But there is thy forgiveness with thee: that thou mayst be feared. 5. I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. 6. My soul waiteth for the LORD, more than they that watch for the morning: I say more than they that watch for the morning. 7. Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. 8. And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

9. 1—8. This is reckoned among the seven penitential psalms, and indeed it is a most expressive description of the humbled sinner’s return to God: deep lastes with iniquity, his complaints are bitter. Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord; an awakened sinner, brought to a kicks of his guilt, feels such a load upon his conscience, as seems to press him down into the belly of hell. He is sunk under the floods of corruption; and but a step from despair, perishing he cries, Save Lord! hear my voice, let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications; as long as a sinner is out of hell, the door of hope is yet open, and the voice of prayer may be heard: it is never too late; if God stirs up our souls to cry importunately after him, it is because he intends to be found by us in mercy; but it must only be hoped for in a way of mercy, and with self-resuscitation, and deepest confessions of our own vileness. If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities: O Lord, who shall stand? not that our most secret thoughts pass unobserved by him; no, he sees them afar off: and should he in strict justice call us to his bar, we cannot answer him for one of a thousand of our days; we must lay our hands on our mouths, and our mouths in the dust, plead utterly guilty, justify him in his judgments, and can only cast our souls on the mercy of our judge. Thus desperate is the case of every sinner, and there is no difference; we are all in the same condemnation, unable either to bear the scrutiny of his law, or to endure the dreadful sentence of his judgment. But there is forgiveness with thee, God hath himself contrived and accomplished that mysterious method of saving sinners, in which, without impeachment of his justice, he might, to the uttermost, exercise his mercy: through the propitiation of Jesus, a ransom is found, and for his false God will be merciful to our unrighteousness: that thou mayst be feared; nothing fleets the heart against God like despair; men then rush into sin with determined warranties, as the horse raftseth into the battle; but a sense of his forgiving love engages the heart to fear the Lord and his goodness, and bids us never again wilfully transgress against a God so gracious. I wait for the Lord at mercy’s door, unworthy of notice, yet hoping for his kind regard; my soul doth wait, not with feigned professions, but with heart-felt desires, and in his word do I hope; emboldened by his promises, even when I can see nothing in myself, but what preaches despair. My soul waiteth for the Lord, more than they that watch for the morning, I say more than they that watch for the morning: as the Levites in the temple, who, with steeples eyes, had stood at their several posts, longed for the morning to break, that they might be relieved; so eagerly did his soul long for the beams of God’s reconciled countenance to arise upon him, and his sad distress to be removed, by a sense of pardoning love; nor was ever soul, who thus trusted in him, and waited on him, confounded. Let Israel hope in the Lord, the Israel of God, to the end of time, under all their guilt, fears, falls, backfishing, and dejection: for with the Lord there is mercy for every miserable sinner that through Jesus Christ draws near a throne of grace; and with him there is plenteous redemption, grace abounding to the chief of sinners, for millions of the fallen race of Adam, comprehending the removal of every misery, and including the gift of all conceivable blessedness; yea, more than eye hath been, or ear heard, or it hath entered into the heart of man to conceive. And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities, from the guilt, the power, the consequences of them, present and eternal. Lord, may my soul be found among thy Israel, and partake of this rich, sovereign, plenteous, eternal redemption!

8 R PSALM

This psalm is David’s profession of humility; but humbly made with thanksfulness to God for his grace, and not in vain-glory. It is probable enough, that David made this profession in answer to the submonite of Saul and his courtesy, who represented David as an ambitious, aspiring man, who under pressure of a divine appointment, fought the kingdom in the pride of his heart. But he appeals to God, that on the contrary, 1. He aimed at nothing high or great, ver. 1. 2. He was very easy in every condition which God allotted him, ver. 2. and therefore, 3. He encouraged all good people to trust in God as he did, ver. 3. Some have made it an objection against singing David’s psalms, that there are many side cannot say, There hears it not haughty, &c. It is true there are; but we may sing it for the same purpose that we read it, to teach and admonish ourselves, and one another, made we ought to be; with repentance that we have come short of being so, and humble prayer to God for his grace to make us so.

1. LORD, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I + exercise myself in great matters, or in things too? high for me. 2. Surely I have behaved and quieted myself * as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child. 3. Let Israel hope in the LORD from henceforth, and for ever.

We have here,

1. David’s profession of his integrity. Lord, my heart is not haughty; naturally it is so in every man, but by Divine grace he had been brought to entertain humble apprehensions of himself, since a discovery of his sin, helplessness, and corruption had, by the word and spirit of God, been made to him; nor mine eyes lofty, superciliously looking down upon inferiors with disdain, or looking up to superiors with envy: he bowed before God, as the publican, in deep humility; and far from aspiring thoughts, could have been content, if God so pleased, to have continued among the sheep-folds: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me; no ambitious projects filled his mind, nor did he affect to be wide above what is written, desiring to pry into the secrets of providence and grace, which are too deep for our shallow line to fathom. Surely I have behaved and quieted myself as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child; so far from proudly assuming state, or being of a turbulent spirit, he had at Saul’s court ever shewed the greatest meekness, and harmless behaviour, and no more fought the honours, wealth, and greatness of the world, than a child the breath from which it hath been weaned. Note, (1.) Humility is the great ornament of every station. (2.) Proud looks shew a proud heart. (3.) To wade out of our depth, either in religion or learning, is dangerous. It is wisdom enough to know the way to heaven, without intruding into the arcana of God’s counsels. (4.) A child-like spirit is the best symptom of a gracious heart.

2. He encourages others from his example to trust in the Lord. Let Israel hope in the Lord from henceforth, and for ever. The people many of them might be impatient of Saul’s government, and eager to see him on the throne; but he exhorts them to leave the matter to God, who in his own time would fulfil all his designs. Note, They who hope in Jesus, and wait for his salvation, may confidently expect to partake of it, not only in time but in eternity.