Prayer:

Holy Father, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, how rich and deep is your holy Word.

Even this Psalm is so instructive and valuable to us. Open up its truth to us today through

the ministry of your Holy Spirit. We pray in Jesus’ precious name. Amen. (End of Prayer)

“Waiting” is a part of the universal human experience. Through different stages of our

lives we wait for many things:

-When we’re young we can’t wait to get older.

-Many of us when we’re young adults can’t wait to get married.

-Many of us when we’re middle aged can’t wait to have grandchildren.

-Some of us when we get older can’t wait to retire so we can spend time doing what we

want.

Sometimes people are just waiting for supper to get done so they can eat!

I remember after anticipating his arrival for several weeks, waiting at the international

gate at the DFW airport for my friend, brother Zuala, to arrive from India, who I hadn’t

seen in many years. I strained my eyes trying to catch a glimpse of him amid the

disembarking passengers. Finally, after 20 or 30 minutes, there he was – oh, happy

reunion!

But there is a more serious waiting in life and Psalm 130 zeroes in on the most crucial

waiting we can ever do. The person who has experienced this waiting has experienced

the most important waiting experience a human can have. It is an experience of waiting

that we must have if we are to know God and have eternal life.

What am I talking about? It is a waiting on God to save us from our sins. Have you

waited on God to save you from your sins? Have you sought God for the forgiveness of

your sins? I know that most of you here today have, by the grace of God and work of

the Holy Spirit, done that.

The Psalmist here, the author, the writer of this Psalm, (and it is not told us who he is),

is pleading with God, he is waiting on God to forgive his sins.

We can wait on God to heal us of a bodily sickness, but if our sins haven’t been

forgiven, what good is that?

We can wait on God to rescue us from a distressing financial problem, but if he doesn’t

rescue us from our sins, we have a greater loss than just financial. We lose our souls.

Let’s look at the experience of the Psalmist here and see what we can learn for our own

lives.

I see three key ideas put forth in this Psalm:

Sermon Outline

I. The Distress of the Psalmist v. 1-3

II. The Relief of the Psalmist v. 4-6

III. The Certain Hope of God’s People v. 7-8

I. The Distress of the Psalmist v. 1-3

Just like waiting, distress is part of the universal human experience. When we face

difficult, overwhelming situations, we are often in distress. When we read the Psalms,

we see that the writers were often in distress – sometimes because of evil enemies who

were attacking them.

In the book of Jonah, we read about Jonah’s great distress after the sailors threw him

overboard and he was swallowed by the great fish: [see the Worship Guide]

“I called out to the LORD, out of my distress,

and he answered me;

out of the belly of Sheol I cried,

and you heard my voice. 2:2

Notice here that Jonah did something entirely right; he acted as a man who had faith in

God. He called upon Yahweh to deliver him. And the wonderful thing is that Yahweh

heard him and caused the great fish to spit him out on the beach.

But there is more going on here than just physical deliverance. Look at verse 4:

4 Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.’

What was his ultimate goal? It was to return to the temple in Jerusalem and worship

Yahweh there! Look at verse 9:

9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay.

Salvation belongs to the LORD.

What I believe Jonah is saying here is that he wanted to return to the temple and offer

sacrifices. Sacrifices for what? For the forgiveness of his sins. We know that he was

guilty of one sin. Yahweh had told him to go to Ninevah and preach repentance to

the population but instead he hopped on a boat headed the opposite direction.

Jonah was not alone. All of us have disobeyed God. Romans 3:10-12 says:

10 as it is written:

“None is righteous, no, not one;

11 no one understands;

no one seeks for God.

12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;

no one does good,

not even one.”

What was Jonah’s only hope for the forgiveness of his sins? It was that Yahweh would

accept the sacrifice of animals as a substitute for the sin of his rebellion. This indeed

was the way at that time in redemptive history the people of God found forgiveness and

cleansing and restoration. The true and complete washing of their sins, however, would

await Christ’s sacrifice and the cross.

The Psalmist in Psalm 130 was also in distress. He was crying out to Yahweh. He was

asking God to hear him; he was pleading for mercy.

What was he in distress about? He doesn’t mention wicked enemies who were

attacking him, he doesn’t mention an overwhelming health problem, but he says in v. 3,

3 If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities,

O Lord, who could stand?

This Psalmist knew the nature and being and attributes of Yahweh. He knew God was

high and holy and was too pure to look upon sin. His majesty was high above the earth.

His justice and righteousness were without compromise.

Yet we people are not like him. We have been born with a sinful nature. Sin is natural

for us, easy for us. And no person is without pervading sin in their lives. Our sin may not

be obvious to other humans, but God sees how far we fall short of his glory. Who of us

is able to love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength? Who among gives God

glory with every thought, word, attitude, and action?

The chief feature of sin is that it is directed against God. As David says in Psalm 51:4,

“Against you, you only, have I sinned

and done what is evil in your sight.”

The OT uses several different terms to describe sin in its various aspects. These terms

include the ideas of failing, of missing the mark as if you were shooting an arrow at a

target. Other words include the ideas of wickedness or perversion, transgression,

rebellion, trespass, negligence, and rebellion. The particular word that the Psalmist uses

here is “iniquity.”

“In the Bible, iniquity means a deep moral corruption, willful disobedience, or

crookedness against God's will, often involving a premeditated and continuing pattern of

wickedness rather than a single mistake. The Hebrew word avon, translated as

‘iniquity,’ carries connotations of being bent, crooked, or perverse. It signifies a heart

hardened against God and can encompass acts of injustice, a sinful lifestyle, and a

state of depravity.”

“While sin is a general term for wrongdoing, iniquity carries a deeper meaning. It refers

to moral corruption, willful disobedience, and a heart hardened against God.

Understanding iniquity helps us see the seriousness of sin and God's amazing grace.”

(these 2 paragraphs are AI’s description of iniquity.)

The Psalmist uses this word twice in Psalm 130, in v. 3 and v. 8. He uses what may be

the most descriptive word for sin in the Hebrew vocabulary, the word which captures the

wickedness, the ugliness, the rebellious heart against God. The psalmist is saying, “Oh

Yahweh, I am guilty of the worst kind of sin. Have mercy on me. I deserve your wrath. I

am altogether guilty. I am undone before you, the holy God.”

So when God looks on us, who can stand before him? The Psalmist was well aware of

this and he was well aware of his iniquities. He could say with David in Psalm 51:3-4:

For I know my transgressions,

and my sin is ever before me.

4 Against you, you only, have I sinned

and done what is evil in your sight,

So this the distress of the Psalmist is laid out here: he was distressed over his iniquity,

his sin. To be distressed over our iniquity is not a bad thing, it is a good thing, a healthy

thing. Just like our physical bodies- when we have a sickness, we need to look for a

cure.

But the Psalmist is not left in despair. In v. 4-6 we see…

II. The Relief of the Psalmist v. 4-6

Verse 4 begins with one of those important words in scripture that show contrast, that

show hope, that show the entrance of God on the scene. It is the word “but.”

In other words, here is the psalmist in distress over the greatness of his iniquity, his sin,

and he knows how serious it is, and he knows God sees it and knows all about it, but he

also knows something else about God. He knows he is a God of mercy and grace and

compassion and forgiveness. This is the character of God. This is how he reveals

himself in the OT and NT. This is the only hope of humanity – that God, who is holy and

pure and high above man is also compassionate and understanding and aware of

human frailty and weakness. God is faithful in his steadfast love to those whom he has

chosen out of the human race and committed himself to, to stand by them, to forgive

them of their sins, and to clothe them in the very righteousness of Jesus Christ.

There is this quality, this attribute, this characteristic of God - though he is a perfect

being in every way, yet he has mercy on sinners to grant them forgiveness of their sins.

Why does he do this? Because he is a God of love and compassion and restoration. He

wants to take lost sinners and renew and revitalize their lives and make them new

people by the mighty working of his Spirit within them. He wants to radically change

them so that instead of reflecting the evil of Satan in their lives, they reflect the person

of the Lord Jesus Christ as they grow in him.

God is in the restoration business. He wants to bring a people out of the world into his

own kingdom so that they can see his glory and worship him and he can have

fellowship with them. God is a God of love and he wants to share that love with a people

that can be his own people.

He says in v. 4,

4 But with you there is forgiveness,

that you may be feared.

This is so instructive. We may have expected him to write, “…with you there is

forgiveness that you may be loved. But no, he says “so that you may be feared.”

Why would God’s forgiveness of sins cause us to fear him? I think it’s because of the

great offense of our iniquity, and its awful consequence: it will send us to hell forever –

that to come before such a God, who is so offended and repelled by our sin, yet is so

gracious to forgive us through the sacrifice of his Son, helps us see something of his

tender mercy that engenders within us holy awe and reverence and fear. Who is a God

like this that can do this? “We know not one; we know not any other one.”

Let us then praise him and serve him in gratitude all the days of our lives. He is a

merciful God and without injustice. To him be glory in the heavens and on earth now

and forever! Amen!

You see, there is key here to the Psalmist’s relief. Look what it says in verse 5,

5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,

and in his word I hope;

His waiting on the Lord is not just some groping in the dark, not just trying to reach

around and grab ahold of God somewhere, like reaching up and grabbing a passing

cloud and pulling it down to my level, but this waiting on Yahweh has an anchor, it has a

rock to stand on – it is the Word of God. He says “in his word I hope.”

My friends, the written Word of God is our hope in this life. The scriptures were given by

the inspiration of Spirit of God and are the true Word and Standard of the living God, the

divine authority for all truth about God and what he wants us to believe and how he

wants us to live.

The Psalmist says here, “and in his word I hope.” When the Bible uses the word “hope”

it does not communicate the meaning of just wishful thinking, like “I hope it doesn’t rain

tomorrow,” but it expresses a confidence that God will keep his Word and promises and

fulfills them. It is a holy confidence in God and his promises.

What Word was the Psalmist hoping in? There may have been many in the OT

Scriptures such as Isa. 1:18

“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:

though your sins are like scarlet,

they shall be as white as snow;

though they are red like crimson,

they shall become like wool.

Or in Isaiah 53:

But he was pierced for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his wounds we are healed. Isa. 53:5

The Psalmist hope, his confidence, his trust was in the Word of God. He trusted, I would

think, all the way back to Gen. 3:15, where God told Satan regarding the coming

Messiah, “he shall bruise your head,

and you shall bruise his heel.

What we see in v. 6 is the longing of the psalmist:

6 my soul waits for the Lord

more than watchmen for the morning…

A man who has been on guard duty during the night is longing for the light of dawn so

he can go home and sleep. He has struggled all night to stay awake. I understand

because once I had a job as a night watchman at a large automobile delivery lot here in

Dallas. As I longed for 7:00 am to come, I thought about this psalm and understood the

feeling.

But the Psalmist here is longing for the Lord himself to come, to come with his plentiful

redemption. We see in the last section of this Psalm,

III. The Certain Hope of God’s People v. 7-8

Verse 7 begins,

7 O Israel, hope in the LORD!

Notice what the Psalmist is doing. He has turned beyond his own sin and hope of

forgiveness in God to his people, to the nation. He is going outside himself. He is a part

of something bigger than himself. He is in union not only with the living God but with

God’s people.

This should always be our stance in the Christian life. God has called us out of the

world, not only to himself, but to be a part of his body, to be a member of his body.

He exhorts his fellow Israelites, “O Israel, hope in the LORD!” We should say to one

another, “Brother, sister, church of the living God, hope in Yahweh!” Why should we

hope in him? Because as the rest of verse 7 says,

For with the LORD there is steadfast love,

and with him is plentiful redemption.

What is the one quality, the one attribute of God that the psalmist is pointing to here? It

is Yahweh’s steadfast love. It is not fickle love, it is not fluctuating love, it is not

undependable love, but steadfast, sure and certain and dependable.

The mountains may crumble and fall into the sea, the national economy may collapse,

earthquakes and floods may come, but whatever happens Yahweh’s love is steadfast

and with him is “plentiful redemption.”

Just like his love is steadfast and faithful, so his redemption is plentiful. It is not stingy.

James Boice in his Commentary on Psalm 130 says this about God’s forgiveness:

“You do not have to hope that somehow you might have forgiveness at the last day, at

the final judgment, but need to stand in trembling uncertainty until then. You do not have

to work for it or earn it; you could never earn it anyway. There is forgiveness now, at this

very moment, and it is for you; whoever you may be, wherever you are, or whatever you

have done. At this very moment you can pass from death to life and know that your sins

have been forgiven forever.” p. 1140, Psalms, Vol. 3

What is the Psalmist’s great confidence here, what is his confession of faith? It is this,

that Yahweh “will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.” That is, Yahweh will save his

people from all their sins, even from their iniquities, from their worst sins.

Now the word “redeem” here in verse 8 is not insignificant. It carries the idea of a price

paid to set someone free from bondage. In the OT sacrificial system given by God

through Yahweh, it was animals – lambs and goats and bulls that were sacrificed. They

were killed and their blood stood in the place of the individual people and their sins.

All this was a temporary provision for their sin. It was only the blood of the Son of God,

Jesus Christ our Lord, that had the real power to remove and wash away and pay the

price for human sin. Animal blood is not sufficient, it must be the blood of another

human. And the blood of Jesus Christ was the blood of the God-man so it had the

power to wash away the sin of a multitude of people from all ages, those who God

called to himself through the Gospel.

Heb. 9:28 -

so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time,

not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Notice that the writer to the Hebrews describes exactly why we, the people of God, are

waiting on Jesus’ return, so that he will save us, that is, complete our salvation, by

raising us from the dead.

2 Pet. 3:13-15 - But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a

new earth in which righteousness dwells.

14 Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by

him without spot or blemish, and at peace. 15 And count the patience of our Lord

as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the

wisdom given him,

Rev. 22:20 -

20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming

soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

There are many things we need and want that we may wait for and pray for in life. But

there is one thing, the most needful thing, that we wait for and our hope will most

certainly be fulfilled – and that is the return of Jesus to complete our salvation, to clothe

us with immortal, glorious bodies like unto his glorious bodies.

This is the promise of God’s Word, It will not fail. Christ will return and redeem us, his

church from all our iniquities.

Our hope is in the Lord and in his Word. As we look to him and wait on him, the

promises of God will be fulfilled and come to completion. It is certain. Rest in that and

rejoice in that.

For with Yahweh there is steadfast love,

and with him is plentiful redemption.

Prayer:

Lord God, our heavenly Father, great is your redemption, great is your salvation, great

is the person and work of your Son Jesus Christ who makes all this possible. Thank you

for the solid rock of your Word and the great redemptive acts of our Lord and Savior, his

death, resurrection and ascension and his sure return. We rest and rejoice in you

today. Amen.