Out of the depths

Now, please open your Bibles with me to Psalm 130 on page 624.

! We're going to read the whole psalm.

! Psalm 130.

Out of the depths, I cry to you, Lord.

Lord, hear my voice.

Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.

If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand?

But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can with reverence serve you.

I wait for the Lord.

My whole being waits.

And in his word, I put my hope.

I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.

Israel, put your hope in the Lord.

For with the Lord is unfailing love, and with him is full redemption.

He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.

Amen.

This is God's word.

And you will have heard that powerful image.

We sang it in Psalm 140.

It begins here again.

It's the image, perhaps, of a person who has lost its sea,

and they feel like they're drowning.

Or they've fallen into quicksand.

And they're kicking and they're scrabbling, but it's only making things worse.

Or perhaps, think of someone who's fallen down a mine,

or some kind of deep pit,

and there's no way back up.

The image is vivid.

Somebody who's utterly hopeless and helpless.

With a sensation of going under.

Trapped.

Cannot get their footing.

Cannot find stability or security.

It's a powerful image, I think, many of us,

and many people in our world could identify with.

In our Psalm, we discover that for this songwriter,

the cause of his distress is that sense of guilt for sin.

He knows God is holy and he is impure.

That God is just and he deserves judgment.

And maybe some of us, we think about that image of being in the depths

and we relate to the Psalms' experience directly.

John Wesley.

Some of you have heard of John Wesley.

He was a famous preacher in the 18th century.

On May the 24th, 1738, he wasn't a Christian.

He visited St. Paul's Cathedral.

And the choir was singing Psalm 130, Lord from the depths.

And for John Wesley, in that moment, he said,

it mirrored his spiritual distress.

And that evening, he went to another church

and became a Christian listening to an introduction

to the book of Romans.

And I wish reminded him of God's grace for guilty sinners.

So that may be our relation to this image.

But the image, of course, works far more broadly.

That somebody can have absolutely no sense of guilt,

but can still feel a sense of total despair.

It could be that our circumstances,

it create that sensation that we are trapped

or we are drowning.

It may be that we are facing a particular challenge,

a particular kind of suffering.

Or maybe for many, that sense of feeling so hopeless

and in the depths is just because we feel ashamed.

Because we think there is a standard

that we should be reaching.

There are things that we should have achieved by now,

and we simply haven't.

It's not matching up to the world's standards

or even our own.

This is an image, I think,

that's big enough for all of our circumstances.

There's a Christian writer who was sharing

that when his mother-in-law was going through

an aggressive cancer treatment,

both his mother-in-law and himself,

they turned to Psalm 130 day after day

to find hope and comfort.

It's a wonderful psalm

because it's so honest and it's so hopeful.

The image of being in the depths

is broad enough for all of us to relate to.

And the message of hope in Psalm 130

is good news that we can all cling to.

Because we find even within the psalm

this steady climb towards assurance.

We go from the depths of despair

to hope and rejoicing in God's redemption.

The psalmist personally comes to discover

God's grace and goodness in his own life,

and by the end,

he's confidently inviting all Israel,

all the people of God,

into that experience.

So we're going to look at our psalm together,

and we're going to use that image

to frame our psalm.

So we begin in verses 1 and 2

in the depths that we find ourselves in.

Then verse 3 and 4 and verse 7 to 8

we're introduced to the rope

that we must grab hold of.

And finally in verses 5 and 6,

there's a climb that we each need to make.

So let's begin in the depths.

So we've said this is a vivid image

that's used in other psalms.

So we already sang Psalm 140

that reminds us,

God lifted me out of the slimy pit,

and he set my feet on a rock.

We could have gone to Psalm 69.

Listen to how Psalm 69 begins.

Save me, O God,

for the waters have come up to my neck.

I sink in the miry depths

where there is no foothold.

Some of God's people have related to this

in a very literal way.

Think of the prophet Jonah.

Remember what happens in the story of Jonah?

God tells him to go and preach,

and he turns,

and he wants to run away from God,

and he's thrown overboard,

and he's swallowed by a fish,

but he's also sinking to the depths.

And in chapter 2,

we find a prayer of Jonah,

which sounds very like a psalm,

where he confesses that sense

of going under and being trapped

and knowing God's rescue.

Most often, of course, it's a metaphor.

I feel as if I'm going under.

I feel as if in my life

I can't quite get my footing.

I sense that I'm all at sea

in a sea of trouble.

Out of the deck.

But notice,

there is a striking cry of faith here.

Out of the depths,

I cry to you,

Lord.

And notice,

Lord is written in capital letters,

and whenever we see that,

we are reminded,

this is God's personal name.

This is the name of the covenant God

of steadfast love.

And in his distress,

this singer turns

to his covenant God.

He has come to discover

in the depths.

There is no one else to cry to.

There is no one else to look to

for mercy.

But faith looks up

and cries,

Lord, have mercy on me,

a sinner.

Verse 3 reveals,

as we said,

the cause of his distress.

If you, Lord,

kept a record of sins,

who could stand?

God keeps the record

and invites us

to give an account

of our lives.

If the live stream feed

of your life

was played

before God

and we were invited

to answer for it,

each and every one of us

would be condemned

as guilty.

And in humility

and in need,

faith cries out,

not for justice,

but for the mercy of God,

his undeserved kindness

and forgiveness.

And this psalm reminds us

of something that maybe

we've come to know personally.

Sometimes it takes our lives

hitting rock bottom,

as it were,

before we look up

and cry to God

for mercy.

If you know the story

of John Newton,

who famously wrote

Amazing Grace,

that happened to him literally.

He was caught up

in one of those

huge Atlantic storms

that the boat

was taking in water

and was beginning

to go under

and it was at that point

that he cried out

to God for mercy

and for salvation.

Maybe you resonate

with that.

But most of the time,

if we are honest,

I think our instinct

when trouble hits,

maybe we find ourselves

in the depths,

often our instinct

and certainly the message

that we hear

from the world

is look inside

of yourself

for the answers,

for salvation.

One way that we saw this

in recent years

in wider society

was when COVID hit.

Do you remember

when COVID hit

and it felt like

the window was open

just a crack

and people were beginning

to seek for God

and lots of people

were tuning in

to online services

and reading Bibles

and it felt like

the window opened.

But then,

what by and large happened

is the window shut

because people decided,

oh, it's okay,

science has the answers.

We've got a vaccine

so everything is fine.

we tend to look inside

of ourselves

for the answers.

At the level of

our own individual lives,

we can often think,

well, I should be able

to handle this

so I will handle this.

I'm going to draw

on my own resources,

my own resilience,

maybe my own relationships

to get me out of

whatever depth

I happen to be in.

The problem,

of course,

comes

when we discover

that there are times

when we can't

and then we feel

that we're really drowning.

Drowning under that sense,

perhaps,

of I'm not achieving my goals.

I'm not climbing

the ladder of success.

I'm putting in

all this effort

but life doesn't seem

to be getting much better.

It's entirely possible

that you may be here today

and you don't feel

you have a sin problem

but you can still feel

worthless.

You can still feel

ashamed.

You can still feel

a sense of guilt

for not measuring up.

And you might find yourself

in the depths

but you don't know

where to turn.

Well, this is when

the message of Psalm 130,

it's where the message

of Christianity

becomes such good news

because it says to us,

relentlessly,

don't look inside

of yourself

but look outside

of yourself

for salvation.

This Psalm reminds us

to look away from self

and look in faith

to the Lord Jesus

to find mercy.

That's where hope

is found.

That's where rescue begins.

Sometimes being in the depths

can be a very

eye-opening experience.

A time of trouble

can make us reflect

on where our life

is heading

and our priorities.

Just return to the sea

for a moment

when a boat

is sinking.

What will a crew

do?

Well, they'll begin

trying to bail

out the water,

see if they can

equalize themselves

that way

but if that's not working,

everything will go

overboard

that represents

extra weight

that's just dragging

the boat

down.

Maybe it's when

we get into

the depths

that we discover

there are idols

that we cling to.

There are things

that we look to

for salvation

that we actually

need to let go of

because they will

not save us

and they're only

dragging us down.

And it's time

to turn instead

to the living God

for mercy.

Thomas Watson

the Puritan

said this,

he said,

faith can make

use of the waters

of affliction

to swim faster

to Christ.

Our trouble

can make us,

should make us

as Christians

certainly,

turn to Christ

for mercy

and salvation.

That's where

we're going to turn

next.

We're going to turn

secondly to the rope

that we must

grab hold of.

So think about

that image

that we began

within the depths.

There's one thing

whether we're

thinking about

the ocean

or quicksand

or a mine pit,

one thing is true.

If you're in

that situation

you need a rescuer

to come with

the right equipment.

So whether that's

you,

you need the coast guard

to throw out

a life belt

or whether you need

a friend on dry ground

to throw out

a solid branch

to drag you back

out of the quicksand,

whether you need

somebody with

the winch

and the rope

and the harness

to come and bring you up.

You need rescue,

you need the right equipment

and Psalm 130

describes both for us.

It describes

in a sense

the rope

that God

drops down

to us.

It's a rope

made of two strands.

We need

to cling hold

of two things

that God provides,

only God provides.

First of all,

a new record

and secondly,

a new

redeemer.

So look with me

at verses 3 and 4

and let's think

about a new record.

If you,

Lord,

kept a record of sins,

Lord,

who could stand?

But with you

there is forgiveness

so that we can

with reverence

serve you.

Now,

in case you hadn't noticed,

we are just

at the beginning

of Edinburgh Fringe

Festival season

and there are

hundreds of shows

available to watch

but I have not yet

seen one

where the star

of the show

as his solo show

would put on

public display

all of their

deepest,

darkest

words,

thoughts,

actions

and desires.

Imagine if you

walked into that show.

Imagine how uncomfortable

it would be

in the audience.

Imagine how uncomfortable

it would be

if you had to perform

in that show.

Psalm 130

is facing

the reality,

the knowledge

that God

sees

everything

and so he's very honest

and he says

if God kept a record,

if God kept a watch

over every single

detail of my life

and if he was to

hold me

account

for those,

if he wrote it down

as public record

and I had to answer

for those,

knowing God

is holy

and pure

and he hates sin,

any lack of love,

any pride,

any anger,

any lies,

who could stand?

This is why

he's in the depths.

He knows his guilt

before God

and truly

we would all be law

for the ways

that we have treated

one another,

for the ways

that we've treated

God himself.

But then there's

that wonderful

verse 4,

but with you,

Lord,

there is

forgiveness.

That God

has made

provision

to meet

the problem

of human need,

that sin

that destroys

relationships

that ruins

God's created

order.

It's this

wonderful explosion

of God's

undeserved

grace.

We saw

something of the

same gospel

contrast

in the book

of Romans.

Let me remind

you of

verses 23

and 24

of Romans 3.

Verse 23,

all have sinned

and fall short

of God's glory.

So there's

the depths.

And all

are justified

freely

by his grace

through the

redemption

that came

by Jesus

Christ.

So there's

the rope,

there's

the new

record.

How can

we have

this new

record?

Well,

the Bible

tells us

it's only

through

Jesus.

Because

Jesus came

on a mission

to become

one of us,

ultimately to

take our

record of

debt,

all our

wrongdoings,

and to pay

that price

in full,

and in

exchange to

give us

his record

of perfect

righteousness.

So that by

faith in

Jesus,

you and I

can stand

because of

God's grace

shown to us

through the

sacrifice of

Jesus at

the cross.

And so

faith takes

hold of

Jesus and

that new

record that

he provides.

Because God

now deals

with us

and our

sin

according

to his

steadfast love

and mercy

towards us

in Jesus.

He doesn't

deal with us

according to

our sin

anymore.

He deals

with us

according to

his love

and his

mercy

in Jesus.

And that

can make

such a

profound

difference

to how

we live.

As we

understand

that God's

eyes are

the only

eyes that

matter,

and that

when God

looks on

us,

he looks

on us

with love.

Not seeing

us in

our sin,

but seeing

us in

his son.

And he

loves us

fully and

completely.

So now it's

no longer

what other

people think

of me that

matters.

Now it's

not even

what I

think of

myself that

matters.

Now it's

what God

says of

me.

That's what

counts.

And when we

are justified,

when we are

declared righteous,

that's where we

find the

secure

foothold.

That's where

we find

stability for

life, even

in the

depths.

It's in

God's

steadfast

love.

So that's

the first

strand, a

new record.

The second

strand is

this.

We need

to cling

on to

a new

redeemer.

Look with

me at

verses 7

and 8,

and you

hear some

very focused

and very

emphatic

language.

Israel, put

your hope

in the

Lord, for

with the

Lord is

unfailing

love, and

with him

is full

redemption.

He

himself

will

redeem

Israel from

all their

sins.

Hear the

emphasis.

He wants

us to

hear the

only

redeemer

is the

Lord God,

and he

himself has

promised he

will redeem

his people

from all

of their

sins.

Now, why

does that

emphasis

matter?

Here's one

reason it

matters, because

God's people

are often

prone to

forget.

It was

absolutely the

case for

Old Testament

Israel.

Think about

the amazing

privileges they

had.

You know, God

had acted in

such power to

save them from

slavery.

God gave

them such

wonderful

promises to

be their

God, that

they would be

his people.

They enjoyed

his presence.

They saw

his shining

cloud of

glory.

He lived

among them.

They witnessed

his miracles,

but time and

time and

time again,

they chose

idols.

They chose

other nations

to be their

allies in

war that they

would trust

in.

They forgot

God was

their

redeemer.

As

Christians,

we might

say, I

trust in

Jesus as

Savior, but

when it

comes down

to it, we

might find

ourselves

looking to

our work

perhaps, a

relationship,

our money,

to be our

rescuer.

That's where

we instinctively

turn to fix

what's broken,

to give us the

sense of life

and joy.

And so

even as

Christians, we

can find

ourselves utterly

crushed if

we miss a

promotion or

if we don't

get recognition,

if our

relationship

fails, or

if someone

else sees

our flaws.

Now, why

is that?

Could it

be that we

so easily

turn to

trust in

other

redeemers

besides Jesus

alone?

And so

Psalm 130

invites us to

reflect, is

all my

hope in

the Lord

Jesus

alone?

Will I

place all

my weight

on this

rope?

Do I

trust His

word, His

promise, His

salvation?

So one

reason for the

emphasis is

that we're

prone to

forget.

The second

reason for

the emphasis

is that the

new Redeemer

who's promised

is the

Lord

Himself.

prophecy

there's

an element

of prophecy

here.

And what

the singer

is seeing

in shadow,

we see in

the full

light of

day, in

the coming

of Jesus.

Because with

the coming

of Jesus,

what do we

have?

We have the

Lord Himself,

the eternal

Son of God,

becoming one

of us.

And why does

He become one

of us?

So that He

Himself can

redeem us.

So He

takes on

human flesh

so that He

can bear

our human

sin.

So that He

can act for

us to secure

our redemption.

So the

Lord Jesus,

He left the

glory of

heaven and

He came

down into

the depths.

Into the

depths of

suffering and

forsaken

and enduring

God's wrath

on our

behalf to

raise us

up to

life with

God.

And so He

is the rope

we must grab

hold of by

faith.

There is no

other way

back to

God and

to life.

So we've

seen the

depths, we've

seen the

rope.

Very briefly,

let's think

about the

claim.

And the

surprise about

the claim,

so when you

think about

claiming, you

think about

action.

And so you

might expect

an active

word.

But look

with me at

verses 5 and

6.

This is an

active word,

but it kind

of sounds

passive as

well.

I wait

for the

Lord.

My whole

being waits,

and in

His word I

put my

hope.

I wait

for the

Lord.

More than

watchmen wait

for the

morning,

more than

watchmen wait

for the

morning.

And this is

such a helpful

word because

it, again,

is reminding

us we need

to look out

inside ourselves

for salvation.

Faith waits,

faith trusts

in God.

And it also

reminds us that

this is a

process.

This is a

long and

steady claim

of trusting

in Jesus

day by

day.

There's a

new image

in verse

6.

So the

psalm pictures

the watchmen

of the city.

So picture

them either

stationed at

the gates or

maybe on the

city walls,

and it's

pitch black

and they're

there all

night.

And they're

checking to

see if there's

enemies,

they're checking

to see if

there's any

danger.

And when

they see

dawn,

there is

relief,

there is

rest for

them.

The night

was long,

but the

morning

come.

Even more

so, the

psalmist

says,

the Christian

waits on

the Lord

sometimes,

maybe often

in the

darkness,

but knowing

the light

will dawn.

Mercy

comes in

the morning.

And so

we wait

patiently.

I wait,

notice this,

I wait for

the Lord.

The longing

isn't just,

I really want

to get out of

this trouble

in this dark

situation.

The longing

is for

God

himself.

So this

waiting is

active because

it's also

worship.

We're told

to wait

expectantly.

My whole

being waits

and in his

word I put

my hope.

I know

he will

be faithful

to his

promise.

I know

that day

will break,

that darkness

will give

way to

light.

And we

wait together.

We wait

corporately.

Israel,

notice he

summons the

whole people

of God.

Israel,

put your

hope in

the Lord.

So there's

this powerful

picture of

the whole

church

locked

together,

summoned

together

to wait

with faith

on the

God of

unfailing

love and

full

redemption.

And so

we find

good news

even in

the depths

of sin,

of suffering,

of shame.

There is

good news

because God

in Christ

is ready to

meet us

there.

There is

good news

because the

Lord Jesus

promises a

new record

and to be

our new

and true

redeemer.

So that you

and I can

live day

by day

waiting with

hope in

God's mercy

and God's

love.

So let's

pray and

give thanks

to God

together.

Lord,

we thank

you.

Thank you

for the

honesty of

the Bible

because so

often it

reflects our

human experience

of feeling

and being

in the

depths.

But Lord,

we thank

you that

the Christian

faith offers

us such

deep hope

in your

character,

in your

word,

and in

your salvation

because you've

given us

Jesus.

Thank you

that he

was willing

to come

into the

depths in

order to

raise us

up to

glorious new

life.

And so we

pray that you

would enable

us to wait

with hope,

to summon

one another

to place

our hope

in the

Lord Jesus,

to be a

source of

help and

encouragement

to each

other in

the various

things that

we go

through in

life,

that together

we might

lift our

eyes and

lift our

voices to

Jesus,

our great

redeemer,

as we

pray in

his name.

Amen.