Psalm 130:1-8 Out of the depths have I cried to you, O LORD.… The psalm should probably be regarded as antiphonal; it is composed of several stanzas which were sung responsively by different voices. 1. In the first stanza (vers. 1, 2) the speaker is a devout Israelite, who is feeling keenly the misery of his circumstances. The metaphor appears to be taken from a shipwreck; and, on the lips of a Hebrew, the picture would be one of unutterable horror. We Britons love the sea. But to the Jews the sea was an object of terror, a cruel and devouring monster, greedy of its prey, and smiling only to deceive; the symbol of treachery, unrest, and desolation. What were those depths out of which the psalmist cried to God? Were they the calamities which beset him and his countrymen? Or were they his overwhelming sins? To a Hebrew mind these were indistinguishable. It was an inveterate belief among the Israelites that, just as prosperity was the reward of goodness, adversity was the punishment of sin; and, wherever adversity alighted, sin must have been there before. This theory added to the sufferings of the Exiles an element of distress which we can hardly appreciate. It appears very plainly in our psalm. Here is a devout Israelite plunged, like the rest of his countrymen, into the depths of disaster. As a Hebrew this could only have one meaning for him, namely, that God was visiting their sins upon him and them. 2. The second stanza (vers. 3, 4) is the response of a neighbour — probably an old man, who had lived into a calmer and stronger faith than the other had yet attained to. Though his words are addressed to God, they are a reply to his companion. First he glances at the vexing problem which, as we have seen, was at the bottom of his companion's trouble — why righteous men should suffer so terribly. His answer is the rough-and-ready one, that in God's sight no one is righteous, and beneath His pure and searching scrutiny the fairest lives show very foul. This is just the theological commonplace, so shallow and irreverent, that all men alike are sinful and deserve equal condemnation at God's hands. It is quite true indeed that we are all sinners; but we are not all sinners to the same extent, and God will not blindly treat us all alike. The man speaks more truly when he leaves off theorizing and testifies to his own experience of God. "Thou dost not watch for iniquities, but with Thee is the forgiveness." God, he means, is not a stern tyrant, never satisfied with our efforts to serve Him, ever watching for mistakes and searching them out. He is right willing to forgive us even at our worst. The closing line of this stanza is a surprise. We should have expected, "with Thee is forgiveness that Thou mayest be loved"; but we read instead, "that Thou mayest be feared." On the lips of a Hebrew "the fear of God" meant very nearly devout reverence. It is the Old Testament phrase for the true worship, and our psalmist means that, were there no forgiveness in the heart of God, there would be no worship in the heart of man. Religion would be impossible were God a relentless and merciless avenger. 3. In the third stanza (vers. 5, 6) the first speaker replies, "You tell me God forgives! Have I not besought His forgiveness till I am weary? But all to no purpose. For His word have I hoped — for some assurance of His forgiveness; but not a whisper has broken the pitiless silence." The figure in verse 6 would go home to the Exiles. How often, as they camped outside Babylon and sat sleepless and tearful through the watches of the night, had they seen the sentries pacing the ramparts of the city and hailing the flush of dawn in the eastern horizon which told them their weary vigil was near its close! No figure could more pathetically express the psalmist's eager expectation of the dawning of God's mercy on his long night of sorrow. 4. In the concluding stanza (vers. 7, 8) the bystanders chime in. "My soul hath hoped in Adonai," the despondent man had said; and the chorus echoes, "Hope, Israel, in Jehovah." The second speaker had declared his faith that "with Jehovah is the forgiveness"; but, ere it closes, the psalm reaches a still grander assurance. "Hope in Jehovah, for with Jehovah is the lovingkindness, and plentifully with Him is redemption." It is a great belief that God forgives, but an unspeakable greater that, in spite of all that seems to prove the contrary, He has in His heart towards us an infinite lovingkindness and a purpose of final and complete redemption. The psalm ends with a prophecy of great salvation and boundless peace in store for Israel. To the Hebrews "redemption from iniquities" would mean not merely a spiritual deliverance, but the removal of all the disasters and sufferings which sin entailed. And this triumphant assurance of a future unstained by sin and unvexed by sorrow is born of that twofold faith, so simple yet so grand, that there is in the hears of God a boundless lovingkindness, and that He is working out, by means of all our varied experiences, our ultimate and eternal redemption. (D. Smith, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: {A Song of degrees.} Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD. |
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