Translation: ESV
Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD!
Even from the deepest place of despair, crying out to God is possible, and that is the beginning of salvation.
▸Psalm 130 is one of the most beloved penitential psalms in church history.
Psalm 130 is one of the most beloved penitential psalms in church history. 'The depths (mima'amakim)' refers to the deep sea, expressing the extreme of despair. Crying out to God from those depths is the miracle of faith.
If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?
The recognition that no one can stand before God's righteousness makes the need for grace all the more urgent.
▸This is a confession that if God strictly observed iniquities, no one could stand before him.
But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.
God's forgiveness is not based on human worthiness, and this gracious forgiveness produces true reverence.
▸'But' is the center of the gospel.
I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;
Waiting for God and hoping in his word is the natural posture of one who has been forgiven.
▸Waiting emerges as the theme.
my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.
Longing for God even more than a night watchman longs for morning is the waiting of faith.
▸The image of a watchman waiting through the night for morning expresses the urgency of waiting for God.
O Israel, hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption.
Sharing with the community the steadfast love and redemption of God that one has personally experienced is the fruit of faith.
▸The individual's waiting expands to an exhortation for the community.
And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
God's redemption is complete deliverance from all iniquities, not partial.
▸The comprehensiveness of 'from all his iniquities' is important.