Psalms · Chapter 130

Verse 1. Out of the depths] The captives in Babylon represent their condition like those who are in a prison-an abyss or deep ditch, ready to be swallowed up.

Verses 1, 2. Out of the depths — Being overwhelmed with deep distresses and terrors, and ready to despair; have I cried unto thee — “Like another Jonas, entombed in the whale’s belly, and surrounded by all the waves of the ocean.” Observe, reader, “Fervent prayer will find its way through every obstruction to the ears of him who sitteth upon his holy hill.”

1. Out of the depths—A figure denoting great sorrow and mental dejection, as in Psalm 69:2, 14. In this case the affliction connects with remembered sin as its moral cause.

Verse 2. Lord, hear my voice] They could have no helper but God, and to him they earnestly seek for relief.

Verses 1, 2. Out of the depths — Being overwhelmed with deep distresses and terrors, and ready to despair; have I cried unto thee — “Like another Jonas, entombed in the whale’s belly, and surrounded by all the waves of the ocean.” Observe, reader, “Fervent prayer will find its way through every obstruction to the ears of him who sitteth upon his holy hill.”

2. Lord—Hebrew, Adonah. This divine name occurs three times in this psalm, and that of Jehovah five times. Delitzsch thinks this and Psalm 86, where Adonah is repeated seven times, are specimens of a third, or Adonajic style of psalms, added to the Jehovistic and Elohimic. The frequent occurrence of these awful names is evidence of intensity of desire and agony of spirit. Attentive—Literally, With pointed ears— “strained attention.”—Delitzsch. The ears, and hence the mind, to be directed to this one point. The first two verses earnestly claim a hearing of the complaint.

V. 3. Mark-Observe them accurately and punish them as they deserve. Stand-At thy tribunal.

Verse 3. If thou-shouldest mark iniquities] If thou shouldst set down every deviation in thought, word, and deed from thy holy law; and if thou shouldst call us into judgment for all our infidelities, both of heart and life; O Lord, who could stand? Who could stand such a trial, and who could stand acquitted in the judgment? This is a most solemn saying; and if we had not the doctrine that is in the next verse, who could be saved?

Verses 3, 4. If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities — Observe them accurately, and punish them severely, as they deserve; O Lord, who shall stand? — In thy presence, or at thy tribunal. No man could acquit himself, or escape the sentence of condemnation, because all men are sinners. To stand is a judicial phrase, and imports a man being absolved or justified upon a fair trial. But there is forgiveness with thee — Thou art able and ready to forgive repenting sinners; that thou mayest be feared — Not with a slavish, but a filial fear and reverence, This mercy of thine is the foundation of all religion, without which men would desperately proceed in their impious courses, without any thought of repentance.

3. Mark iniquities—Literally, Keep iniquities, or, watch iniquities closely; that is, remember them accurately in order to bring them to punishment. The same idea is conveyed in Deuteronomy 32:34; Job 14:17; Hosea 13:12. In such a strict course of justice who could stand! But opposite to this preserving, or “sealing up,” the record of our sins for judgment, stands the merciful non-imputation, or forgiveness, of sin through faith in the atonement, as in Psalm 32:2; Romans 4:7, 8. On this mercy alone, without human merit, depends the hope of every man.

V. 4. Forgiveness-Thou art able and ready to forgive repenting sinners. Feared-Not with a slavish, but with a childlike fear. This mercy of thine is the foundation of all religion, without which men would desperately proceed in their impious courses.

Verse 4. But there is forgiveness with thee] Thou canst forgive; mercy belongs to thee, as well as judgment. The doctrine here is the doctrine of St. John: “If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord hath spoken!” Jesus has died for our sins; therefore God can be just, and yet the justifier of him who believeth in Jesus.

Verses 3, 4. If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities — Observe them accurately, and punish them severely, as they deserve; O Lord, who shall stand? — In thy presence, or at thy tribunal. No man could acquit himself, or escape the sentence of condemnation, because all men are sinners. To stand is a judicial phrase, and imports a man being absolved or justified upon a fair trial. But there is forgiveness with thee — Thou art able and ready to forgive repenting sinners; that thou mayest be feared — Not with a slavish, but a filial fear and reverence, This mercy of thine is the foundation of all religion, without which men would desperately proceed in their impious courses, without any thought of repentance.

4. That thou mayest be feared—The telic use of the conjunctive particle supplies the explanation of this administration of divine mercy; that is, God forgives sin, to the end that men may fear and obey him as the only lawgiver and judge, and hence the sole authority for the exercise of grace and pardon. Jeremiah 33:8, 9. The confession of sin and forgiveness in verses 3, 4, is founded upon a clear New Testament view of atonement and mediation.

V. 5. I wait-That he would pardon my sins.

Verse 5. I wait for the Lord] The word hwq kavah, which we translate to wait, properly signifies the extension of a cord from one point to another. This is a fine metaphor: God is one point, the human heart is the other; and the extended cord between both is the earnest believing desire of the soul. This desire, strongly extended from the heart to God, in every mean of grace, and when there is none, is the active, energetic waiting which God requires, and which will be successful.

Verse 5. I wait for the Lord — That he would manifest his favour to me in the pardon of my sins, and thereby give me relief and comfort. My soul doth wait — I wait for him in sincerity, and not in profession only; with fervency, and not in a spirit of lukewarmness and indifference. And in his word do I hope — Wherein he hath declared his merciful nature, Exodus 34:6, 7, and his gracious purpose and promises for the pardoning of sinners.

5. I wait for the Lord—Both for his time and method of deliverance, leaving all to his sovereign will. Nothing else could be called waiting for him. From his complaint and his confession of sin and of divine grace, the psalmist now proceeds to declare his confidence and patient waiting for help. In his word do I hope—God never leaves his people in affliction without a word of promise for their comfort and hope. Psalm 119:92.

V. 6. They-Whether soldiers that keep the night-watches in an army, or the priests or Levites who did so in the temple.

Verse 6. More than they that watch for the morning.] I believe the original should be read differently from what it is here. The Chaldee has, “More than they who observe the morning watches, that they may offer the morning oblation.” This gives a good sense, and is, perhaps, the true meaning. Most of the Versions have “From the morning to the night watches.” Or the passage may be rendered, “My soul waiteth for the Lord from the morning watches to the morning watches.” That is, “I wait both day and night.”

Verse 6. My soul waiteth for the Lord — This verse in the original is remarkably concise, forcible, and elegant. It is literally, My soul for the Lord, (namely, waiteth,) more than watchers for the morning, than watchers for the morning. The psalmist is thought to intend those that kept the night-watches in the city, or the priests or Levites who watched in the temple; who, being wearied with hard service and want of rest, earnestly desired and eagerly expected the break of day, that they might be discharged from duty. Or, as Dr. Hammond and some others interpret the words, he means those priests, or their officers, “who were peculiarly appointed from a tower to expect the first appearance of the break of day.” The repetitions in this and the preceding verse beautifully and forcibly express that ardent desire with which true penitents expect and long for the salvation of God.

Verse 6. More than they that watch for the morning. The word morning is twice repeated in the Hebrew; yet the LXX took the liberty of dropping the repetition, though repetitions in grief and anguish display the heart in the most powerful language. Dr. Hammond, following the Chaldee, will read it, My soul hasteneth to the Lord from the guard in the morning; that is, as early as the guard. The Vulgate is much the same.

6. More than they that watch for the morning—It is not the common watch, that is here alluded to, but the Levitical watch in the temple, which were sent to discover and announce the first streaks of day, in order that the priests might know when to order the morning sacrifice. “Agreeably to this explanation is the Chaldee: ‘My soul waits for the Lord, more than the keepers of the morning vigils, which they observe for the offering of the morning oblation.’”—Phillips.

V. 7. Israel-Every true Israelite. Plenteous-Abundantly sufficient for all persons who accept it upon God’s terms.

Verse 7. Let Israel hope in the Lord] This, to hope for salvation, is their duty and their interest. But what reason is there for this hope? A twofold reason:—

1. With the Lord there is mercy] dsjh hachesed, THAT mercy, the fund, the essence of mercy.

2. And with him is plenteous redemption.] twdp wm[ hbrhw veharabbah immo peduth; and that abundant redemption, that to which there is none like, the Fountain of redemption, the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. The article h, both in hbrh harabbah and dsjh hachesed, is very emphatic.

Verses 7, 8. Let Israel hope in the Lord — Every true Israelite, every one that devotes himself to God, being encouraged by my example. For with the Lord there is mercy — Not only inherent in his nature, but ready to be exercised in pardoning and saving every penitent sinner. And with him is plenteous redemption — Abundantly sufficient for all persons who will accept it upon God’s terms, and for the remission of, and deliverance from, all sins; and therefore here is good ground of hope for all contrite and returning sinners. And he — The Lord, either God the Father, by his Son, or the Son of God, by his blood; shall redeem Israel — Israel, according to the spirit; all those that turn to God in repentance and faith, and become Israelites indeed, in whom there is no guile; from all his iniquities — From the guilt, and power, and defilement of sin, and from all its consequences. “See here,” says Henry, “1st, The nature of this redemption; it is redemption from sin, from all sin; and therefore can be no other but that eternal redemption, of which Jesus Christ became the author; for it is he that saves his people from their sins, Matthew 1:21; that redeems them from all iniquity, Titus 2:14; and turns away ungodliness from Jacob, Romans 11:26. 2d, The riches of this redemption; it is plenteous; there is an all-sufficient fulness of merit and grace in the Redeemer, enough for all, enough for each; enough for me, says the believer. Redemption from sin includes redemption from all other evils, and therefore is a plenteous redemption.” Reader, see thou do not rest short of this redemption; seek it with all thy heart, by faith and prayer, and thou wilt assuredly find it.”

7, 8. Most fitly, therefore, does the trusting poet call on Israel also to fully trust in Jehovah, who not only showeth mercy, but plenteous redemption. He multiplieth to show mercy, as the Hebrew reads, in his manner of deliverance, saving not only from punishment, but iniquity, the cause of punishment.

Verse 8. He shall redeem Israel] Kai autov lutrwsei, “He will make a ransom for Israel,” He will provide a great price for Israel, and by it will take away all his iniquities. I would not restrict this to Israel in Babylon. Every believer may take it to himself. God perfectly justifies and perfectly sanctifies all that come unto him through the Son of his love.

Verses 7, 8. Let Israel hope in the Lord — Every true Israelite, every one that devotes himself to God, being encouraged by my example. For with the Lord there is mercy — Not only inherent in his nature, but ready to be exercised in pardoning and saving every penitent sinner. And with him is plenteous redemption — Abundantly sufficient for all persons who will accept it upon God’s terms, and for the remission of, and deliverance from, all sins; and therefore here is good ground of hope for all contrite and returning sinners. And he — The Lord, either God the Father, by his Son, or the Son of God, by his blood; shall redeem Israel — Israel, according to the spirit; all those that turn to God in repentance and faith, and become Israelites indeed, in whom there is no guile; from all his iniquities — From the guilt, and power, and defilement of sin, and from all its consequences. “See here,” says Henry, “1st, The nature of this redemption; it is redemption from sin, from all sin; and therefore can be no other but that eternal redemption, of which Jesus Christ became the author; for it is he that saves his people from their sins, Matthew 1:21; that redeems them from all iniquity, Titus 2:14; and turns away ungodliness from Jacob, Romans 11:26. 2d, The riches of this redemption; it is plenteous; there is an all-sufficient fulness of merit and grace in the Redeemer, enough for all, enough for each; enough for me, says the believer. Redemption from sin includes redemption from all other evils, and therefore is a plenteous redemption.” Reader, see thou do not rest short of this redemption; seek it with all thy heart, by faith and prayer, and thou wilt assuredly find it.”

7, 8. Most fitly, therefore, does the trusting poet call on Israel also to fully trust in Jehovah, who not only showeth mercy, but plenteous redemption. He multiplieth to show mercy, as the Hebrew reads, in his manner of deliverance, saving not only from punishment, but iniquity, the cause of punishment.