1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,500 Some of you know who Carl Truman is. 2 00:00:02,500 --> 00:00:06,120 He's a theologian, a historian, an excellent author 3 00:00:06,120 --> 00:00:09,960 with a background from Westminster Theological Seminary. 4 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:11,500 And years ago, you may know this, 5 00:00:11,500 --> 00:00:15,960 Carl Truman wrote an article that shook up 6 00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:17,880 the church world. 7 00:00:17,880 --> 00:00:20,700 It definitely shook up a number of church leaders, 8 00:00:20,700 --> 00:00:22,540 because this was the title of the article, 9 00:00:22,540 --> 00:00:26,160 listen to this now, What Can Miserable Christians Sing? 10 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:28,660 How many of you have turned to that article and go, 11 00:00:28,660 --> 00:00:30,280 I need to see what that says? 12 00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:32,280 What can miserable Christians sing? 13 00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:34,120 Here's the reason he wrote this article, 14 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:36,040 in his own words, quote, 15 00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:38,080 this article was intended to highlight 16 00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:43,080 what I saw as a major deficiency in Christian worship 17 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:47,080 in both traditional and contemporary approaches. 18 00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:52,080 The absence of the language of lament 19 00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:54,280 and the understanding that life is a 20 00:00:54,280 --> 00:00:57,200 sad, melancholy, painful dimension, 21 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:01,160 which is too often ignored and sometimes even denied 22 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:02,740 in our churches. 23 00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:06,780 You can see why that shook people up. 24 00:01:06,780 --> 00:01:09,780 He goes on, what songs can be sung honestly 25 00:01:09,780 --> 00:01:12,200 by the woman who has just lost her baby? 26 00:01:13,820 --> 00:01:16,660 Or the husband who has just lost his wife? 27 00:01:16,660 --> 00:01:19,660 Or the child who has just lost a parent 28 00:01:19,660 --> 00:01:21,660 when they come to church on a Sunday? 29 00:01:21,660 --> 00:01:24,160 I saw nothing in our singing that would help 30 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:28,160 a struggling saint if he or she had come to church 31 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:30,160 with their hopes dashed. 32 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:33,660 And that's true, the vast majority of singing 33 00:01:33,660 --> 00:01:37,160 being done in churches today is designed to be nothing 34 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:40,160 but upbeat and celebratory. 35 00:01:40,160 --> 00:01:44,160 Happy, happy, joy, joy, all the time. 36 00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:47,160 And that's a concern for men like Carl Truman. 37 00:01:47,160 --> 00:01:49,160 And it's a concern for men like Carl Truman 38 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:51,660 and it's a concern for us here at Oak Hill 39 00:01:51,660 --> 00:01:54,660 that there is a deficiency in that type of worship. 40 00:01:54,660 --> 00:01:56,160 But honestly, Christians as a whole 41 00:01:56,160 --> 00:01:58,160 shouldn't be surprised by this. 42 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:00,160 This is what the American church has been sold 43 00:02:00,160 --> 00:02:03,160 for probably 50 years now. 44 00:02:03,160 --> 00:02:04,660 In fact, it's the blueprint that's written 45 00:02:04,660 --> 00:02:08,160 in all the books on church planting and church growth. 46 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:12,160 People don't wanna feel downcast is what the books say. 47 00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:14,160 All the experts say that. 48 00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:16,160 They wanna break from the difficulties of life 49 00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:17,160 so when they come to church, 50 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:19,160 make them feel good. 51 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:21,160 Always move them towards celebration 52 00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:23,160 because if you're always talking about good things 53 00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:25,160 that will always draw a crowd. 54 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:27,160 And if you wanna grow your church, 55 00:02:27,160 --> 00:02:30,160 your staff and especially your worship leader 56 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:32,160 has to understand this principle. 57 00:02:32,160 --> 00:02:35,160 Make sure they do everything always 58 00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:39,160 in the direction and the category of exciting. 59 00:02:37,580 --> 00:02:39,580 larger churches in our country out there. 60 00:02:39,580 --> 00:02:40,580 And by the way, not just in worship, 61 00:02:40,160 --> 00:02:42,160 Exciting. 62 00:02:40,580 --> 00:02:42,580 but in preaching too. 63 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:44,160 And sadly, that's been the formula 64 00:02:42,580 --> 00:02:45,580 Hard passages get skipped over. 65 00:02:45,580 --> 00:02:47,580 Difficult truths get shelved in favor 66 00:02:47,580 --> 00:02:50,580 of practical teaching that brings 67 00:02:50,580 --> 00:02:54,580 what quote encouraging word every single Sunday. 68 00:02:54,580 --> 00:02:55,580 And the result is predictable. 69 00:02:55,580 --> 00:02:58,580 We have a watering down of our church 70 00:03:01,580 --> 00:03:03,580 a lot of people who are not gonna be able to 71 00:03:03,580 --> 00:03:07,580 do what God says on Sunday. 72 00:03:07,580 --> 00:03:08,580 And the result is predictable. 73 00:03:08,580 --> 00:03:11,580 We have a watering down of our systematic understanding 74 00:03:11,580 --> 00:03:13,580 of what God's word says. 75 00:03:13,580 --> 00:03:15,580 And what breaks my heart is how many people 76 00:03:15,580 --> 00:03:17,580 with good intentions, by the way, 77 00:03:17,580 --> 00:03:19,580 will wander into a church like that. 78 00:03:19,580 --> 00:03:22,580 A big church that is selling this 79 00:03:22,580 --> 00:03:25,580 constant celebratory feel. 80 00:03:25,580 --> 00:03:27,580 And they walk in, they don't even realize 81 00:03:27,580 --> 00:03:30,580 that what they're being fed is not necessarily good for them 82 00:03:30,580 --> 00:03:33,580 for real life. 83 00:03:33,580 --> 00:03:35,580 Truma goes on in his article, he says, 84 00:03:35,580 --> 00:03:38,580 quote, I have been increasingly aware of the power of liturgy 85 00:03:38,580 --> 00:03:42,580 to shape the mind of a Christian congregation. 86 00:03:42,580 --> 00:03:45,580 The things that we say and sing 87 00:03:45,580 --> 00:03:47,580 as a congregation will over time 88 00:03:47,580 --> 00:03:50,580 subtly and gradually inform our thinking 89 00:03:50,580 --> 00:03:54,580 about the Christian faith and thus about life in general. 90 00:03:54,580 --> 00:03:56,580 A liturgy which accurately reflects 91 00:03:56,580 --> 00:03:59,580 the expectations we have for life 92 00:03:59,580 --> 00:04:02,580 in a fallen world is critically important 93 00:04:02,580 --> 00:04:04,580 as a means of preparing our people 94 00:04:04,580 --> 00:04:09,580 for the suffering that must eventually come their way. 95 00:04:09,580 --> 00:04:12,580 And then he goes on to suggest something near and dear to us. 96 00:04:12,580 --> 00:04:14,580 He says, quote, God has given the church a language 97 00:04:14,580 --> 00:04:18,580 which allows it to express even the deepest agonies 98 00:04:18,580 --> 00:04:21,580 of the human soul in the context of worship. 99 00:04:21,580 --> 00:04:23,580 The Psalms. 100 00:04:23,580 --> 00:04:26,580 The church which makes the Psalms part of a regular diet 101 00:04:26,580 --> 00:04:30,580 provides our people with resources for truly living 102 00:04:30,580 --> 00:04:33,580 in this veil of tears. 103 00:04:33,580 --> 00:04:34,580 To that I say amen. 104 00:04:34,580 --> 00:04:37,580 So God has been kind to give us the Psalms 105 00:04:37,580 --> 00:04:39,580 as part of his book of hymns 106 00:04:39,580 --> 00:04:41,580 so that we have something to always sing to him 107 00:04:41,580 --> 00:04:44,580 even when our hearts are broken and downcast. 108 00:04:44,580 --> 00:04:47,580 When we're struggling in life and we come to church 109 00:04:47,580 --> 00:04:50,580 or just come into the presence of God in private, 110 00:04:50,580 --> 00:04:53,580 it's not only okay but proper to openly 111 00:04:53,580 --> 00:04:57,580 and honestly cry out to him and to lay our anguish before him 112 00:04:57,580 --> 00:05:00,580 and to lay our needs before him. 113 00:05:00,580 --> 00:05:02,580 And in the midst of all that, the Lord will respond 114 00:05:02,580 --> 00:05:04,580 and he will remind you of his promises 115 00:05:04,580 --> 00:05:07,580 and he will lift your countenance and give you joy, 116 00:05:07,580 --> 00:05:10,580 real joy, not the counterfeit joy 117 00:05:10,580 --> 00:05:12,580 that is often served up in churches 118 00:05:12,580 --> 00:05:17,580 that's brought about by emotional manipulation. 119 00:05:17,580 --> 00:05:18,580 So grab your Bibles. 120 00:05:18,580 --> 00:05:21,580 We're going to look at one of those Psalms this morning. 121 00:05:21,580 --> 00:05:27,580 Psalm 130. 122 00:05:27,580 --> 00:05:31,580 Psalm 130, like Psalm 127 that we looked at last Sunday, 123 00:05:31,580 --> 00:05:34,580 Psalm 130 is another in this series that we call 124 00:05:34,580 --> 00:05:36,580 the Songs of Ascent. 125 00:05:36,580 --> 00:05:38,580 And if you missed the introduction of that concept, 126 00:05:38,580 --> 00:05:42,580 go back and listen to last week's message online. 127 00:05:42,580 --> 00:05:43,580 It is a Song of Ascent. 128 00:05:43,580 --> 00:05:47,580 It's also classified among the seven penitential Psalms, 129 00:05:47,580 --> 00:05:50,580 meaning it is a Psalm that's driven by the concepts 130 00:05:50,580 --> 00:05:53,580 of confession and repentance. 131 00:05:53,580 --> 00:05:55,580 Now we don't know who the author of Psalm 130 is. 132 00:05:55,580 --> 00:05:57,580 It's anonymous. 133 00:05:57,580 --> 00:05:59,580 But whoever did write it, we're going to read about 134 00:05:59,580 --> 00:06:03,580 his personal testimony of how God rescued him 135 00:06:03,580 --> 00:06:06,580 from the depths of guilt and despair. 136 00:06:06,580 --> 00:06:09,580 And in keeping with this theme of a Song of Ascent, 137 00:06:09,580 --> 00:06:12,580 metaphorically what we're going to see is the psalmist ascending, 138 00:06:12,580 --> 00:06:17,580 think of a metaphorical staircase from the bottom rung of life 139 00:06:17,580 --> 00:06:22,580 in despair up to a secure place of trusting in God 140 00:06:22,580 --> 00:06:25,580 and great worship and thanksgiving. 141 00:06:25,580 --> 00:06:26,580 So let's read. 142 00:06:26,580 --> 00:06:28,580 A Song of Ascent, beginning in verse one. 143 00:06:28,580 --> 00:06:32,580 Out of the depths I have cried to you, O Lord. 144 00:06:32,580 --> 00:06:34,580 Lord, hear my voice. 145 00:06:34,580 --> 00:06:37,580 Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. 146 00:06:37,580 --> 00:06:40,580 If you, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, 147 00:06:40,580 --> 00:06:42,580 who could stand? 148 00:06:42,580 --> 00:06:46,580 But there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared. 149 00:06:46,580 --> 00:06:47,580 I wait for the Lord. 150 00:06:47,580 --> 00:06:48,580 My soul does wait. 151 00:06:48,580 --> 00:06:51,580 And in his word do I hope. 152 00:06:51,580 --> 00:06:54,580 My soul waits for the Lord more than the watchman for the morning. 153 00:06:54,580 --> 00:06:58,580 Indeed, more than the watchman for the morning. 154 00:06:58,580 --> 00:07:00,580 O Israel, hope in the Lord. 155 00:07:00,580 --> 00:07:02,580 For with the Lord there is loving kindness. 156 00:07:02,580 --> 00:07:05,580 And with him is abundant redemption. 157 00:07:05,580 --> 00:07:09,580 And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities. 158 00:07:09,580 --> 00:07:11,580 Now this Psalm has a long history, 159 00:07:11,580 --> 00:07:14,580 both in Jewish life and in church history. 160 00:07:14,580 --> 00:07:17,580 Psalm 130 was hugely important to Martin Luther. 161 00:07:17,580 --> 00:07:20,580 In fact, at several crucial moments in his life, 162 00:07:20,580 --> 00:07:23,580 Luther was known to gather his companions around him 163 00:07:23,580 --> 00:07:26,580 and to ask them to recite this song with him 164 00:07:26,580 --> 00:07:30,580 to drive out the enemy and to strengthen his resolve. 165 00:07:30,580 --> 00:07:33,580 And for a man like Luther, if you studied his life, you know, 166 00:07:33,580 --> 00:07:36,580 he was prone to depression, prone to despair. 167 00:07:36,580 --> 00:07:38,580 And it was that phrase in verse one, 168 00:07:38,580 --> 00:07:42,580 out of the depths that really meant the most to him. 169 00:07:42,580 --> 00:07:46,580 He once famously referred to Psalm 130 as a Pauline Psalm. 170 00:07:46,580 --> 00:07:48,580 Think about that. 171 00:07:48,580 --> 00:07:50,580 Because right here in the middle of the Old Testament, 172 00:07:50,580 --> 00:07:55,580 we see so many elements of the New Testament gospel. 173 00:07:55,580 --> 00:07:58,580 Psalm 130 was also pivotal in the life of John Wesley. 174 00:07:58,580 --> 00:08:01,580 And what's interesting is, Wesley had, if you don't know, 175 00:08:01,580 --> 00:08:05,580 Wesley was English, but he served as a missionary in Georgia, 176 00:08:05,580 --> 00:08:08,580 in colonial America in his day. 177 00:08:08,580 --> 00:08:12,580 And he did that purely out of a love for his fellow man, 178 00:08:12,580 --> 00:08:16,580 but as he acknowledged later on, he was not even saved. 179 00:08:16,580 --> 00:08:19,580 During those years, he operated as a missionary. 180 00:08:19,580 --> 00:08:22,580 But in May of 1783, he went to a worship service 181 00:08:22,580 --> 00:08:24,580 at St. Paul's Cathedral in London. 182 00:08:24,580 --> 00:08:26,580 And guess what he heard? 183 00:08:26,580 --> 00:08:30,580 He heard a choir singing a hymn called Out of the Depths, 184 00:08:30,580 --> 00:08:32,580 the very words of Psalm 130. 185 00:08:32,580 --> 00:08:35,580 And it moved his heart greatly as he listened to the words. 186 00:08:35,580 --> 00:08:37,580 And then later that evening, he attended, 187 00:08:37,580 --> 00:08:40,580 get this now, a reading of Luther's commentary 188 00:08:40,580 --> 00:08:42,580 on the book of Romans. 189 00:08:42,580 --> 00:08:44,580 And it was there that God moved in his heart. 190 00:08:44,580 --> 00:08:47,580 What had happened was, he connected the Old Testament gospel 191 00:08:47,580 --> 00:08:51,580 in Psalm 130, brought it together with Paul's exposition 192 00:08:51,580 --> 00:08:54,580 of salvation in Christ alone in the book of Romans, 193 00:08:54,580 --> 00:08:57,580 and it was that night that he bent his knee 194 00:08:57,580 --> 00:09:00,580 and submitted his life to Christ. 195 00:09:00,580 --> 00:09:02,580 So, great history behind Psalm 130. 196 00:09:02,580 --> 00:09:04,580 Powerful, powerful. 197 00:09:04,580 --> 00:09:07,580 Only a few verses, right, but very, very powerful. 198 00:09:07,580 --> 00:09:09,580 All right, let's go back up to verse one. 199 00:09:09,580 --> 00:09:12,580 And let's start with where the psalmist is coming from. 200 00:09:12,580 --> 00:09:14,580 By the way, you may have noticed in your Bibles 201 00:09:14,580 --> 00:09:19,580 that the psalmist alternates between two names for God. 202 00:09:19,580 --> 00:09:22,580 Sometimes it's Lord in all capitals. 203 00:09:22,580 --> 00:09:25,580 Other times it's Lord in standard size font. 204 00:09:25,580 --> 00:09:28,580 And of course, the first, the capitals, 205 00:09:28,580 --> 00:09:30,580 is his covenant name, Yahweh, 206 00:09:30,580 --> 00:09:34,580 which always emphasizes God's faithfulness. 207 00:09:34,580 --> 00:09:39,580 The other is Adonai, which emphasizes God's sovereign rules. 208 00:09:39,580 --> 00:09:43,580 I'm gonna read those as we go through the rest of the way. 209 00:09:43,580 --> 00:09:44,580 So, look at verse one again. 210 00:09:44,580 --> 00:09:48,580 Out of the depths I have cried to you, O Yahweh. 211 00:09:48,580 --> 00:09:50,580 Adonai, hear my voice. 212 00:09:50,580 --> 00:09:54,580 Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. 213 00:09:54,580 --> 00:09:56,580 And other translations of that last phrase are 214 00:09:56,580 --> 00:10:04,580 be attentive to my cry for help or be attentive to my pleas for mercy. 215 00:10:04,580 --> 00:10:06,580 So, we're gonna look at some stares as we go up here, 216 00:10:06,580 --> 00:10:08,580 as we look at the song of ascent, 217 00:10:08,580 --> 00:10:12,580 and we're gonna walk through the steps that the psalmist walks through. 218 00:10:12,580 --> 00:10:15,580 As Carl Truman pointed out, here we have a psalm 219 00:10:15,580 --> 00:10:19,580 that does not begin with praise or worship or rejoicing. 220 00:10:19,580 --> 00:10:21,580 Instead, where does it come from? 221 00:10:21,580 --> 00:10:24,580 The depths of human despair. 222 00:10:24,580 --> 00:10:26,580 The psalmist is bothered, troubled by something, 223 00:10:26,580 --> 00:10:32,580 and he cries out for mercy knowing there's only one place he will find that. 224 00:10:32,580 --> 00:10:37,580 I wonder, have you ever cried out like this in verse one? 225 00:10:37,580 --> 00:10:39,580 Have you ever cried out, have you ever been in a place 226 00:10:39,580 --> 00:10:41,580 where you cried out to God like this? 227 00:10:41,580 --> 00:10:46,580 Listen, we all pray, we pray, but not all of us have found ourselves 228 00:10:46,580 --> 00:10:52,580 in a circumstance where we cry out from this place of deep anguish. 229 00:10:52,580 --> 00:10:56,580 And in moments like this, oftentimes you don't really know what to say to God. 230 00:10:56,580 --> 00:10:57,580 You don't know what to ask for. 231 00:10:57,580 --> 00:11:00,580 All you can do is look up as he does and says, 232 00:11:00,580 --> 00:11:04,580 Lord, hear me and help me. 233 00:11:04,580 --> 00:11:09,580 And the Father is gracious to hear just that simple prayer from his children. 234 00:11:09,580 --> 00:11:11,580 And he will carry you through that moment, 235 00:11:11,580 --> 00:11:15,580 even put the words in your mouth that you need to express your need to him, 236 00:11:15,580 --> 00:11:18,580 because he knows your need more than you know it. 237 00:11:18,580 --> 00:11:20,580 And he will carry you through that. 238 00:11:20,580 --> 00:11:25,580 Now, this isn't the only example in Scripture where we have this type of depth of anguish. 239 00:11:25,580 --> 00:11:28,580 In fact, we already read one of them this morning in our call to worship 240 00:11:28,580 --> 00:11:30,580 from the story of Jonah. 241 00:11:30,580 --> 00:11:31,580 Hear it again. 242 00:11:31,580 --> 00:11:35,580 From the belly of the fish, Jonah says, I called out to the Lord out of what? 243 00:11:35,580 --> 00:11:38,580 Out of my distress. 244 00:11:38,580 --> 00:11:45,580 And he answered me, out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. 245 00:11:45,580 --> 00:11:48,580 For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, 246 00:11:48,580 --> 00:11:50,580 and the flood surrounded me. 247 00:11:50,580 --> 00:11:54,580 All your waves and your billows passed over me. 248 00:11:54,580 --> 00:11:57,580 The waters closed in over me to take my life. 249 00:11:57,580 --> 00:12:01,580 The deep surrounded me. 250 00:12:01,580 --> 00:12:03,580 That's pretty deep right there. 251 00:12:03,580 --> 00:12:07,580 He has gone to the very base. 252 00:12:07,580 --> 00:12:08,580 Job is another great example, right? 253 00:12:08,580 --> 00:12:13,580 In the midst of the excessive pain that he was in, Job says some pretty shocking things. 254 00:12:13,580 --> 00:12:15,580 Listen to his despair. 255 00:12:15,580 --> 00:12:18,580 He cursed the day of his birth. 256 00:12:18,580 --> 00:12:21,580 May that day be one of darkness. 257 00:12:21,580 --> 00:12:24,580 May God above not seek it, nor light shine upon it. 258 00:12:24,580 --> 00:12:27,580 Let gloom and deep darkness claim it. 259 00:12:27,580 --> 00:12:32,580 Why did I not die at birth, come out from the womb and expire? 260 00:12:32,580 --> 00:12:38,580 My groaning comes at the sight of my food, and my cries pour out like water. 261 00:12:38,580 --> 00:12:41,580 Then you read what the sons of Korah wrote in Psalm 88, 262 00:12:41,580 --> 00:12:44,580 some of the darkest language in the entire Bible. 263 00:12:44,580 --> 00:12:48,580 O Lord God of my salvation, I cry out day and night before you, 264 00:12:48,580 --> 00:12:53,580 for my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol. 265 00:12:53,580 --> 00:12:57,580 I am counted among those who go down to the pit, 266 00:12:57,580 --> 00:13:04,580 like the slain that lie in the grave, like those whom you remember no more. 267 00:13:04,580 --> 00:13:07,580 That's again very, very deep. 268 00:13:07,580 --> 00:13:10,580 And this level of despair isn't just in the Old Testament. 269 00:13:10,580 --> 00:13:12,580 It happens in the New as well. 270 00:13:12,580 --> 00:13:16,580 Paul says this of himself and Timothy writing to the Corinthian church, 271 00:13:16,580 --> 00:13:22,580 for we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia, 272 00:13:22,580 --> 00:13:29,580 for we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 273 00:13:29,580 --> 00:13:33,580 Indeed we felt we could receive the sentence of death. 274 00:13:33,580 --> 00:13:38,580 And of course, similar thoughts are written all over the record of church history. 275 00:13:38,580 --> 00:13:43,580 So many we could take the next hours and go over all the examples in church history. 276 00:13:43,580 --> 00:13:47,580 But one example that I've read multiple times that really strikes at me 277 00:13:47,580 --> 00:13:50,580 is the story of a missionary by the name of David Brainerd, 278 00:13:50,580 --> 00:13:55,580 who during the colonial period in America quit university life at Yale 279 00:13:55,580 --> 00:13:59,580 in order to go do mission work among the native tribes. 280 00:13:59,580 --> 00:14:03,580 And Brainerd suffered from everything that you could possibly imagine. 281 00:14:03,580 --> 00:14:10,580 Illness, extreme hunger, loneliness, and a constant struggle to see any fruit at all 282 00:14:10,580 --> 00:14:13,580 produced through his tireless mission. 283 00:14:13,580 --> 00:14:19,580 And sick and exhausted, here's what he wrote before the Lord called him home at the age of 29. 284 00:14:19,580 --> 00:14:20,580 Here's what he wrote, 285 00:14:20,580 --> 00:14:25,580 I am so overwhelmed with depression that I knew not how to live. 286 00:14:25,580 --> 00:14:32,580 I longed for death exceedingly, my soul was sunk in deep waters. 287 00:14:32,580 --> 00:14:35,580 I want to share this with you for one purpose. 288 00:14:35,580 --> 00:14:41,580 Crying out to God from the depths should not be considered unusual for God's people. 289 00:14:41,580 --> 00:14:48,580 In fact, in most generations, it hasn't been unusual for God's people. 290 00:14:48,580 --> 00:14:53,580 We don't always realize that because you and I have lived very comfortable lives in this generation. 291 00:14:53,580 --> 00:14:58,580 But the historical record tells us that even for believers, life is hard. 292 00:14:58,580 --> 00:15:04,580 Sometimes it's very short and very brutal, being in danger, being sick, being persecuted, 293 00:15:04,580 --> 00:15:09,580 has always marked the lives of God's greatest servants. 294 00:15:09,580 --> 00:15:15,580 And so this type of prayer that we see in Psalm 130 is really not as unusual as it first looks. 295 00:15:15,580 --> 00:15:20,580 And if you haven't been in the depths yet, there's coming a day where you will be. 296 00:15:20,580 --> 00:15:23,580 To some degree or another, you will someday be in the depths. 297 00:15:23,580 --> 00:15:25,580 That's why knowing this Psalm, 298 00:15:25,580 --> 00:15:29,580 that's why knowing the stories of saints who have gone before us, who suffer greatly, 299 00:15:29,580 --> 00:15:35,580 but were counted faithful in the end, it is so important for us to carry these things with us 300 00:15:35,580 --> 00:15:38,580 for the day when it happens in our lives. 301 00:15:38,580 --> 00:15:40,580 And I know that sounds scary. 302 00:15:40,580 --> 00:15:43,580 We're not asking for that to happen, but it will happen. 303 00:15:43,580 --> 00:15:45,580 But I can share this bit of good news with you. 304 00:15:45,580 --> 00:15:52,580 When you do come through a time in the depths, life on the other side looks very, very different in a good way. 305 00:15:52,580 --> 00:15:56,580 It may take time, but your trust in the Lord will grow through that. 306 00:15:56,580 --> 00:16:02,580 It may take time, but your sensitivity to the Spirit's voice will get louder. 307 00:16:02,580 --> 00:16:07,580 And it may take time, but your abiding with Christ will become sweeter. 308 00:16:07,580 --> 00:16:12,580 As hard as the depths are, God ultimately intends them for our good. 309 00:16:12,580 --> 00:16:14,580 And Spurgeon talked about this. Here's how he put it. 310 00:16:14,580 --> 00:16:23,580 He said, prayer is never more real and acceptable than when it rises out of the worst places. 311 00:16:23,580 --> 00:16:27,580 Deep places beget deep devotion. 312 00:16:27,580 --> 00:16:33,580 Of those who have cried out to God, the majority would say, I owe it to the depths. 313 00:16:33,580 --> 00:16:36,580 I learned it there. 314 00:16:36,580 --> 00:16:43,580 And that's the work that God does through us and in us when we go through hard times. 315 00:16:43,580 --> 00:16:49,580 Now, what is the crisis here that has driven the author of Psalm 130 into these depths? 316 00:16:49,580 --> 00:16:55,580 Well, recall that in some of the other Psalms we've looked at, there's been all kinds of crises that the psalmist have talked about. 317 00:16:55,580 --> 00:16:59,580 Threats against their lives, oppression, physical sickness. 318 00:16:59,580 --> 00:17:01,580 But this one is very unique. 319 00:17:01,580 --> 00:17:09,580 In Psalm 130, the crisis is driven by the author's awareness of just how deep his depravity is. 320 00:17:09,580 --> 00:17:13,580 And how guilty he knows he is before God. 321 00:17:13,580 --> 00:17:14,580 Think about that. 322 00:17:14,580 --> 00:17:15,580 Look at verse 3. 323 00:17:15,580 --> 00:17:25,580 He says, if you, Yahweh, should mark iniquities, if you kept an account of our sin, O Adonai, who could stand? 324 00:17:25,580 --> 00:17:28,580 That's what he's contemplating here. 325 00:17:28,580 --> 00:17:33,580 Here's a fact that most of us prefer not to think about very often. 326 00:17:33,580 --> 00:17:36,580 This is something that we tend to push aside. 327 00:17:36,580 --> 00:17:46,580 There is no greater reason for a man to be in distress than when he contemplates his life before a perfectly holy God. 328 00:17:46,580 --> 00:17:49,580 Now, we don't want to think about that often, do we? 329 00:17:49,580 --> 00:17:54,580 In fact, most of society pushes that whole idea out of its mind. 330 00:17:54,580 --> 00:17:58,580 But that's when we might find ourselves in distress. 331 00:17:58,580 --> 00:18:00,580 I can point to Isaiah, for example. 332 00:18:00,580 --> 00:18:01,580 Isaiah is a great example. 333 00:18:01,580 --> 00:18:02,580 Do you remember what he discovered? 334 00:18:02,580 --> 00:18:06,580 He's given a vision and he's thrust suddenly into the presence of God. 335 00:18:06,580 --> 00:18:08,580 How does he react to it? 336 00:18:08,580 --> 00:18:14,580 Here's this great prophet of God being commissioned for ministry, a very godly man, more godly than me. 337 00:18:14,580 --> 00:18:16,580 I know that for sure. 338 00:18:16,580 --> 00:18:19,580 And suddenly he sees God seated on his throne. 339 00:18:19,580 --> 00:18:21,580 And what's his reaction? 340 00:18:21,580 --> 00:18:24,580 Oh, this is nice. 341 00:18:24,580 --> 00:18:25,580 This is a godly man. 342 00:18:25,580 --> 00:18:31,580 He says, woe is me, for I am ruined. 343 00:18:31,580 --> 00:18:33,580 Because I'm a man of unclean lips. 344 00:18:33,580 --> 00:18:35,580 I'm a sinful man. 345 00:18:35,580 --> 00:18:40,580 And I live among a people of unclean lips, sinful people. 346 00:18:40,580 --> 00:18:43,580 And my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. 347 00:18:43,580 --> 00:18:45,580 He is undone. 348 00:18:45,580 --> 00:18:51,580 In that moment, Isaiah is in the depths, just like the psalmist in Psalm 130. 349 00:18:51,580 --> 00:18:57,580 He's aware of how sinful he was in the presence of perfect holiness. 350 00:18:57,580 --> 00:19:02,580 Now, we're not given the event or the conditions that caused the psalmist to do this self-examination. 351 00:19:02,580 --> 00:19:06,580 But for whatever reason, he is asking this terrifying question. 352 00:19:06,580 --> 00:19:07,580 Are you ready? 353 00:19:07,580 --> 00:19:11,580 What if God dealt with me as I deserve? 354 00:19:11,580 --> 00:19:16,580 That's the terrifying question that he is bringing to his own heart. 355 00:19:16,580 --> 00:19:20,580 What if God dealt with me according to what I deserve? 356 00:19:20,580 --> 00:19:25,580 This is the biggest, deepest crisis the human soul will ever have to face. 357 00:19:25,580 --> 00:19:32,580 If we stop our hectic lives long enough to consider it, and most don't. 358 00:19:32,580 --> 00:19:36,580 Most people never even consider that. 359 00:19:36,580 --> 00:19:42,580 But the truth is, if we consider it, we will realize that we all deserve judgment and wrath. 360 00:19:42,580 --> 00:19:44,580 And that's no failure on God's part. 361 00:19:44,580 --> 00:19:46,580 It's due to our own iniquity. 362 00:19:46,580 --> 00:19:48,580 We put ourselves in this position. 363 00:19:48,580 --> 00:19:54,580 A wise man once said, we have met the enemy and he is us. 364 00:19:54,580 --> 00:20:02,580 This is why Augustine, after he got saved, famously prayed, Lord, save me from myself. 365 00:20:02,580 --> 00:20:05,580 Some of you guys know who Ligon Duncan is. 366 00:20:05,580 --> 00:20:06,580 Wonderful pastor. 367 00:20:06,580 --> 00:20:10,580 He tells the story of a conversation he once had with John Piper. 368 00:20:10,580 --> 00:20:13,580 They were at a pastoral conference together, both speakers. 369 00:20:13,580 --> 00:20:18,580 And Piper said to him, you know, I've never been bothered about the truthfulness of Christianity 370 00:20:18,580 --> 00:20:20,580 because of attacks against the Bible. 371 00:20:20,580 --> 00:20:22,580 It's never bothered me. 372 00:20:22,580 --> 00:20:24,580 And Duncan thought, that's a remarkable statement. 373 00:20:24,580 --> 00:20:27,580 This is a guy who did his PhD in New Testament. 374 00:20:27,580 --> 00:20:31,580 He's heard every attack against the Bible, and yet none of it has bothered him. 375 00:20:31,580 --> 00:20:35,580 And then Piper paused and he said, but you know what does give me doubts? 376 00:20:35,580 --> 00:20:40,580 My own lack of progress in sanctification. 377 00:20:40,580 --> 00:20:45,580 In other words, it was being aware of the depths of his own sin that caused John Piper 378 00:20:45,580 --> 00:20:49,580 the most discomfort in his life. 379 00:20:49,580 --> 00:20:51,580 The most discomfort in his walk with Jesus. 380 00:20:51,580 --> 00:20:53,580 And this is what the psalmist has figured out. 381 00:20:53,580 --> 00:20:55,580 He knows the same truth. 382 00:20:55,580 --> 00:20:56,580 We sang it earlier. 383 00:20:56,580 --> 00:21:00,580 We are not what we should be. 384 00:21:00,580 --> 00:21:05,580 No true believer is ever satisfied with where he's at with holiness, 385 00:21:05,580 --> 00:21:09,580 or his zeal for the things of God, or the pace of his sanctification, 386 00:21:09,580 --> 00:21:12,580 because our sin is ever before us. 387 00:21:12,580 --> 00:21:14,580 And there are times, and this is what the psalmist is dealing with, 388 00:21:14,580 --> 00:21:17,580 there are times in your life where you step back and you say, 389 00:21:17,580 --> 00:21:25,580 man, if I realized if God dealt with me according to my record, I would be toast. 390 00:21:25,580 --> 00:21:27,580 And that raises an interesting question. 391 00:21:27,580 --> 00:21:30,580 Does God keep a record of all of our sins? 392 00:21:30,580 --> 00:21:35,580 I mean, is there a list up in heaven somewhere of all the things that you and I have done wrong? 393 00:21:35,580 --> 00:21:38,580 Think about what a nightmare that would be. 394 00:21:38,580 --> 00:21:44,580 Every sinful thought, every sinful word, every sinful deed recorded for all of eternity, 395 00:21:44,580 --> 00:21:48,580 and not just sins of commission, things we've actually done, 396 00:21:48,580 --> 00:21:54,580 but sins of omission as well, meaning things that we ignored, 397 00:21:54,580 --> 00:21:57,580 commands that we failed to get around to do, 398 00:21:57,580 --> 00:22:02,580 commands that we did far below the standard required. 399 00:22:02,580 --> 00:22:06,580 If you added up all of your sins in just the past few hours, 400 00:22:06,580 --> 00:22:11,580 you could not stand before the judgment seat of God. 401 00:22:11,580 --> 00:22:15,580 Just in the last few hours. 402 00:22:15,580 --> 00:22:18,580 Now, is God aware of each of our sins? 403 00:22:18,580 --> 00:22:22,580 Of course, he's omniscient, and he doesn't suffer from amnesia. 404 00:22:22,580 --> 00:22:27,580 But the Hebrew word here for Mark in verse 3, Shammar, is a very interesting word. 405 00:22:27,580 --> 00:22:33,580 It's very specific. It means to keep, guard, or watch over. 406 00:22:33,580 --> 00:22:36,580 So the question being asked by the psalmist in verse 3 is this, 407 00:22:36,580 --> 00:22:42,580 Lord, if you keep careful track of my sins, if you watch over my sins, 408 00:22:42,580 --> 00:22:50,580 if you preserve this list of my sins, then I cannot possibly stand in your presence. 409 00:22:50,580 --> 00:22:52,580 Right? Who could? 410 00:22:52,580 --> 00:22:54,580 Nobody, right? That's the answer. Nobody could. 411 00:22:54,580 --> 00:22:58,580 And so the hope of the psalmist is this, that in his mercy, 412 00:22:58,580 --> 00:23:02,580 and that's the key word for this morning, in his mercy, 413 00:23:02,580 --> 00:23:06,580 God will not mark his sins in this way. 414 00:23:06,580 --> 00:23:09,580 Otherwise, he realizes what his future is. 415 00:23:09,580 --> 00:23:15,580 He's going to be just like Jonah, sinking into the abyss of Sheol. 416 00:23:15,580 --> 00:23:17,580 That's the crisis. 417 00:23:17,580 --> 00:23:20,580 So now we come to verse 4, right? 418 00:23:20,580 --> 00:23:22,580 Got to understand what's happened. 419 00:23:22,580 --> 00:23:25,580 He's lamented. He's now explained the crisis. 420 00:23:25,580 --> 00:23:28,580 Verse 4, he's longing for salvation. 421 00:23:28,580 --> 00:23:31,580 And what does it say? 422 00:23:31,580 --> 00:23:33,580 That there is forgiveness with you. 423 00:23:33,580 --> 00:23:35,580 Do you see the but? 424 00:23:35,580 --> 00:23:37,580 Is that the famous but from Ephesians 2, but God? 425 00:23:37,580 --> 00:23:39,580 Here we see it in the Old Testament. 426 00:23:39,580 --> 00:23:44,580 But there is forgiveness with you, that you may be feared. 427 00:23:44,580 --> 00:23:47,580 What an amazing statement. 428 00:23:47,580 --> 00:23:51,580 Listen, when you come to a place when you're overwhelmed by the immensity of your sin, 429 00:23:51,580 --> 00:23:53,580 and that's not a bad thing, by the way, 430 00:23:53,580 --> 00:23:56,580 to step back and be overwhelmed by the immensity of your sin, 431 00:23:56,580 --> 00:24:01,580 and you're in the depths of despair, this is the remedy. 432 00:24:01,580 --> 00:24:05,580 The important thing to do in that moment is to resist the temptation 433 00:24:05,580 --> 00:24:07,580 to believe the lies of the enemy, 434 00:24:07,580 --> 00:24:12,580 and to focus your mind and your heart on truth according to what God has said in his Word. 435 00:24:12,580 --> 00:24:14,580 And what has he said? 436 00:24:14,580 --> 00:24:17,580 With him there is forgiveness. 437 00:24:17,580 --> 00:24:22,580 Because when we're struggling like this, in that anguish, what do we tend to do? 438 00:24:22,580 --> 00:24:24,580 We tend to get fleshly, and we begin to think, 439 00:24:24,580 --> 00:24:27,580 oh, I'm awful, I'm terrible, I could never be loved. 440 00:24:27,580 --> 00:24:33,580 And we believe these lies because the enemy is just howling at us. 441 00:24:33,580 --> 00:24:36,580 But the remedy is to believe what God has said in his Word. 442 00:24:36,580 --> 00:24:39,580 With him there is forgiveness. 443 00:24:39,580 --> 00:24:42,580 I shared earlier, Luther loved this Psalm. 444 00:24:42,580 --> 00:24:44,580 In his commentary on it, he brings out this same point. 445 00:24:44,580 --> 00:24:45,580 Here's what he says. 446 00:24:45,580 --> 00:24:48,580 He says, the devil comes and howls at you, 447 00:24:48,580 --> 00:24:52,580 and tells you that your doom is sealed and your damnation is sure. 448 00:24:52,580 --> 00:24:55,580 Folks, expect that. 449 00:24:55,580 --> 00:24:56,580 Prepare for that. 450 00:24:56,580 --> 00:25:00,580 Put on the armor of God, because the enemy will howl at you. 451 00:25:00,580 --> 00:25:03,580 But there is forgiveness with God, Luther said. 452 00:25:03,580 --> 00:25:05,580 And that was his hope. 453 00:25:05,580 --> 00:25:10,580 Now other human beings may not forgive you if you've sinned against them, 454 00:25:10,580 --> 00:25:13,580 but there is one who will forgive. 455 00:25:13,580 --> 00:25:16,580 And in the new covenant age that we live in right now, 456 00:25:16,580 --> 00:25:20,580 that forgiveness comes through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. 457 00:25:20,580 --> 00:25:23,580 And it comes by God's sovereign grace and through faith alone 458 00:25:23,580 --> 00:25:26,580 in Jesus' sacrificial death and resurrection. 459 00:25:26,580 --> 00:25:30,580 With God, with Christ, there is forgiveness of sins. 460 00:25:30,580 --> 00:25:32,580 And this is so important to say. 461 00:25:32,580 --> 00:25:35,580 It is critical for everyone here this morning to hear this. 462 00:25:35,580 --> 00:25:40,580 And anybody who listens to this message later online, listen now. 463 00:25:40,580 --> 00:25:44,580 Notice that the psalmist puts no hope in himself here. 464 00:25:44,580 --> 00:25:45,580 Not in any way. 465 00:25:45,580 --> 00:25:46,580 There is no hope in himself. 466 00:25:46,580 --> 00:25:48,580 He doesn't say in verse four, 467 00:25:48,580 --> 00:25:51,580 but for those who obey you there is forgiveness. 468 00:25:51,580 --> 00:25:54,580 He doesn't say, but for those who strive to do their best, 469 00:25:54,580 --> 00:25:56,580 there is forgiveness. 470 00:25:56,580 --> 00:26:01,580 There is no mention here of him being worthy of being forgiven. 471 00:26:01,580 --> 00:26:05,580 No mention of him being, well, I'm better than most people. 472 00:26:05,580 --> 00:26:08,580 No mention of his good works in the past. 473 00:26:08,580 --> 00:26:11,580 No mention of him promising to do better in the future. 474 00:26:11,580 --> 00:26:14,580 He simply points to the character of God and says, 475 00:26:14,580 --> 00:26:18,580 there is forgiveness with you. 476 00:26:18,580 --> 00:26:19,580 That's where he puts his hope. 477 00:26:19,580 --> 00:26:25,580 His hope is in the nature and character of Yahweh. 478 00:26:25,580 --> 00:26:28,580 Paul, by the way, makes the same point in Romans 9. 479 00:26:28,580 --> 00:26:31,580 He begins by quoting from Exodus 33 and he says, 480 00:26:31,580 --> 00:26:34,580 the Lord said to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy 481 00:26:34,580 --> 00:26:37,580 and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. 482 00:26:37,580 --> 00:26:43,580 So then, check this now, so then it does not depend on the man 483 00:26:43,580 --> 00:26:51,580 who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. 484 00:26:51,580 --> 00:26:52,580 That's who God is. 485 00:26:52,580 --> 00:26:59,580 He alone has mercy and he will have mercy on whom he is pleased 486 00:26:59,580 --> 00:27:01,580 to have mercy. 487 00:27:01,580 --> 00:27:04,580 And to some extent, we have messed this up in the church, 488 00:27:04,580 --> 00:27:07,580 at least in the time that I've been in the church, 489 00:27:07,580 --> 00:27:10,580 wanting so badly for people to quote, get saved, 490 00:27:10,580 --> 00:27:13,580 encouraging them just to pray a prayer of salvation. 491 00:27:13,580 --> 00:27:19,580 We have subtly communicated to people that forgiveness happens 492 00:27:19,580 --> 00:27:23,580 because of us, because of our decision, 493 00:27:23,580 --> 00:27:25,580 because of the strength of our faith. 494 00:27:25,580 --> 00:27:28,580 Like so many other things, we've made it about us. 495 00:27:28,580 --> 00:27:30,580 Now, I'm not saying that our decisions don't matter 496 00:27:30,580 --> 00:27:32,580 or that our faith doesn't matter, 497 00:27:32,580 --> 00:27:34,580 but look at the truth in Romans 9. 498 00:27:34,580 --> 00:27:38,580 It does not depend on the man. 499 00:27:38,580 --> 00:27:44,580 The decisive factor is the Lord, for he has mercy. 500 00:27:44,580 --> 00:27:47,580 We need to get that right. 501 00:27:47,580 --> 00:27:51,580 We need to get our theology of salvation right. 502 00:27:51,580 --> 00:27:55,580 By the way, why does God forgive any of us? 503 00:27:55,580 --> 00:27:58,580 Isn't that really the biggest question? 504 00:27:58,580 --> 00:28:02,580 For a people like you and I who fall so short of the standard 505 00:28:02,580 --> 00:28:06,580 of holiness, why would he forgive us? 506 00:28:06,580 --> 00:28:07,580 The answer is the same. 507 00:28:07,580 --> 00:28:10,580 It's because of who he is. 508 00:28:10,580 --> 00:28:13,580 It's because of the character and nature of God. 509 00:28:13,580 --> 00:28:17,580 Recall how he described himself to Moses up on Mount Sinai. 510 00:28:17,580 --> 00:28:21,580 Yahweh, Yahweh-el, compassionate and gracious, 511 00:28:21,580 --> 00:28:25,580 slow to anger and abounding in loving-kindness and truth, 512 00:28:25,580 --> 00:28:27,580 who keeps loving-kindness for thousands, 513 00:28:27,580 --> 00:28:31,580 who forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin, 514 00:28:31,580 --> 00:28:34,580 yet he will be by no means leave the guilty unpunished. 515 00:28:34,580 --> 00:28:37,580 Guys, understand, this is an incredible moment 516 00:28:37,580 --> 00:28:40,580 in scriptural history where Moses says, 517 00:28:40,580 --> 00:28:43,580 show me who you are, and God says, this is me. 518 00:28:43,580 --> 00:28:46,580 So look carefully at it. 519 00:28:46,580 --> 00:28:48,580 You want to know who God is? 520 00:28:48,580 --> 00:28:51,580 This is about as a direct answer as you'll find. 521 00:28:51,580 --> 00:28:54,580 And what you see here are two of his greatest attributes. 522 00:28:54,580 --> 00:28:57,580 Number one, yes, he punishes the guilty. 523 00:28:57,580 --> 00:28:59,580 He is a perfect judge. 524 00:28:59,580 --> 00:29:02,580 But number two, he is compassionate, gracious, 525 00:29:02,580 --> 00:29:07,580 and forgiving, and those things do not contradict. 526 00:29:07,580 --> 00:29:09,580 All of humanity is guilty before him. 527 00:29:09,580 --> 00:29:11,580 All deserve punishment, 528 00:29:11,580 --> 00:29:13,580 but because there is forgiveness with God, 529 00:29:13,580 --> 00:29:17,580 we can place our hope, not in us, not in anything that we do, 530 00:29:17,580 --> 00:29:23,580 but in him alone and trust that he will be merciful and save us. 531 00:29:23,580 --> 00:29:26,580 Which means we should revisit the way David approached this 532 00:29:26,580 --> 00:29:29,580 in Psalm 51, because if there is an example 533 00:29:29,580 --> 00:29:31,580 of how to do this well, how to look at this issue 534 00:29:31,580 --> 00:29:34,580 of my guilt but God's compassion, 535 00:29:34,580 --> 00:29:37,580 you cannot do better than David. 536 00:29:37,580 --> 00:29:40,580 He says, be gracious to me, O God. 537 00:29:40,580 --> 00:29:42,580 I mean, if you want to, tomorrow morning, 538 00:29:42,580 --> 00:29:45,580 if you want to say a prayer, turn to this passage. 539 00:29:45,580 --> 00:29:47,580 Let it be a model for you. 540 00:29:47,580 --> 00:29:50,580 Be gracious to me, O God. 541 00:29:50,580 --> 00:29:53,580 He doesn't come to him with his, you know, how much he's, 542 00:29:53,580 --> 00:29:55,580 how worthy he is, how much he is owed anything. 543 00:29:55,580 --> 00:29:57,580 He says, Lord, I just need grace. 544 00:29:57,580 --> 00:30:00,580 Be gracious to me, O God, according to your loving kindness 545 00:30:00,580 --> 00:30:03,580 that is according to who you are, 546 00:30:03,580 --> 00:30:05,580 according to the greatness of your compassion, 547 00:30:05,580 --> 00:30:07,580 blot out my transgressions. 548 00:30:07,580 --> 00:30:11,580 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity 549 00:30:11,580 --> 00:30:13,580 and cleanse me from my sin. 550 00:30:13,580 --> 00:30:15,580 Look at that next line. 551 00:30:15,580 --> 00:30:18,580 For I know my transgressions. 552 00:30:18,580 --> 00:30:20,580 He's not hiding anything. 553 00:30:20,580 --> 00:30:22,580 He's not trying to camouflage his goodness. 554 00:30:22,580 --> 00:30:23,580 I know them. 555 00:30:23,580 --> 00:30:27,580 My sin is ever before me. 556 00:30:27,580 --> 00:30:29,580 How many of you guys feel like that? 557 00:30:29,580 --> 00:30:32,580 Every day, my sin is ever before me. 558 00:30:32,580 --> 00:30:33,580 It's okay. 559 00:30:33,580 --> 00:30:35,580 God knows. 560 00:30:35,580 --> 00:30:37,580 It was true of David as well. 561 00:30:37,580 --> 00:30:40,580 It's not okay to push it out like it doesn't matter. 562 00:30:40,580 --> 00:30:43,580 Let your sin be ever before you. 563 00:30:43,580 --> 00:30:44,580 Why? 564 00:30:44,580 --> 00:30:48,580 So that you will appeal to God for his mercy. 565 00:30:48,580 --> 00:30:50,580 Against you and you only, I have sinned 566 00:30:50,580 --> 00:30:52,580 and done what is evil in your sight, 567 00:30:52,580 --> 00:30:54,580 so that you are justified when you speak 568 00:30:54,580 --> 00:30:56,580 and blameless when you judge. 569 00:30:56,580 --> 00:30:58,580 So David says, I deserve your wrath, 570 00:30:58,580 --> 00:31:00,580 but Lord, I'm asking for your grace 571 00:31:00,580 --> 00:31:04,580 because this is the only plea that I have. 572 00:31:04,580 --> 00:31:06,580 Don't deal with me as I deserve. 573 00:31:06,580 --> 00:31:09,580 Deal with me according to your steadfast love. 574 00:31:09,580 --> 00:31:12,580 Guys, this is the heart of the gospel, is it not? 575 00:31:12,580 --> 00:31:16,580 Right in the middle of the Old Testament. 576 00:31:16,580 --> 00:31:19,580 Now, did you catch the last phrase in verse four? 577 00:31:19,580 --> 00:31:24,580 There's forgiveness with you that you may be what? 578 00:31:24,580 --> 00:31:25,580 What? 579 00:31:25,580 --> 00:31:27,580 Feared. 580 00:31:27,580 --> 00:31:29,580 Now, does that look wrong at first glance? 581 00:31:29,580 --> 00:31:31,580 Here's what you might expect. 582 00:31:31,580 --> 00:31:35,580 There's forgiveness with you so that you might be loved. 583 00:31:35,580 --> 00:31:38,580 That you might be worshiped. 584 00:31:38,580 --> 00:31:42,580 But listen, being forgiven ought to lead you and I to fear God. 585 00:31:42,580 --> 00:31:45,580 And I mean fear in a biblical sense, not in a worldly sense. 586 00:31:45,580 --> 00:31:47,580 We're not to be afraid of our Father in heaven 587 00:31:47,580 --> 00:31:49,580 once we've been saved, 588 00:31:49,580 --> 00:31:52,580 but when he forgives our sins, we should fear him in the sense 589 00:31:52,580 --> 00:31:55,580 of having greater love for him and greater respect for him 590 00:31:55,580 --> 00:31:58,580 and greater honor for him and greater reverence for him. 591 00:31:58,580 --> 00:32:02,580 And that is by his design because when he lavishes us 592 00:32:02,580 --> 00:32:05,580 with his mercy, it humbles us. 593 00:32:05,580 --> 00:32:09,580 And it wrecks any pride that we have in our own goodness. 594 00:32:09,580 --> 00:32:12,580 It destroys our own self-righteousness. 595 00:32:12,580 --> 00:32:15,580 And as a believer saved by grace, you fear God 596 00:32:15,580 --> 00:32:18,580 because you know something is true. 597 00:32:18,580 --> 00:32:22,580 And here's what it is, that he has every reason to condemn you. 598 00:32:22,580 --> 00:32:28,580 But instead he's willed to forgive you and to save you. 599 00:32:28,580 --> 00:32:31,580 That's a healthy fear, isn't it? 600 00:32:31,580 --> 00:32:35,580 Now what you really fear is the thought of not loving him 601 00:32:35,580 --> 00:32:37,580 as fully as you ought to. 602 00:32:37,580 --> 00:32:39,580 That's a totally different fear, isn't it? 603 00:32:39,580 --> 00:32:42,580 Thomas Adams, the great Puritan said, 604 00:32:42,580 --> 00:32:45,580 no man more fully loves God than the man 605 00:32:45,580 --> 00:32:48,580 that is most fearful to offend him. 606 00:32:48,580 --> 00:32:51,580 This week I read an amazing historical account 607 00:32:51,580 --> 00:32:55,580 that took place back in 1833, the time when 608 00:32:55,580 --> 00:32:59,580 the Christian influence in British Parliament 609 00:32:59,580 --> 00:33:03,580 convinced the nation of England to abolish slavery, 610 00:33:03,580 --> 00:33:08,580 not just in the homeland but throughout her colonies. 611 00:33:08,580 --> 00:33:12,580 And on the night before that act of abolishing slavery 612 00:33:12,580 --> 00:33:15,580 was to take effect, historians of the country 613 00:33:15,580 --> 00:33:18,580 say that the slaves in the British West Indies 614 00:33:18,580 --> 00:33:21,580 never went to sleep. 615 00:33:21,580 --> 00:33:24,580 Instead they went to their houses of worship 616 00:33:24,580 --> 00:33:27,580 and they spent the night singing praises to God 617 00:33:27,580 --> 00:33:31,580 and waiting for daybreak. 618 00:33:31,580 --> 00:33:34,580 Because when day broke they knew that their time in chains 619 00:33:34,580 --> 00:33:36,580 would finally be over. 620 00:33:36,580 --> 00:33:39,580 And tens of thousands of these slaves waited 621 00:33:39,580 --> 00:33:41,580 and watched that night. 622 00:33:41,580 --> 00:33:43,580 Can you imagine the feeling of that? 623 00:33:43,580 --> 00:33:48,580 Tomorrow I'm free for the first time in my life. 624 00:33:48,580 --> 00:33:50,580 And just before dawn they sent a few messengers 625 00:33:50,580 --> 00:33:53,580 to climb to the top of a few select hills 626 00:33:53,580 --> 00:33:55,580 so that they could signal to the rest 627 00:33:55,580 --> 00:33:59,580 as soon as daylight had arrived. 628 00:33:59,580 --> 00:34:03,580 Out of the depths of slavery they were now free. 629 00:34:03,580 --> 00:34:08,580 And with that in mind, look at verses five and six now. 630 00:34:08,580 --> 00:34:11,580 I wait for Yahweh, 631 00:34:11,580 --> 00:34:14,580 my soul does wait, 632 00:34:14,580 --> 00:34:17,580 and in his word do I hope. 633 00:34:17,580 --> 00:34:20,580 My soul waits for Adonai more than the watchman for the morning, 634 00:34:20,580 --> 00:34:25,580 indeed more than the watchman for the morning. 635 00:34:25,580 --> 00:34:29,580 So what is the psalmist waiting on? 636 00:34:29,580 --> 00:34:31,580 There's lots of opinions on this 637 00:34:31,580 --> 00:34:33,580 and it's not entirely clear, 638 00:34:33,580 --> 00:34:35,580 I'll give you my opinion in just a moment, 639 00:34:35,580 --> 00:34:38,580 but the first thing we should say is what it can't be, 640 00:34:38,580 --> 00:34:41,580 he's not waiting on forgiveness, 641 00:34:41,580 --> 00:34:43,580 because forgiveness is not something 642 00:34:43,580 --> 00:34:45,580 that God just dishes out over time. 643 00:34:45,580 --> 00:34:49,580 It's either present from him or it's not present. 644 00:34:49,580 --> 00:34:52,580 So I think this is a multilayered thing. 645 00:34:52,580 --> 00:34:54,580 By the way, that's not uncommon in scripture 646 00:34:54,580 --> 00:34:56,580 to have a present day meaning 647 00:34:56,580 --> 00:34:58,580 and a future eschatological meaning, 648 00:34:58,580 --> 00:35:00,580 but first in the present, 649 00:35:00,580 --> 00:35:02,580 the psalmist is waiting for a renewed sense 650 00:35:02,580 --> 00:35:05,580 of God's presence and love. 651 00:35:05,580 --> 00:35:09,580 He's had this cleansing time of confession 652 00:35:09,580 --> 00:35:12,580 and now he's looking for the presence of God's love. 653 00:35:12,580 --> 00:35:14,580 Because friends, here's the truth, 654 00:35:14,580 --> 00:35:18,580 unconfessed sin strains our fellowship with God. 655 00:35:18,580 --> 00:35:22,580 It puts up an obstacle between him and us. 656 00:35:22,580 --> 00:35:25,580 But confession and repentance does the opposite. 657 00:35:25,580 --> 00:35:28,580 It restores and rebuilds intimacy with God, 658 00:35:28,580 --> 00:35:31,580 and I think that's what the psalmist is now longing for. 659 00:35:31,580 --> 00:35:33,580 And I think that's borne out by the reference, 660 00:35:33,580 --> 00:35:35,580 repeated reference, by the way, 661 00:35:35,580 --> 00:35:38,580 that his soul is waiting like a watchman. 662 00:35:38,580 --> 00:35:41,580 He is watching for and anticipating God's mercies 663 00:35:41,580 --> 00:35:44,580 that he knows are new every morning. 664 00:35:44,580 --> 00:35:47,580 He's looking for daybreak for a fresh start with God 665 00:35:47,580 --> 00:35:49,580 now that he has cleansed himself. 666 00:35:49,580 --> 00:35:51,580 He has laid himself before the Lord and said, 667 00:35:51,580 --> 00:35:54,580 there is forgiveness. 668 00:35:54,580 --> 00:35:58,580 Have you ever experienced that? 669 00:35:58,580 --> 00:36:01,580 When you've been engaged in sin, 670 00:36:01,580 --> 00:36:04,580 you've been in a desert period, you've been far from God, 671 00:36:04,580 --> 00:36:05,580 and you know why. 672 00:36:05,580 --> 00:36:06,580 It's not because God moved. 673 00:36:06,580 --> 00:36:08,580 It's because you've been in sin, 674 00:36:08,580 --> 00:36:11,580 and you've put up an obstacle between you and him. 675 00:36:11,580 --> 00:36:13,580 Your fellowship is broken. 676 00:36:13,580 --> 00:36:16,580 And then you come to him and you have quiet time, 677 00:36:16,580 --> 00:36:20,580 and you say, Lord, I have got to get this off my chest. 678 00:36:20,580 --> 00:36:22,580 Now, did he know already? 679 00:36:22,580 --> 00:36:23,580 Of course he knew. 680 00:36:23,580 --> 00:36:27,580 But that quiet time of honesty and transparency, 681 00:36:27,580 --> 00:36:29,580 of laying your sins before him 682 00:36:29,580 --> 00:36:32,580 like a father might do or like a child might do to his father. 683 00:36:32,580 --> 00:36:34,580 And when you're done with that, 684 00:36:34,580 --> 00:36:36,580 you look forward to that next morning 685 00:36:36,580 --> 00:36:38,580 to this renewed sense of cleansing and refreshment 686 00:36:38,580 --> 00:36:40,580 as you walk into your day. 687 00:36:40,580 --> 00:36:41,580 I think that's in the present, 688 00:36:41,580 --> 00:36:43,580 that's what the psalmist is waiting on. 689 00:36:43,580 --> 00:36:45,580 But then there's the second layer of meaning, 690 00:36:45,580 --> 00:36:48,580 and that's the ultimate one, the eschatological one. 691 00:36:48,580 --> 00:36:52,580 The psalmist waits for that day of salvation. 692 00:36:52,580 --> 00:36:53,580 And we all do. 693 00:36:53,580 --> 00:36:55,580 We wait for the ultimate salvation. 694 00:36:55,580 --> 00:36:57,580 Like those slaves in the West Indies, 695 00:36:57,580 --> 00:36:59,580 we look forward to the day of freedom 696 00:36:59,580 --> 00:37:02,580 for that time when sin will be no more. 697 00:37:02,580 --> 00:37:04,580 We will not be affected by the enemy. 698 00:37:04,580 --> 00:37:07,580 There will be no sinful inclination in our heart. 699 00:37:07,580 --> 00:37:09,580 We will have true freedom. 700 00:37:09,580 --> 00:37:10,580 There will be no more anguish, 701 00:37:10,580 --> 00:37:15,580 no more time in the depths when we're with the Lord. 702 00:37:15,580 --> 00:37:18,580 But until that moment, look what the psalmist does. 703 00:37:18,580 --> 00:37:21,580 He says, my hope is rooted in what? 704 00:37:21,580 --> 00:37:22,580 In verse 5. 705 00:37:22,580 --> 00:37:24,580 In your word. 706 00:37:24,580 --> 00:37:28,580 What he means by that is in your promises. 707 00:37:28,580 --> 00:37:31,580 My hope is rooted in the promises 708 00:37:31,580 --> 00:37:34,580 that you have given to your people. 709 00:37:34,580 --> 00:37:36,580 And as we gather here this morning, guys, 710 00:37:36,580 --> 00:37:37,580 this is our hope as well. 711 00:37:37,580 --> 00:37:42,580 What are the promises that God has given us in His Word? 712 00:37:42,580 --> 00:37:46,580 Promises of cleansing, promises of forgiveness, 713 00:37:46,580 --> 00:37:50,580 promises of mercy, promises of redemption, 714 00:37:50,580 --> 00:37:53,580 and ultimately, eschatologically, 715 00:37:53,580 --> 00:37:55,580 a promise to save us forever and ever. 716 00:37:55,580 --> 00:37:57,580 And just like the watchman, 717 00:37:57,580 --> 00:38:00,580 the psalmist knows that even though the night drags on slowly, 718 00:38:00,580 --> 00:38:03,580 how many of you guys have ever worked nights? 719 00:38:03,580 --> 00:38:05,580 Oh, it moves slowly. 720 00:38:05,580 --> 00:38:07,580 I was once a security guard in college 721 00:38:07,580 --> 00:38:09,580 who worked the night shift. 722 00:38:09,580 --> 00:38:11,580 Man, it moves slow. 723 00:38:11,580 --> 00:38:12,580 But you know what? 724 00:38:12,580 --> 00:38:16,580 Every single day, morning comes. 725 00:38:16,580 --> 00:38:20,580 It's a certain hope that daylight will come. 726 00:38:20,580 --> 00:38:22,580 And friends, that's how we should wait and hope. 727 00:38:22,580 --> 00:38:25,580 Even today, Jesus will return. 728 00:38:25,580 --> 00:38:27,580 And when He does, we'll be changed forever, 729 00:38:27,580 --> 00:38:29,580 and that is a certain hope. 730 00:38:29,580 --> 00:38:33,580 It's the nighttime now, but morning is coming. 731 00:38:33,580 --> 00:38:35,580 Morning is coming. 732 00:38:35,580 --> 00:38:37,580 Okay, quickly, last two verses. 733 00:38:37,580 --> 00:38:40,580 Get this now, the psalmist has gone from the depths of despair 734 00:38:40,580 --> 00:38:44,580 to the heights of forgiveness and joyful anticipation, 735 00:38:44,580 --> 00:38:48,580 and now he cannot just stop with himself. 736 00:38:48,580 --> 00:38:52,580 He knows that others in Israel are where he was at. 737 00:38:52,580 --> 00:38:54,580 They need forgiveness too. 738 00:38:54,580 --> 00:38:56,580 So verses seven and eight are his appeal 739 00:38:56,580 --> 00:38:58,580 to his brothers and sisters. 740 00:38:58,580 --> 00:39:00,580 Oh, Israel, hope in Yahweh. 741 00:39:00,580 --> 00:39:04,580 For with Yahweh, there is loving kindness, 742 00:39:04,580 --> 00:39:06,580 and with Him is abundant redemption, 743 00:39:06,580 --> 00:39:10,580 and He will redeem Israel from all his iniquities. 744 00:39:10,580 --> 00:39:13,580 So I love all the theological language in this very short psalm. 745 00:39:13,580 --> 00:39:15,580 First of all, forgiveness. 746 00:39:15,580 --> 00:39:17,580 Second of all, loving kindness. 747 00:39:17,580 --> 00:39:20,580 And third, we get this beautiful word, redemption, 748 00:39:20,580 --> 00:39:22,580 to be bought back. 749 00:39:22,580 --> 00:39:23,580 Redemption. 750 00:39:23,580 --> 00:39:26,580 And not just redemption, but what kind of redemption? 751 00:39:26,580 --> 00:39:29,580 Abundant, plentiful redemption. 752 00:39:29,580 --> 00:39:31,580 Luther comments on this as well. 753 00:39:31,580 --> 00:39:36,580 Although our sin is great, yet His redemption is greater. 754 00:39:36,580 --> 00:39:38,580 Now, do you see that quote? 755 00:39:38,580 --> 00:39:42,580 It's the inspiration for a song that we love to sing here at Oak Hill. 756 00:39:42,580 --> 00:39:45,580 Our sins, they are many. 757 00:39:45,580 --> 00:39:49,580 His mercy is more. 758 00:39:49,580 --> 00:39:52,580 Straight out of Psalm 130. 759 00:39:52,580 --> 00:39:54,580 So as we wrap up, I want to make an appeal 760 00:39:54,580 --> 00:39:56,580 to anyone here this morning, 761 00:39:56,580 --> 00:39:58,580 anyone who might listen later online, 762 00:39:58,580 --> 00:40:01,580 to anyone who has no assurance, 763 00:40:01,580 --> 00:40:04,580 no assurance that your sins have been forgiven 764 00:40:04,580 --> 00:40:06,580 as you sit here. 765 00:40:06,580 --> 00:40:09,580 Look at Psalm 130. 766 00:40:09,580 --> 00:40:11,580 Look at the staircase. 767 00:40:11,580 --> 00:40:13,580 I want to put it back up. 768 00:40:13,580 --> 00:40:16,580 See how at first it brings us face to face 769 00:40:16,580 --> 00:40:18,580 with the harsh reality, 770 00:40:18,580 --> 00:40:21,580 the depths of our sin. 771 00:40:21,580 --> 00:40:24,580 But then how it ascends up to the heights of salvation, 772 00:40:24,580 --> 00:40:26,580 where we come to this wonder and amazement 773 00:40:26,580 --> 00:40:29,580 about God's mercy and grace and forgiveness. 774 00:40:29,580 --> 00:40:31,580 Make sure you see both ends of that, 775 00:40:31,580 --> 00:40:34,580 because that is the human experience. 776 00:40:34,580 --> 00:40:37,580 Both the bottom rung and the top rung. 777 00:40:37,580 --> 00:40:38,580 And what a journey. 778 00:40:38,580 --> 00:40:40,580 Paul says in Romans 7, you know this verse, 779 00:40:40,580 --> 00:40:43,580 O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me 780 00:40:43,580 --> 00:40:44,580 from this body of death. 781 00:40:44,580 --> 00:40:45,580 That's in the depths. 782 00:40:45,580 --> 00:40:46,580 That's the bottom rung. 783 00:40:46,580 --> 00:40:48,580 But then Paul gives us the answer. 784 00:40:48,580 --> 00:40:50,580 What's the answer? 785 00:40:50,580 --> 00:40:53,580 Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 786 00:40:53,580 --> 00:40:56,580 That's who will deliver us. 787 00:40:56,580 --> 00:41:00,580 That's how you get from the bottom rung to the top. 788 00:41:00,580 --> 00:41:02,580 Who can stand? 789 00:41:02,580 --> 00:41:04,580 The psalmist asks. 790 00:41:04,580 --> 00:41:06,580 Well, John tells us who can stand. 791 00:41:06,580 --> 00:41:09,580 The man who has Jesus at his side 792 00:41:09,580 --> 00:41:14,580 as his advocate, pleading his case before the Father. 793 00:41:14,580 --> 00:41:16,580 That's how you stand in the courtroom 794 00:41:16,580 --> 00:41:19,580 when you've got Jesus as your advocate. 795 00:41:19,580 --> 00:41:22,580 Though we do stand guilty in that courtroom, 796 00:41:22,580 --> 00:41:24,580 Christ intervenes on our behalf, 797 00:41:24,580 --> 00:41:27,580 and he offers to the Father his righteous life 798 00:41:27,580 --> 00:41:30,580 and his sacrificial death as our defense. 799 00:41:30,580 --> 00:41:32,580 Can you believe that? 800 00:41:32,580 --> 00:41:33,580 Can you believe that? 801 00:41:33,580 --> 00:41:37,580 Does that not cause you to fear God? 802 00:41:37,580 --> 00:41:39,580 And if we're covered by his blood, 803 00:41:39,580 --> 00:41:45,580 the Father then imputes the righteousness of Jesus to us. 804 00:41:45,580 --> 00:41:50,580 And then he takes our sin and puts it on Jesus. 805 00:41:50,580 --> 00:41:52,580 That is the most glorious exchange 806 00:41:52,580 --> 00:41:54,580 you've ever heard in your life. 807 00:41:54,580 --> 00:42:00,580 Man. 808 00:42:00,580 --> 00:42:03,580 No one, not even our howling enemy, 809 00:42:03,580 --> 00:42:06,580 can bring a charge against a child of God 810 00:42:06,580 --> 00:42:09,580 who is found in Christ and has Christ as his advocate. 811 00:42:09,580 --> 00:42:11,580 Friends, that's the only hope we have. 812 00:42:11,580 --> 00:42:14,580 Just like David, that's the only plea we have. 813 00:42:14,580 --> 00:42:18,580 The mercy and the grace of God with Jesus at our side. 814 00:42:18,580 --> 00:42:21,580 So if the list of your sins remains on your record, 815 00:42:21,580 --> 00:42:22,580 you cannot stand. 816 00:42:22,580 --> 00:42:25,580 You will not stand when that day comes. 817 00:42:25,580 --> 00:42:29,580 So before any more time passes, 818 00:42:29,580 --> 00:42:31,580 to anybody who doesn't have assurance this morning, 819 00:42:31,580 --> 00:42:33,580 before any more time passes, 820 00:42:33,580 --> 00:42:35,580 discover right now what the psalmist has said. 821 00:42:35,580 --> 00:42:38,580 There is forgiveness with God. 822 00:42:38,580 --> 00:42:40,580 And that forgiveness is found only, 823 00:42:40,580 --> 00:42:46,580 only through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. 824 00:42:46,580 --> 00:42:53,580 Let's bow our heads. 825 00:42:53,580 --> 00:42:55,580 Father, we do thank you for the beauty of this short 826 00:42:55,580 --> 00:43:02,580 but powerful psalm that you have chosen to gift to your church 827 00:43:02,580 --> 00:43:05,580 as a means of helping us to understand 828 00:43:05,580 --> 00:43:07,580 these two important things, 829 00:43:07,580 --> 00:43:11,580 how truly guilty we are before you, 830 00:43:11,580 --> 00:43:14,580 but how much forgiveness there is 831 00:43:14,580 --> 00:43:16,580 when we put our trust in you. 832 00:43:16,580 --> 00:43:18,580 And that we would see both ends of that ladder 833 00:43:18,580 --> 00:43:21,580 from the bottom rung to the top. 834 00:43:21,580 --> 00:43:23,580 And that we would lay aside our pride 835 00:43:23,580 --> 00:43:25,580 and our self-righteousness or any sense 836 00:43:25,580 --> 00:43:27,580 that we might be owed something from you 837 00:43:27,580 --> 00:43:29,580 or that we've earned anything 838 00:43:29,580 --> 00:43:34,580 and just throw ourselves on the mercy of your throne. 839 00:43:34,580 --> 00:43:36,580 And you will meet us there and you will love us 840 00:43:36,580 --> 00:43:43,580 and you will care for us and you will adopt us forevermore. 841 00:43:43,580 --> 00:43:45,580 Lord, if you kept in account of iniquities, 842 00:43:45,580 --> 00:43:48,580 who could stand? 843 00:43:48,580 --> 00:43:52,580 I pray that every person who can hear my voice this morning 844 00:43:52,580 --> 00:43:54,580 will put their faith in Christ 845 00:43:54,580 --> 00:44:01,580 and have him as an advocate before the judgment seat. 846 00:44:01,580 --> 00:44:05,580 Father, we're overwhelmed by your goodness in this. 847 00:44:05,580 --> 00:44:10,580 We fear you, we revere you, we honor you, we respect you, 848 00:44:10,580 --> 00:44:12,580 and we worship you. 849 00:44:12,580 --> 00:44:13,580 And pray that we'll do that well, 850 00:44:13,580 --> 00:44:15,580 even in the last couple of songs that we sing, 851 00:44:15,580 --> 00:44:17,580 that your name might be lifted up. 852 00:44:17,580 --> 00:44:19,580 Thank you again for this time. 853 00:44:19,580 --> 00:44:24,580 We pray in Jesus' name, amen.