Finding Forgiveness (Psalm 130)
On February 20, 1546, two days after Martin Luther died, those among his funeral procession gathered to sing one of his own hymns: From Depths of Woe I Cry to Thee.[1] This hymn, a paraphrase of Psalm 130, was near and dear to Luther’s heart. As one of his earliest hymns, written in 1523 (a mere six years after nailing the 95 Theses), the words express precisely the inner struggle—and subsequent peace of mind—felt by Luther after learning the truths of the Gospel that had been so thoroughly obscured by the Roman Catholic religion throughout his early life. In short, this psalm described Luther’s own journey in finding forgiveness.
As “A Song of Ascents,” this particular psalm was intended to be recited by those traveling to the temple for worship, “ascending” to Jerusalem (a city that is geographically elevated above its surrounding). Since the exact historical setting of the psalm is unknown, its timeless nature has allowed those in all walks of life to readily access and enjoy its truths—including Luther himself.
The psalm divides neatly into four sections, describing how the Psalmist requested God’s pity, considered God’s pardon, awaited God’s promises, and then encouraged God’s people.
God’s Pity Requested (Psalm 130:1-2)
A Song of Ascents.
Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord.
Lord, hear my voice!
Let Your ears be attentive
To the voice of my supplications.
The Psalmist began by explaining the anguish he felt. Though not described specifically, his despair is likened to drowning in deep waters (“out of the depths”). It is as if he had been submerged in his own guilt, unable to breathe. Recognizing his utter spiritual failure, wave after wave of shame crashed upon his conscience. From this state of mind, he described “crying out” to Yahweh, using a common verb that means “to summon, invite, or call for.” He was in over his head and knew that the solution to his problem didn’t lie within his own strength—which ultimately compounded his anxiety. He was not only buried in guilt; he was buried in the frustration of his own inability to solve it.
Luther could have easily identified with this.
As one who sought to earn God’s favor through all forms of asceticism, he tried everything he could to wash away his sin. According to Luther, “When I was a monk, I wearied myself greatly for almost fifteen years with the daily sacrifice, tortured myself with fastings, vigils, prayers, and other very rigorous works. I earnestly thought to acquire righteousness by my works.”[2] Of course, none of that could calm his guilty conscience. He knew that he could do nothing to reconcile himself to a holy God. And so it was that the frustration in his life built up to such an extent that when asked about his love for God, he is known to have sinfully replied, “Love God? Sometimes I hate him.”[3] The despair ran deep in Luther’s pre-conversion life.
The psalm continues by describing the Psalmist’s plea that God would notice him in his misery. Using an anthropomorphism, he asked that God would let His “ears” be attentive to his cry. Undoubtedly, the Psalmist knew that God is omniscient, having exhaustive knowledge of all things. It was not as if God didn’t know what he was going through. Thus, this cry for God’s attention was actually a cry for God’s favorable attention. After all, Scripture is clear that God does not listen to the prayers of the unregenerate (cf. Psa. 66:18, Jer. 11:14). Those who are still dead in their sins—and loving it—have no audience with God. But here, the Psalmist admitted his wretched condition and sought the divine remedy. With the word “supplications” (related to the verb “be gracious,” as in Psalm 4:1), he confessed that he had no claim upon God.[4] Rather, he threw himself upon God’s mercy, and the plural form of “supplication” used in the passage indicates that he did so repeatedly.
Such must be the mentality of all who truly call on the name of the Lord.
God’s Pardon Considered (Psalm 130:3-4)
If You, Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with You,
That You may be feared.
Having called out to God, the Psalmist admitted that if God were to take his sin into account, all would be hopeless. Speaking directly to God, he said, “If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?” (Psa. 130:3). More often than not, the word “iniquity” is in the singular, referring to the general twistedness of mankind. But here it is in the plural, encompassing all of the perversions and deviant behaviors that men conjure up (cf. Rom. 1:30). If God were to “mark out” these iniquities, keeping a record of them and holding men accountable for every single one, they would be doomed. And in fact, that is precisely what will happen to many: “And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds” (Rev. 20:12).
Praise be to God that the psalm doesn’t end there! Rather, it continues with, “But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared” (Psa. 130:4). True forgiveness is offered by God. And more than that, it’s offered only by God, which should bring about genuine fear and circumspection in those who recognize that their eternal destiny is entirely in the hands of their Creator.
But how is such forgiveness possible? The answer is found back in the superscription to the psalm. After all, the reason for ascending to Jerusalem in the first place was to offer sacrifices at the temple, an act which foreshadowed the perfect sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. Since the wages of sin is death (cf. Rom. 6:23), someone must suffer the consequences for our sins. Someone must pay the debt. Someone must drink the cup. It would be an affront to God’s goodness and holiness for Him to turn a blind eye to our sin in the name of so-called “love.” A good judge, by his very nature, must let no crime go unpunished. Thus, the substitutionary animals that were slaughtered in worship of God at the temple demonstrated the substitutionary work of the Lamb of God upon the cross. Jesus bore the punishment so that through faith in Him, there is full, free, and final forgiveness for every sin. He suffered so that His people never will.
Of course, this kind of total pardon for sin was not what Luther found in the Roman Catholic Church of his day, nor is it found there in our present time. On the contrary, even to this day Psalm 130 is still used (and abused) by the Roman Catholic Church in what is known as the De Profundis (Latin for “out of the depths”). In this Roman Catholic prayer, Psalm 130 is recited on behalf of those supposedly languishing in Purgatory. Misunderstanding the word “depths” to refer to that place of anguish beyond the grave, the De Profundis prayer blasphemously seeks to intercede for the dead by asking God to “look with an eye of pity on the suffering souls in purgatory.”[5]
Is it any wonder Luther went mad trying to find forgiveness in such a religious system? He sought deliverance but found only despair. Forgiveness is not granted by doing time in Purgatory, nor through any other religious deed, but in God—through the finished work of Christ alone.
God’s Promises Awaited (Psalm 130:5-6)
I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait,
And in His word do I hope.
My soul waits for the Lord
More than the watchmen for the morning;
Indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning.
With that wonderful recognition that there is forgiveness found in God, the psalm goes on to describe the “waiting” that accompanies a life of faith. Of course, to “wait” for the Lord, does not mean to twiddle your thumbs, idling your days away in sinful indifference until you die. Rather, it is an active life of expectation, using your every waking moment to prepare for that time when all of God’s promises unfold before your eyes (cf. Eph. 5:16). If a child were promised a visit from a close friend or relative, he or she would be eagerly waiting at the door, asking every five minutes if they were getting close. And so it is for the believer for the appearing of his Savior (cf. Titus 2:13). In fact, the very evidence that you believe the promises of God is that you eagerly await them. Those who yawn at the truths of Scripture, giving lip service to the Bible while instead being captivated by all that the world has to offer, are most assuredly not waiting on the Lord.
On the contrary, this waiting is so characterized by eagerness that the Psalmist twice compared it to a watchman looking for the morning dawn. Just as a guard on night duty eagerly anticipates the morning, wherein he will find rest and relief for his tired body, so too did the Psalmist eagerly anticipate the Lord, in whom He would find rest and relief for his tired soul (cf. Matt. 11:28). To be sure, those who trust in Christ find immediate relief for their consciences (cf. Heb. 10:22), but that is not to say that life instantly becomes peaceful. On the contrary, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer (cf. 2 Tim. 3:12). Thus, knowing that the kingdom is entered only through much tribulation (cf. Acts 14:22), true believers earnestly look for that kingdom to come (cf. Matt. 6:10).
So did the Psalmist.
God’s People Encouraged (Psalm 130:7-8)
O Israel, hope in the Lord;
For with the Lord there is lovingkindness,
And with Him is abundant redemption.
And He will redeem Israel
From all his iniquities.
With the promises of God in mind, the Psalmist then turned his attention to the entire nation and encouraged them to think likewise. With a direct address, he said, “O Israel, hope in the Lord; for with the Lord there is lovingkindness, and with Him is abundant redemption.” This, of course, is the only logical course of action for those who have known the goodness of the Lord. When your soul has been nourished by the truths of God’s Word, you inevitably want others to “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psa. 34:8). Evangelism and discipleship, then, are the natural outworking of God’s grace in your life, as it was in the life of the Psalmist.
The psalm ends with a declaration that God will redeem Israel from all his iniquities. Throughout redemptive history, Israel has been held captive to nations such as Egypt and Babylon. But the nation’s greatest captivity—like that of all men—has been to sin (cf. Rom. 6:18). Thus, the “redemption” (ransom, rescue, or deliverance) needed for the nation is far less about its national captors and more about its spiritual captor. Sadly, when Christ walked this earth, He was crucified by people who wanted ransom from the former rather than the latter. But, as the Apostle Paul explained, there will indeed come a day when “all Israel will be saved” (Rom. 11:26). Until that future time, a remnant of individual Jews, as well as believing Gentiles, continue to be recipients of this saving grace.
Martin Luther found great solace in this psalm, calling it a “Pauline Psalm” since it speaks of human inability and the forgiveness that is found only in God.[6] The final stanza of his hymn based on this psalm indicates as much:
Though great our sins, yet greater still
Is God’s abundant favor;
His hand of mercy never will
Abandon us, nor waver.
Our shepherd good and true is He,
Who will at last His Israel free
From all their sin and sorrow.[7]
Dear friend, it matters not how much you have ruined your life with sin. It matters not how twisted you have become in your own depravity. With Christ there is complete pardon for all that you have done. There is liberating freedom from that which weighs you down. There is hope for you today. Turn from your sin and call upon Him, and you will be saved—for salvation exists in no one else (cf. Acts 4:12). Interestingly, if you search the Psalms for the word “forgiveness” you will locate it nowhere but here in Psalm 130. Yet, of greater importance than finding the use of this word is finding the reality of it in your own life.
Have you found forgiveness?
References:
[1] https://lutheranreformation.org/theology/depths-woe-cry-thee
[2] Steven J. Lawson, The Heroic Boldness of Martin Luther (Sanford, FL: Reformation Trust Publishing, 2013), 5-6.
[3] Baker Publishing Group, A Walk Thru Love: Loving God and Loving Others (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Publishing Group, 2010), 26.
[4] Robert Davidson, The Vitality of Worship: A Commentary on the Book of Psalms (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1998), 425.
[5] https://www.catholic.org/prayers/prayer.php?p=2458
[6] Robert Davidson, The Vitality of Worship: A Commentary on the Book of Psalms (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1998), 426.
[7] https://lutheranreformation.org/theology/depths-woe-cry-thee