Anticipating Worship: Celebrating Redemption
Psalms 130
June 26, 2020
Tonight we approach the 130th Psalm.
It sort of has a dual designation.
• It is the #11 of the 15 songs of ascents.
• It is # 6 of the 7 penitent Psalms.
When you put the two together it is not hard at all to discern
What it is we celebrate when we meet together for worship.
We celebrate redemption!
We celebrate mercy!
We celebrate forgiveness!
Here is a man who has sinned,
But in spite of his sin he is eager to draw near to God
For he knows that God is a God who forgives sinners.
That is a tremendous reason to gather together in worship.
• Not only that we may worship God in gratitude for His mercy,
• But also that we might encourage one another that God will forgive them too!
We celebrate the fact that our God has not treated us as our sins deserve,
But has indeed been merciful to us.
Psalms 103:10-13 “He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.”
We love pictures and stories of forgiveness.
We love that moment in the story when the prodigal comes home and stands face to face with his father.
Luke 15:20-24 “So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. “And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate.”
And we understand why there is such joy in heaven
Over the repentance of that sinner.
• We rejoiced when that woman caught in adultery escaped condemnation.
• We rejoiced when that woman at the Pharisees house wet Jesus’ feet with her tears and dried them with her hair.
• We rejoiced when that paralytic was lowered through the roof and Jesus announced him forgiven.
• We rejoiced when Peter was reinstated by Jesus in spite of his denial.
• We rejoiced when Saul was saved on that Damascus road even as the chief of sinners.
We love stories of forgiveness.
And more than that, we love that we have been forgiven!
Ephesians 1:7-8a “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.”
That is us.
In Christ Jesus we have been forgiven of our sins.
It is easy to say with David:
Psalms 32:1 “How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered!”
YOU GET THE POINT.
Well tonight we work through this 130th Psalm
Where we see both REPENTANCE and ANTICIPATION.
That alone is something remarkable.
Namely that those who have sinned can at the same time,
Through repentance, eagerly anticipate approaching God.
It is true:
Psalms 51:17 “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”
Isaiah 57:15 “For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, “I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite.”
THAT TRUTH IS CERTAINLY CELEBRATED HERE.
We’ll break this Psalm down into 4 divisions this evening.
#1 HIS ADMISSION
Psalms 130:1-2
The Psalmist opens the Psalm with quite a word picture.
“Out of the depths I have cried to You, O LORD.”
“depths” is a word that usually speaks of the depths of the sea.
Isaiah 51:10 “Was it not You who dried up the sea, The waters of the great deep; Who made the depths of the sea a pathway For the redeemed to cross over?”
Now, one man did actually cry to God “out of the depths”
Jonah rebelled against God and was tossed overboard, and after God appointed a fish to swallow and save him Jonah recounted his prayer.
Jonah 2:1-2 “Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the stomach of the fish, and he said, “I called out of my distress to the LORD, And He answered me. I cried for help from the depth of Sheol; You heard my voice.”
So it’s not totally unwarranted,
But it is more likely that Jonah did not write this Psalm
And that our Psalmist is speaking metaphorically.
Perhaps he means “the depths” of SIN.
As if to say, “I cried out to God from the gutter I was in”
Perhaps he means “the depths” of DANGER.
I was in deep danger like the bottom of the sea.
Perhaps he means “the depths” of DESPAIR.
He was totally broken from his sinful choices.
Perhaps it was a combination of all 3.
This man has sinned, he has incurred God’s anger,
And he is reaping the consequences of his sinful choices.
But regardless of how far he has sunk,
He still understands that
Even from “the depths” you can cry out to God.
TURN TO: PSALMS 107
It is a Psalm where those who have been redeemed should relish in the fact that God saves those who don’t deserve salvation.
(READ 4-6)
(READ 10-13)
(READ 17-19)
(READ 23-28)
It is a joy and a great relief to us to know that
GOD SAVES SINNERS WHO ARE STILL IN THEIR SIN.
He doesn’t require men to clean up before they come…
He doesn’t require morality to be worthy…
He only requires a broken and contrite heart.
Even the sinner who lifts his eyes from the gutter in which he sits
Can be forgiven before God.
Well that is where our Psalmist is crying from.
And there’s NOTHING FANCY about the cry.
(2) “Lord, hear my voice!”
And notice there that “Lord” is NOT in all caps.
• He is not stating the divine name of YHWH
• He is merely calling Him ADONAI, which is a term for Lord or master.
He is NOT approaching in arrogance,
He is approaching in submission.
(2) “Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive To the voice of my supplications.”
It’s a simple and humble prayer from a sinner in his sin
Crying out in submission to the God who hears sinners.
Isn’t that the remarkable reality of Jesus’ ministry!
People were flocking to Jesus from everywhere.
Unfit, unworthy, unclean, broken, discarded, and rejected.
His entire ministry feels like a gutter ministry.
But these lowly sinners, when they come to Him and confess Him as Lord and appeal to Him that He might hear their plea…HE DID!
HE FORGAVE THEM!
We don’t have any idea how bad of a sinner that paralytic was who was lowered through the roof,
But Jesus said, “Your sins are forgiven”
We don’t have any idea how bad of a sinner that woman in the Pharisees house was, though the Pharisees seemed to know.
And yet Jesus said to her, “Your sins have been forgiven”
How many people had Matthew cheated?
How much adultery had that woman who was caught actually committed?
Mary Magdalene had SEVEN demons in her.
The woman at the well was on Man #6
And all of them. Forgiven, forgiven, forgiven.
Remember the men of Nineveh?
• So evil and cruel that Jonah had no room for compassion.
• He wanted fire to fall from heaven.
Jonah 3:5-10 “Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them. When the word reached the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe from him, covered himself with sackcloth and sat on the ashes. He issued a proclamation and it said, “In Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let man, beast, herd, or flock taste a thing. Do not let them eat or drink water. “But both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth; and let men call on God earnestly that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hands. “Who knows, God may turn and relent and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish.” When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it.”
God forgave even the Ninevites.
When sinners cry out to God in faith and submission,
Even from their sin, He forgives.
That is what our Psalmist is doing.
He is coming humbly before God.
Perhaps you remember that day in your life.
• Caught in your sin…
• Aware of your guilt…
• Embarrassed in shame…
But from the gutter you raised your hand to God asking for mercy
And He heard your prayer and forgave you.
The Psalmist is counting on that type of mercy here.
His Admission
#2 HIS AWARENESS
Psalms 130:3-4
Here we plunge even deeper into his theology and his understanding.
This is NOT some man trading on cheap grace.
He is NOT looking for licentiousness.
This is NOT some weak gospel
Where he thinks it’s ok to sin since he’s under grace.
This man has a keen understanding of the weight of his sin.
(3) “If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?”
There is a question for you to ponder.
“mark” there is the Hebrew word SAMAR
It means “to keep, guard, observe, or give heed”
The word is used two more times down in verse 6
Where it is translated “watchmen”
And the Psalmist says if God focused on my sin like that,
I’d have no chance.
• If God held a grudge…
• If God refused to let go of sin…
• If God was unwilling to yield on justice…
• If God kept a tally of my sins before Him at all times…
I have no chance!
(4) “But…
There is that favorite word which so often introduces the gospel to us.
“But there is forgiveness with You”
Nehemiah 9:17 “They refused to listen, And did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You had performed among them; So they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But You are a God of forgiveness, Gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness; And You did not forsake them.”
Daniel 9:9 “To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him;”
Instead of ruthlessly holding on to our every sin…
Instead of persistently refusing to let our offenses go…
God chooses to forgive.
Isaiah 38:17 “Lo, for my own welfare I had great bitterness; It is You who has kept my soul from the pit of nothingness, For You have cast all my sins behind Your back.”
That is the CONFIDENCE of the Psalmist!
That is our confidence!
That God has chosen, but His own sovereign love,
Not to remember our sins.
He has instead chosen to place them on Christ,
Punish them in full, and then forget them forever.
If God didn’t do that, “who could stand?”
“But there is forgiveness with You”
But that is not all the Psalmist says.
• It is one of those seemingly confusing statements
• Where we’ve learned that a little bit of seeking and pondering means we’re about to learn something great.
• (It’s why I’ve grown to love passages that don’t initially make sense to me)
(4) “But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared.”
Well that seems like a typo.
• Shouldn’t it say, “There is judgment, that You may be feared”?
• Or shouldn’t it say, “There is forgiveness with You, that You may be loved; appreciated; adored…”
“But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared.”
What an interesting statement.
Put yourself for a moment in the mind of the Psalmist.
He is under the Law, He is in the Old Covenant
Forgiveness for him was a very visual and even moving event.
In order for him to find forgiveness what had to occur?
– Something had to die.
Because we are singing this Psalm on the way to Jerusalem
We bring visions to our mind of the Passover or of The Day of Atonement.
Have you ever considered
The amount of blood that was flowing in Jerusalem during the Passover?
Josephus is that famed Jewish historian. He wrote that one year between AD 66 and 70 that the Jews killed 256,500 Lambs at Passover. (Jewish Wars 6.9.3)
Do you have any idea how much blood
Is going to flow away from the temple during a scene like that?
Or go and attend The Day of Atonement.
• Certainly there is not the volume of blood
• But watch that goat be killed and it’s blood carried into the Holy of Holies.
• Watch that other goat being led away to certain death to take away your sins.
Even a normal sin offering required the death of an animal.
Forgiveness was certainly offered.
Forgiveness was certainly available.
But every act of forgiveness
Was accompanied by a horrifying scene of judgment.
The God who forgives sin has no weak view of sin.
God forgives sinners by unleashing punishment on a substitute.
And if you put your hands on that Passover Lamb…
If you watched that goat be slaughtered…
You learn 2 unmistakable things.
• God hates sin.
• Forgiveness is a costly act.
For us, look at the cross.
Luke 23:44-49 “It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, because the sun was obscured; and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT.” Having said this, He breathed His last. Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he began praising God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent.” And all the crowds who came together for this spectacle, when they observed what had happened, began to return, beating their breasts. And all His acquaintances and the women who accompanied Him from Galilee were standing at a distance, seeing these things.”
It certainly brings feelings of love and gratitude, but it also brings fear.
Sin is no laughing matter to God.
• God doesn’t forgive it by simply forgetting about it.
• Forgiveness is not the same thing as apathy.
• God forgives it by punishing a substitute.
The manner in which God forgives sin
Was intended to lead the sinner to stop sinning,
Not to embolden the sinner to continue it.
If you’re understanding of the gospel is such that grace allows you to sin without fear, then you are listening to the wrong gospel.
When we see what God did to Christ in order to offer us forgiveness
We are certainly moved to gratitude
But also moved to hate sin like never before.
“But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared.”
Jeremiah 33:8-9 “I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned against Me and by which they have transgressed against Me. ‘It will be to Me a name of joy, praise and glory before all the nations of the earth which will hear of all the good that I do for them, and they will fear and tremble because of all the good and all the peace that I make for it.”
Hosea 3:5 “Afterward the sons of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king; and they will come trembling to the LORD and to His goodness in the last days.”
What a tremendous picture.
• We have a Psalmist who is crying out to God from the gutter because he knows that God is a God of forgiveness.
• But he is also keenly aware of the cost of forgiveness and he certainly does not come to God in arrogance.
His Admission, His Awareness
#3 HIS ANTICIPATION
Psalms 130:5-6
This is remarkable!
Again, remember the world in which our Psalmist lived.
He was traveling to Jerusalem
That he might present his offering and find forgiveness.
And that explains his anticipation!
(5) “I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait,”
“wait” there is KAWVAW
It means “to wait, to look eagerly, to expect”
Isaiah 5:2 “He dug it all around, removed its stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. And He built a tower in the middle of it And also hewed out a wine vat in it; Then He expected it to produce good grapes, But it produced only worthless ones.”
God “expected” (kawvaw) good grapes but got none.
Psalms 69:20 “Reproach has broken my heart and I am so sick. And I looked for sympathy, but there was none, And for comforters, but I found none.”
The Psalmist “looked” (kawvaw) for sympathy but got none.
This is NOT a word as if to say, “I’m crossing my fingers that it will all work out”
No, the Psalmist had desire that he expects God to fulfill.
He is on his way to the temple
With the absolute expectation of forgiveness.
THINK ABOUT THIS
• Here is a sinner
• Traveling to the temple of Holy God
• And he is eagerly making his way there
• With great anticipation and expectation.
THAT DOESN’T SEEM RIGHT.
It seems like a sinner should be running the other direction.
Why is he so eager to stand before this Holy God?
“And in His word do I hope.”
Because this Holy God has made a decree.
This Holy God has issued a promise.
He will forgive sinners who humble themselves before Him.
Do we not have that promise?
1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Talk about giving up your ace in the hole.
It seems that God could be much more effective if He reserved such a promise
And made sinners come gravel before Him on a case by case basis.
And yet, God just puts it out there.
By His own decree, if sinners will confess their sin, He’ll forgive them.
And our Psalmist is making a bee-line to Jerusalem
Because he wants in on that!
(6) “My soul waits for the Lord More than the watchmen for the morning; Indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning.”
It is a statement of anticipation.
A “watchman” wants the morning to come because his shift is over.
• The dangerous threat is passed
• He can rest
And the Psalmist has that kind of anticipation.
IT IS REMARKABLE THAT
Though we have a God who is most holy and certainly to be feared
That at the same time, because of His promises,
We can actually eagerly approach Him.
And we can eagerly approach Him EVEN WHEN WE FAIL.
• He has not left us to uncertainty as to how He will respond.
• He has told us plainly.
Isaiah 55:7 “Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the LORD, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.”
Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD, “Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool.”
Those are unbelievable promises.
• Even from the gutter…
• Even though I have greatly offended…
• Even though sin requires terrible judgment…
I can still eagerly run to God with a promise of certain forgiveness.
Hebrews 4:16 “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Can’t you see our Psalmist in that caravan.
Only he’s so excited that he’s walking past everyone.
At times he even breaks into a little jog.
• He’s eager…
• He’s excited…
• He’s going to be forgiven.
What great anticipation!
His Admission, His Awareness, His Anticipation
#4 HIS ADMONITION
Psalms 130:7-8
This guy is a cheerleader!
• He’s speed walking through the caravan…
• He’s excited to go and be forgiven…
And as he’s passing everyone he’s encouraging the crowd!
(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.”
He’s now an evangelist!
“hope in the LORD”
• Are you a sinner!
• Are you in the gutter!
• Have you blown it!
“hope in the LORD”
WHY?
“For with the LORD there is lovingkindness”
There is CHECED with the LORD
He has loyal covenantal love for those whom He has chosen.
Maybe you’ve blown it, but come back to Him!
You may have been faithless, but He is faithful!
You may be in the gutter, but He accepts people from the gutter!
And that’s not all.
“And with Him is abundant redemption.”
We love both those words:
• “abundant” – more than enough
• “redemption” – It’s a word that means “ransom”
Isaiah 50:2 “Is My hand so short that it cannot ransom?”
• So you’ve got a massive sin debt.
• So you’ve incurred an enormous amount of wrath.
He’s got enough to pardon you!
He’s got enough to forgive you!
Here we ponder the value of the life of Jesus Christ!
His life and His sacrifice is more than enough!
John 12:32 “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”
That is a verse that speaks of
The UNLIMITED SUFFICIENCY of the atonement of Jesus.
We talk about sometimes “Limited Atonement” which we believe.
We believe that Christ’s atonement is limited only to those who believe.
We believe it is limited in extent, but it is absolutely unlimited in effect.
If you believe His death was for everybody then you have a very low view of what He did on the cross since there are many whom He supposedly died for who will still go to hell and pay for their sins there.
Such a view forces you to ask, “Then what did Jesus actually do on the cross if so many that He died for still have to pay for their sins?”
We don’t believe He died for everybody,
We believe He died for the redeemed.
Christ only atones for those who are His,
But the price that He paid for them is absolutely more than enough.
He finished it.
He has “abundant redemption”
And while His atonement is only for the redeemed,
His gospel offer is for every man.
If you want to be a part of it, then come on! He’ll save you too!
There will NEVER be a sinner who will approach the throne of God and ask for forgiveness only to hear God say, “I’m sorry we have fully exhausted the atonement of Jesus.”
THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN.
And how even more reassuring to those who are His children.
• How reassuring to us who still sin.
• How encouraging even to the brother or sister who has temporarily lost their way.
Listen to the Psalmist.
Hurry on! Let’s go! “O Israel, hope in the LORD”
(8) “And He will redeem Israel From all his iniquities.”
He will rescue you out of your sin!
He will buy you back from your rebellion!
NO MATTER WHAT IT IS.
And He accepts “all” manner of sinners.
• Do you suppose your sin to be too great?
• Do you suppose your sin to be too heinous?
• Do you suppose your sin to be too engrained?
• Do you suppose your sin to be too enduring?
Well the Psalmist would tell you to lift up your eyes
And LOOK AT THE BANNER that is hanging from the temple.
“He will redeem Israel From all his iniquities.”
He’ll get them all, no matter what they are.
Forgiveness is open today!
You can hear our Psalmist as he jogs through the caravan encouraging those around him to hurry on to Jerusalem for forgiveness is waiting!
Psalms 32:1-11 “How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered! How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit! When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away Through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”; And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah. Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found; Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him. You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah. I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you. Do not be as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding, Whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check, Otherwise they will not come near to you. Many are the sorrows of the wicked, But he who trusts in the LORD, lovingkindness shall surround him. Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous ones; And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.”
That is his message.
“Come be forgiven!”
Listen to the woman at the well who conversed with Jesus and upon finding forgiveness she ran back to the city and said, “Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done”
She was implying that He had forgiven her.
Look at Matthew sitting in a tax booth when Jesus came by and called him and the next thing we see is that Matthew has thrown a banquet in his house for other tax collectors to get the chance to meet Jesus.
There is forgiveness here!
WE MEET TO CELEBRATE THIS!
This is the purpose of corporate worship!
• Certainly we each now go to Christ for forgiveness,
• There is no temple ordinance.
But we still gather with the saints to rejoice in that forgiveness
And to encourage one another to cry out to God for it.
AND HERE WE ARE TONIGHT.
• Have you been forgiven?
• Would you like to be forgiven?
“O [First Baptist Church], hope in the LORD, For with the LORD there is lovingkindness, and with Him is abundant redemption. And He will redeem [you] from all [your] iniquities.”
And tonight in celebration of that fact
We are going to participate in the LORD’S SUPPER.
We’re going to do it a little bit DIFFERENTLY TONIGHT
Than we typically do it on Sunday morning.
We’ll simply start with our time of preparation like always.
• It is a time for you to pray and thank God for His forgiveness.
• It is a time perhaps to confess your sins to Him.
• It is a time just to ponder what Christ has done for us.
And whenever you are ready,
• You just come forward and take the cracker and take the juice
• Remembering the forgiveness of Christ
• And what He has done for you through His body and His blood.
Isaiah 53:4-6 “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”
I’ll pray and then we’ll enter our time of preparation
And when you are ready feel free to approach the table
And worship Jesus through the taking of these sacraments.
