Dover Assembly of God
We have been studying thru ACTS and have seen the historical aspect of the church.
Learning God’s word is vital, but it has to go beyond just learning information. It has to apply to our lives today.
Our study of God’s word has to include both knowledge of what God says AND practical everyday experience with God.
The psalms are everyday people who struggle, pressing into God for His help. The vast majority of the psalms are just that--prayers of people who are hurting and sometimes at their wit’s end.
And that is where the psalmist is when he wrote Psalm 130. This psalm emphasizes what God does for helpless people who cry out to him for mercy.
Psalms 130:1 NIV
The psalmist recognizes his problem is over his head, but what is the first thing he does? He cries out to God.
In fact the way this phrase is used in Hebrew indicates that he has not stopped crying out.
Even when he was brought this low, he hasn’t stopped crying out to God.
Sometimes when it seems like we are drowning and there is no hope, we give up praying.
The psalmist says that even when he is the lowest, and it seems like nothing is happening-he doesn’t stop crying out to God.
Spurgeon says: “Prayer is never more real and acceptable that when it rises out of the worst places.”
Never stop crying out to God!
Psalms 130:2 NIV
One commentary had this quote: “It is better for prayer to be heard than answered.”
That may be confusing, but if we read on, it says: "Once we know that God really hears our cries for help, then we trust him for the best outcome.”
Sometimes God’s answer to our cries aren’t exactly what we want, but it is always what we need at that moment.
First, he asks for mercy. What is mercy? Mercy is not getting what you do deserve.
Grace is getting what you don’t deserve.
Why is he asking for mercy? Because he knows he is not worthy of God answering his prayers.
Psalms 130:3 NIV
Even the most moral and upright person we know has a laundry list of sins in their lives.
Romans 3:23 NLT
And since just one sin can’t be in God’s presence, we wouldn’t have a leg to stand on if we asked God for help, if His help was based on our actions.
If God’s answers to our prayers were solely based on our goodness, we’d never get any answers.
The psalmist realizes this and asks God for mercy-not getting what he does deserve.
The only way to be forgiven is to come to God and receive it.
Psalms 130:4 NIV
Today God offers forgiveness for all our sins, but not everyone is automatically forgiven. We have to believe what God says about it.
Romans 3:25 NLT
Romans 10:9-10 NLT
It is because of Jesus that we can come to God, sins, warts and all, because it doesn’t depend on what you do, it depends on what Jesus already did.
But it doesn’t mean a flippant attitude towards God. Our relationship with God is something to be respected and honored. We can’t ask for forgiveness and keep living like we want.
The psalmist addresses that.
Psalms 130:4 NIV
Forgiveness is not to be taken lightly, for it cost God his son. Therefore we ought to love and fear God.
When kids are little, it is okay to instill a little fear in them of you. Fear keeps them from doing something stupid.
Fear of God, is said to be the beginning of wisdom.
Proverbs 9:10 NIV
When we are convinced that God hears us as we cry out to him, he gives us the peace we need.
Psalms 130:5 NIV
This isn’t hopeless resignation, but hopeful anticipation.
When we know God hears us and loves us, cares for us and is our dad, we wait hopefully for his answer to our need.
We don’t give up and just figure it’s never going to happen.
Lamentations 3:22-24 NIV
God’s compassions (mercies) are new every day, so every day something new may occur in your life and situation.
Tomorrow may be the day God brings you out of the depths of despair.
We can live in joyful expectation that tomorrow might be the day.
If you are forgiven and still find yourself in the darkness and depths, wait on the Lord and trust His word.
Psalms 130:6 NIV
Think about what watchmen do. They stand at their posts all night long, protecting the city from outside invaders.
They long for daylight when their watch is over and more importantly, the threat of a nighttime attack is over. The city is safe for one more night. They can’t make the sun come up any earlier. They just have to wait.
Sometimes we just have to wait. There’s nothing we can do to speed up God’s answer. But we can wait excited for that morning light.
Don’t our troubles seem to get amplified at nighttime? We just want to go to sleep and wait for the morning.
When we wait excitedly for God’s response, we are able to rest easy.
Psalms 127:2 NIV
Psalms 130:7-8 NIV
He has gone from crying out to God, to finding rest in God. God has taken away the depths from him and replaced it with confidence.
Now he wants his friends and countrymen to experience what he has.
He has felt the freedom of being forgiven of his sins, now rejoicing that his God hears him, he has that relationship that assures him that he has a father in heaven who knows the needs of his heart.
And he wants everyone to experience it too.
If you feel like you are going through the depths--that you can’t even come up for air and something else drags you back down, remember this...
1) You are not alone. That feeling has been around since the beginning of time.
2) When we cry out to God, He absolutely hears your heart and you will find mercy.
3) As you wait seemingly forever in the dark of night, for the morning light to come, know that you can’t make God’s answer come any sooner that God knows is needed. And with that knowledge we can rest, knowing God has it all in control.