Psalm 130:5-8

Psalm 130:5-8/Waiting on Yahweh

1.    Last time we saw

a.     The author recognized that he had no right to approach God’s presence

b.    He had hope of forgiveness because he knew God is merciful

c.     Forgiveness leads to a life of service to God

2.    Verses 5-6: Having been forgiven, he waits on God

a.     These verses give us two beautiful metaphors

b.    Wait

                                                             i.      Qavah

1.    Literally, to twist or weave a cord or rope

2.    By extension, to wait or await eagerly and expectantly

3.    The connection is things being bound—we must be bound together with God

4.    Our souls—whole person—must be interwoven with God

5.    This results in strength; reliance

6.    John Piper: “To wait on God means to pause and soberly consider our own inadequacy and the Lord’s all-sufficiency, and to seek counsel and help from the Lord, and to hope in Him…”

                                                           ii.      How eagerly does he wait?

1.    More than they that watch for the morning

2.    Most commentators agree that the author is comparing himself to a night guard who has to keep watch until morning

3.    Morning brings deliverance

4.    With the same sort of eagerness he waits upon God

                                                        iii.      Why does he wait?

1.     He hopes in God’s word

2.    He does not wait presumptuously or bashfully; he waits upon God confidently because God has promised deliverance

3.    Verses 7-8: The Context Broadens

a.     Having personally found forgiveness and waited on God, the author now encourages his brethren to join Him

b.    Remember, this was a song of Ascents

c.     He encourages all of Israel to wait upon God, repeating the truths of God’s mercy

d.    The author assures everyone that this mercy is not limited in power or number, but is available and sufficient for all

e.     He uses two words that describe the sufficiency of God’s redemption (deliverance or ransom):

                                                             i.      Plenteous—full or abundant

                                                           ii.      All—He will not simply deliver from a few or even most of our sins, but all of them

4.    Application

a.     We must wait upon God

                                                             i.      We must bind ourselves to Him

                                                           ii.      We must rely upon Him

                                                        iii.      Andrew Murray: “If any are inclined to despond, because they do not have such patience, let them be of good courage. It is in the course of our feeble and very imperfect waiting that God Himself, by His hidden power, strengthens us and works out in us the patience of the great saints, the patience of Christ Himself.”

b.    God’s grace is sufficient

                                                             i.      It is sufficient to deliver all who come

                                                           ii.      It is sufficient to deliver us completely

                                                        iii.      Barnes: “It is ample; it is full; it abounds. It is not limited; it is not exhausted; it cannot be exhausted. So we may always feel when we come before God, that his mercy is ample for all the needs of all the sinful and the suffering; that the provisions of his grace are unexhausted and inexhaustible.”

                                                        iv.      No one who comes to God in repentant faith will be told that the last pardon was just handed out

                                                           v.      No one who comes to God in repentant faith will be told that his sins are just too bad or too numerous for God to forgive

Henry: “There is an all-sufficient fullness of merit and grace in the Redeemer, enough for all, enough for each; enough for me.”