The Joyful Hope in Lament
Arthur Lampitt was driving his tan Ford Thunderbird to work one July morning in 1963 when he was involved in a car accident so bad that he was reported as dead on the local radio station. It was raining on his way to work, his car hit a large puddle on a curve, and he hydroplaned. Then when he saw a truck coming towards him from the oncoming lane, he tried to accelerate to get to the other side of the road before hitting the truck. He didn’t make it and the truck hit him head-on. He didn’t die, but he suffered a broken hip, several broken ribs, and was in traction for ten days before surgeons could operate on him.
More than fifty years later, while he was moving concrete blocks on his property, a steel object began to protrude through his skin. He underwent a forty-five minute procedure to remove the object and it turned out to be the turn signal lever from his car from that accident so long ago. Evidently during the accident he’d put his arm up to shield his eyes and during the impact the lever was forced into his arm, where it stayed for over fifty years.
All that time, and he was blissfully unaware and ignorant of his situation. And as odd, and kind of creepy as that story is, the extra metal in his arm apparently didn’t do him any harm. It’s a unique story that ended well. But being unaware isn’t always good for us. In fact, the follower of God must be aware of some things. And one of those things is sin. We may not like to talk about our sin. We may even prefer to ignore and be ignorant of our sin. But awareness of our sin can be a great blessing for the believer. And that is what Psalm 130 teaches us.
That song was sung on the way to worship in Jerusalem for one of the annual feasts as one of the Songs of Ascent. It is also an individual lament song—so as the individual worshipper goes to worship and is grieved over his sin, he has something to sing to prepare his heart for worship. In this Psalm he is led to confession and the joy of forgiveness and restoration. Observe four stages in the process of restoration when sin happens.
“I Cry:” The Lament of the Sinner (Psalm 130:1-2)
We do not know the circumstances of this unnamed writer. But when he refers to being in the “depths,” it is clearly someone who is in despair. He is in a precarious situation and has hit a spiritual bottom—he is in a “sea of despair.” Given that he later confesses his sin (v. 3), it seems clear that his situation is the result of some sin or series of sins. Further, that he is in the depths indicates a sense of alienation from the Lord. His despair is not just that he has lost some position or possession, but that his sin has left him alienated from God.
Because he is in such a desperate situation, he does the one and only logical thing to do: “I have cried to you, O Lord” (v. 1). In fact, the sense is that he has called out to the Lord and he is continuing to do so. He sees himself as being utterly dependent on the Lord. He has tried “self-help” and it hasn’t helped. God is the only one who can help him.
Three times in verses 1-2, 3, and 5-6 the psalmist alternates two names for God: Yahweh and Adonai. Yahweh refers to the covenantal name of God; He is the loyal God who will care for His people. And Adonai is the One who is Lord, Sovereign, and Master. The psalmist is appealing to God on the basis of both relationships: asking God to be loyal to remember His promises to His people, and acknowledging that God is Master and that the psalmist is the servant who has no claim on God. In fact, he has been an unfaithful and unprofitable servant who can only appeal to the grace of his Master. So that is what he does.
We see this appeal to God’s grace several times in verses 1-2: “I have cried to You” (v. 1); “Hear my voice” (v. 2a); and “Let Your ears be attentive” (v. 2b). Further, “the voice of my supplications (v. 2c) usually refers to a request for favor—it’s an appeal to God’s mercy—“don’t give me what I deserve” (cf. Daniel 9:3, 17-18, 23.) He is acknowledging that he is utterly and completely dependent on God for His help. He sees himself as unworthy; these verses indicate just how significant his doubts and concerns about his spiritual situation are.
In this section we have a model of what it means to lament or be grieved over our sin. How do we know if someone is (or if we are) repentant for sin? This section offers a two-fold picture:
The one who is grieved over his sin does not defend himself. Instead he willingly acknowledges his guilt.
The one who is grieved over his sin does not attempt to do damage control; he knows he cannot atone for his sin himself so he appeals only to God’s grace because God is the Master and he will submit to God.
When you and I sin (and we will), this is where we must begin: no defensiveness, no damage control, but a humble appeal to the Lord’s mercy and submission to Him. The one who laments over his sin and is grieved by it is not morosely pre-occupied with his sin (one sin does not require multiple confessions), but he is humble—he is willing to acknowledge the sin and what it has done to his fellowship with the Lord.
But the psalmist would not have the pilgrim singers stay in this condition of lament, so he reminds them of the next stage in the process of restoration.
“I Confess:” The Repentance of the Sinner (Psalm 130:3-4)
Because he is grieved over his sin, the psalmist willingly confesses. He says, “If you, Lord (Yahweh) should mark iniquities, O Lord (Master) who could stand?” To “stand” infers that one might be able to endure God’s judgment. So the psalmist is saying that if the covenant keeping God would keep and observe and account for every sin of every man (which He is capable of doing), who could stand before Him with a claim of righteousness? And the obvious answer he wants us to say is, “No one!” All are guilty; no one can claim righteousness before the holy God. If strict justice were done, the sinner would be beyond hope of redemption (Psalm 1:5; Ezra 9:15; Malachi 3:2).
The psalmist wants the singers to feel the weight of guilt. And he implies that since no one can stand before God with this weight of sin, he does the only reasonable thing—he confesses that sin. Why would he continue to hold onto it and keep it? This psalm reminds the pilgrims going to Jerusalem, “You and I can’t stand before God on our own; we are guilty of sin so let’s confess it.”
But notice what happens in verse 4; after the desperation of verse 3, he says, “But…” This contrastive is particularly strong—despite our sin, there is forgiveness from God. We have not earned forgiveness, we do not deserve forgiveness, but God grants that forgiveness anyway. The word for “forgiveness” that is used here refers to the pardon that is granted to a guilty party making one acceptable to God. Rather than acting according to His legal rights and enforcing justice against the guilty party, God applies grace and forgives.
When the psalmist says, “there is forgiveness with You,” it is a reminder that while the exposure of our sin is a gift of grace, God would not have us remain burdened with our sin. When sin is confessed and repented to the Lord, it is forgiven. Some of us have a tendency toward ungodly introspection and self-examination that keeps us from experiencing the joy of forgiveness. But when sin is confessed, it’s over. It’s been washed, cleansed, and removed (though there may still be consequences that remain after the sin).
Why would God forgive in this way? He does it “so that You may be feared.” Other psalms say that He forgives “for the sake [glory] of Your name” (79:9; 25:11). He forgives so that people will become God-fearers and God-lovers. The ultimate reason God forgives men of their sin is so that they will grow in their reverence and obedience of Him and come to desire Him more than anything else.
What we must see in this section is that there is great joy in grief over sin and confession for sin because lament and confession are the only things that produce forgiveness. Forgiveness then produces fear (reverent worship and joyful obedience) of God. So the stage that most of us are reticent to pursue—confession—is actually a pathway to great joy for us. And that joy is noted even more in the next stage of restoration.
(Editor’s note: This is Part 1 of 2 in this series. Part 2 will follow soon.)