The Joyful Hope in Lament—Part 2

Note: This is Part 2 of the series. You can read Part 1 here.

“I Wait:” The Restoration of the Sinner (Psalm 130:5-6)

What we need to remember as we read these verses is that forgiveness has already been granted in verse 4. So when the psalmist says in these verses that he is waiting, he is referring to a kind of patience, but it is not a patience that is waiting for forgiveness, as if God is reticent to forgive (cf. Leviticus 16:10ff; Luke 23:43).

The psalmist pictures his waiting in verse 6 like a “watchman” who might be serving on the wall of the city, standing guard and waiting for the morning, eagerly watching for the first hint of dawn so that he can be relieved of his duty by the daytime sentry. The psalmist says, “I am more eager even than those watchmen who are looking for a new day.” He has engaged in a “protracted, painful waiting.”

For what is the psalmist waiting? Since his sin has been forgiven (v. 4), it means that he is waiting for what comes after forgiveness—the restoration of fellowship and joy and ministry, much as David did after his great confession in Psalm 51:12-13.

Here is a reality that is so overwhelming about our forgiveness: when we sin, God not only washes away the sin, but restores us to Himself and pulls us out of our spiritual despair and misery. In verse 1 the psalmist felt alienated from God; but after his repentance, he now waits expectantly for relief from that alienation. This is particularly experienced in the New Testament after Christ’s fulfillment of the Law—those who are in Christ are always in Christ and our union with God through adoption into the family can never be removed. We are His and He is ours. These verses are a reminder that

God is deeper than the deepest depth in man. He is holier than our deepest sin is deep. There is no depth so deep to us as when God reveals his holiness in dealing with our sin…[And so] think more of the depth of God than the depth of your cry. The worst thing that can happen to a man is to have no God to cry to our of the depth (P. T. Forsyth).

There is now one final stage in the process of restoration for the sinner.

“I Hope:” The Confidence of the Sinner (Psalm 130:7-8)

There is a significant shift in verse 7. The first six verses are all individual and personal: “I.” Now the lamenting and forgiven sinner makes an application: “O Israel…” He is moving from a personal application to a corporate one, calling the entire nation of Israel to repent of her sin.

He reminds Israel that with the Lord there is “lovingkindness”—grace and loving loyalty. That is, God is loyal to the covenants that He has made with His people and He will fulfill those covenants. And He reminds the nation that there is “abundant redemption.” God possesses “in the richest measure the willingness, power, and wisdom which are needed to procure redemption.” And the nation needs that redemption because its sin arose like a partition wall between itself and God. Yet, like the firstborn that were redeemed by the lambs’ blood applied to the doorposts in Egypt (Exodus 13), God is completely sovereign to redeem His nation from her sin.

Then the psalmist concludes in verse 8 by stating that God “will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.” That is, God alone (the pronoun “He” in “He will” is emphatic) will bring about the purchase and redemption of His people out of sin. What is the psalmist speaking about? He is talking about the fact that not only does God forgive individual sinners, but one day He will keep His covenant promises made to Abraham, Moses, David, and Jeremiah and establish a Messiah to eternally rule over Israel and the world. In other words, there is not only hope for a good future of restoration for an individual sinner, but David also says that there is a great and glorious future for the nation of Israel, and the people of the nations that come to faith through Israel (Genesis 12:3; Jeremiah 31:31ff; Romans 11:11-12). So when the psalmist says, “With God there is abundant redemption for Israel,” that means there is also abundant redemption for us, who have been grafted into those promises. Israel’s confidence and our confidence is not only that God will forgive sin now, but that He will forgive sin into the future and for all eternity and bring us to Himself.

The story of John Wesley’s conversion is quite well-known. On May 24, 1738, he heard the reading of Luther’s Preface to the Romans read one evening and came to trust in Christ, saying that his heart was “strangely warmed.” What is less well known about that day is that earlier that afternoon he went to St. Paul’s Cathedral in London and heard this psalm sung as an anthem and he experienced deep conviction of his sin. That conviction was another contributing factor to hearing the good news of the gospel later that evening.

Like our friend Arthur Lampitt who benefitted from learning of the turn signal lever in his arm, Wesley benefitted from learning of the sin in his heart. And that is true for every believer in Christ. When sin is known, it can be grieved, confessed and forgiven, and restored, so that we are confident of our future both on earth and in eternity. How great that restoration will ultimately be! If you are aware of your sin, you might be tempted to be overwhelmed by grief or discouragement. Know that God has given you that awareness as a step in the process of being restored to Him and to enjoy that restoration both now and in eternity.