Exposition of Psalm 130, Paraphrase – Exposition
A PARAPHRASE.
Verse 1, 2.
1. Out of the depths have I cryed unto thee, O Lord. 2. Lord, hear my voice, let thine ears be attentive to the voyce of my supplications.O Lord, through my manifold sins and provocations I have brought my self into great distresses. Mine Iniquities are alwayes before me, and I am ready to be overwhelmed with them, as with a flood of waters, for they have brought me into depths, wherein I am ready to be swallowed up. But yet although my distress be great and perplexing; I do not, I dare not utterly despond and cast away all hopes of relief or recovery. Nor do I seek unto any other remedy, way or means of relief, but I apply my self to thee Jehovah, to thee alone. And in this my Application unto thee, the greatness and urgency of my troubles makes my soul urgent, earnest, and pressing in my supplications. Whilst I have no rest, I can give thee no rest; Oh therefore attend and hearken unto the voyce of my crying and supplications.
Ver. 3.
3. If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?IT is true O Lord, thou God great and terrible, that if thou shouldst deal with me in this Condition, with any man living, with the best of thy Saints, according to the strict and exact tenor of the Law, which first represents it self to my guilty Conscience, and troubled soul; If thou shouldst take notice of, observe, and keep in Remembrance, mine, or their, or the Iniquity of any one, to the end that thou mightest deal with them, and recompence unto them according to the sentence thereof; there would be neither for me, nor them, any the least expectation of deliverance; all flesh must fail before thee, and the spirits which thou hast made, and that to Eternity; for who could stand before thee, when thou shouldst so execute thy displeasure.
Ver. 4.
4. But there is forgiveness with thee: that thou maist be feared.BUt O Lord, this is not absolutely and universally the state of things between thy Majesty and poor sinners; Thou art in thy Nature infinitely Good and Gracious, ready and free in the purposes of thy will to receive them. And there is such a blessed way made for the exercise of the holy inclinations and purposes of thy heart towards them, in the mediation and blood of thy dear Son, That they have assured foundations of concluding and believing, that there is pardon and forgiveness with thee for them; and which in the way of thine appointments they may be partakers of. This way therefore will I, with all that fear thee persist in: I will not give over, leave thee, or turn from thee, through my fears, discouragements, and despondencies; but will abide constantly in the observation of the worship which thou hast prescribed; and the performance of the Obedience which thou dost require; having great encouragements so to do.
Ver. 5.
5. I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.ANd herein, upon the account of the forgiveness that is with thee, O Lord, do I wait with all patience, quietness and perseverance. In this work is my whole soul engaged; even in an earnest expectation of thy approach unto me, in a way of grace and mercy. And for my encouragement therein, hast thou given out unto me a blessed word of Grace, a faithful word of promise, wherein my hope is fixed.
Ver. 6.
6. My soul waiteth for the Lord, more than they, that watch for the morning, I say, more than they that watch for the morning.YEa, in the performance, and discharge of this duty, my soul is intent upon thee, and in its whole frame turned towards thee, and that with such diligence and watchfulness in looking out after every way, and means of thy appearance, of thy manifestation of thy self, and coming unto me, that I excell therein those who with longing desire, heedfulness, and earnest expectation, do wait and watch for the appearance of the morning; and that either that they may rest from their night watches, or have light for the duties of thy Worship in the Temple, which they are most delighted in.
Ver. 7, 8.
7. Let Israel hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous Redemption. 8. And he shall redeem Israel from all his Iniquities.HErein have I found that Rest, peace, and satisfaction unto my own soul, that I cannot but invite and encourage others, in the like Condition to take the same course with me. Let then all the Israel of God, all that fear him, learn this of me, and from my experience. Be not hasty in your distresses; despond not, despair not, turn not aside unto other remedies; but hope in the Lord; for I can now in an especial manner, give testimony unto this, that there is mercy with him suited unto your relief. Yea, whatever your distress be, the Redemption that is with him, is so bounteous, plenteous and unsearchable, that the undoubted issue of your performance of this duty will be; that you shall be delivered from the guilt of all your sins; and the perplexities of all your troubles.
General Scope of the whole Psalm.
General Scope of the whole Psalm.THE design of the Holy Ghost in this Psalm is to express in the Experience of the Psalmist, and the working of his faith, the state and condition of a soul greatly in it self perplexed, relieved on the account of Grace, and acting it self towards God and his Saints, suitably to the discovery of that Grace unto him. A great design, and full of great Instruction.
And this general Prospect gives us the parts, and scope of the whole Psalm: for (1.) We have the state and condition of the soul therein represented, with his deportment in and under that state and condition, in ver. 1, 2.Out of the depths have I cryed unto thee O Lord, Lord, hear my voyce, let thine ears be attentive to the voyce of my supplications.
(2.) His enquiry after relief; and therein are two things that present themselves unto him; the one whereof, which first offers the consideration of its self to him in his distress, he deprecates, ver. 3.If thou Lord shouldst mark iniquity, O Lord who shall stand?
The other he closeth withal, and finds relief in it, and supportment by it, ver. 5.But there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared.
Upon this his discovery and fixing on relief, there is the acting of his Faith, and the deportment of his whole Person;
1. Towards God; ver. 5, 6.
I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.
My soul waiteth for the Lord, more than they that watch for the morning, I say more than they that watch for the morning.
2. Towards the Saints, ver. 7, 8.
Let Israel hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous Redemption.
And he shall redeem Israel from all his Iniquities.
All which parts, and the various concernments of them, must be opened severally.
And this also gives an account of what is my design from, and upon the words of this Psalm; namely, to declare the perplexed intanglements which may befall a gracious soul, such a one as this Psalmist was; with the nature and proper workings of Faith in such a condition: Principally aiming at what it is, that gives a soul relief and supportment in, and afterward deliverance from, such a perplexed estate.
The Lord in Mercy, dispose of these Meditations in such a way and manner, as that both he that writes, and they that read, may be made partakers of the benefit, relief, and consolation, intended for his Saints in this Psalm by the Holy Ghost.