Luther's "Pauline Psalm"

Guest (Male): Psalm 130 is a short but profound passage of scripture. In only eight verses, the psalmist takes us through the stages of sin, forgiveness, waiting, and testimony. Welcome to the Bible Study Hour, a radio and internet broadcast with Dr. James Boice, preparing you to think and act biblically. Luther called it a Pauline Psalm because the very gospel of salvation by faith alone unfolds in its verses. It's a penetrating explanation of the gospel, but the essence of the Psalm is forgiveness. Join Dr. Boice as he follows the psalmist's path from the confession of his sin to his testimony of God's forgiveness.
Dr. James Boice: People who have spent time studying the Psalms notice something as you get on toward the end of the Psalter, and that is that the people who write about the Psalms tend to get briefer in their comments as they get toward the end. I don't know the full reason for that. Maybe that there's a certain amount of repetition at the end of the Psalms; it may just be that the commentators get tired and begin to run out of things to say, but whatever the cause, I have noticed it. They do get shorter. That's been true ever since Psalm 119, which is the long one. But not now, not this Psalm, not Psalm 130. Here's an exception. Psalm 130 has been treated at length and profoundly because it's a profound Psalm. One great model of exposition is a study by John Owen, the great Puritan. He wrote 323 pages on this Psalm, three-quarters of which was just an exposition of verse four: "But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared." Owen explains in a preparatory note to his comments why he did that. Early in his public life, he had gotten sick and was greatly depressed, not only with his sickness but because of his sin. God spoke to him and brought him out of that by that fourth verse. And so when he finished, he decided to teach it and explain it, and what we have in writing now is the result of his preaching in those years. Well, there's a reason why people have spent so much time studying this great Psalm, and that is that it has been blessed to many Christian people down through the ages of church history. And the reason for that is that it contains a penetrating explanation of the gospel. We all know, or most of us know, the story of John Wesley's conversion in May of 1738. Wesley was converted as he heard somebody reading Luther's preface to Paul's great letter to the Romans in a little meeting in a chapel in Aldersgate Street in London. But what isn't so well known is that earlier on that same day, Wesley was in St. Paul's Cathedral, and there he heard an anthem sung, and the anthem was this Psalm, Psalm 130. He talked about it; he said that God spoke to him there. God began to prepare his heart for the message of God's salvation through the work of Christ apart from works through what he heard sung there in St. Paul's, and later that day, he was in the little chapel and he heard the gospel explained in the words of Martin Luther. And speaking of Luther, this Psalm was an important one to Luther. Luther loved all the Psalms, but especially the penitential Psalms, of which this is the sixth, the sixth of seven. And Luther called this and several others "Pauline Psalms." What he went by that is that the Pauline gospel of salvation by grace apart from works is unfolded in them. And so he himself wrote a great exposition of this Psalm. He also wrote a hymn based upon it. The hymn goes like this: "From depths of woe I raise to thee my voice of lamentation; Lord, turn a gracious ear to me and hear my supplication. If thou iniquities dost mark our secret sins and miseries dark, oh, who shall stand before thee?" Luther understood the message of the Psalm and he loved it. Now, this is a Psalm that starts in the depths, but it moves from the depths to the heights, and in that sense, it really is a Psalm of ascent. We discussed earlier in our discussion of these Psalms of ascent whether they get that name from the fact that they themselves move upwards, that each Psalm is a ladder, as it were, or whether they were sung as Psalms by those who were making their way up to Jerusalem. And I think it's the latter. But in any rate, this one is a Psalm of ascent in the first sense. And it begins low, but it ends high. As Derek Kidner says, at the end, there's encouragement for many from the experience of the one. Now you can see the ascent through the four stanzas. It begins with an awareness of sin, indeed, a cry for mercy from that awareness of sin. It talks about forgiveness in the second stanza. The third stanza is reflecting on the experience of waiting for God, and then in the very last stanza, we have a testimony based on the psalmist's experience and the testimony to all Israel. So that's what we want to look at. It's a Psalm in which God is going to speak to us this morning. Well, we start for the depths because those are the first words: "Out of the depths." The Latin says *De profundis*. From the very depth, I call. That particular phrase is an image that appears often in the Old Testament, in Isaiah, for example, Ezekiel, other prophets, and some of the minor prophets, but especially in the Psalms. And it's an image that has to do with perishing in water as it sweeps over your head. That's the kind of depth that's talked about. You understand how that would be a powerful image for the Jews, who were not a seafaring people. For them, the Mediterranean Sea, all waters, were a threat, not something beautiful. And so when they talked about being overwhelmed by something, that was an image that often came to mind. Psalm 69 reads this way: "Save me, oh God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in the miry depths where there is no foothold. I've come into deep waters; the floods engulf me." Well, that's the kind of image the psalmist is starting out with here when he says that he's calling out to God from the depths. Now, what is it that's brought him into that dangerous condition? Why does he feel that he's about to perish as these waters sweep over his head? I've spoken often here as I've been studying these Psalms of ascent of Eugene Peterson, whom I've commended for what is really an excellent study. But I think at this point, Peterson misses it. Peterson talks about the problem here being suffering. And he says that what the Psalm is offering is dignity by immersing suffering in God. The solution he sees is hope. As a matter of fact, that's what he titles his chapter that deals with the Psalm. Now, I don't think that's right. It's not suffering that's troubling the psalmist; it's sin. Sin is what's bothering him. And you see that when you begin to look at what he says because he talks about a record of sins in verse three and forgiveness in verse four and redemption in verses seven and eight. That's the one of the first things that John Owen says when he begins his long exposition. Owens writes, "He cries out under the weight and the waves of his sins. This the Psalm makes evident. Desiring to be delivered from these depths out of which he cried, he deals with God wholly about mercy and forgiveness, and it's sin alone from which forgiveness is a deliverance. The doctrine also that he preached upon his delivery is that of mercy, grace, and redemption, as is manifest from the close of the Psalm. Sin is the disease; affliction is only a symptom of it." I think that's exactly right. That's what the Psalm is about. And if we're going to understand the Psalm, we have to think in terms of sin, and not just sin generally, we have to think in terms of our own sin. Our problem at this point is that we don't think of sin very much. We live in a culture which more or less has eradicated sin, at least the consciousness of it. I remember Karl Menninger years ago writing a book, *Whatever Became of Sin?* And Menninger explains what happened to sin. He noticed in his dealings with his patients that there was very little conscious of sin. He said what's happened is this: we've eliminated God, because sin by definition is a violation of the law of God, and so sin no longer sin anymore, it's an offense against the laws of the state, which is not sin; it's crime. And so sin becomes crime. And then he said we've gone even further because we've excused ourselves on the basis of the kind of background we have. And we say, well, it's because of how I grew up or the way my parents treated me or my genetic structure, and so now it's not even crime anymore; it becomes symptoms. So that's what's happened to it. And that permeates our society. It's very hard because of that to get into a Psalm like this. As a matter of fact, it's hard to get into the Bible because the Bible is dealing with sin. But you see, whether or not we acknowledge sin, whether or not our culture encourages us actually to think about it, we nevertheless are sinners. We have those bad, dreadful things in our background and that sinful, rebellious nature that has caused us to do those things. And those things weigh upon us, sometimes only deep in the subconscious. We don't even know it's happening, but it spoils life, and these are the things with which we have to come to deal. Suppose you are aware of your sin. You may be one who is aware of your sin. Suppose you are in the depths. Suppose as we think about these things this morning, you recall those things that you've done. What are you going to do about it? Where are you going to find help from that burden of sin that you carry around? Well, you're not going to find it in yourself, certainly. Not going to find it in other people. The only place you're going to find any help from the burden of your sin is in God. And that's what the psalmist is doing here. He's coming to God, he's seeking God's mercy. What he's doing is humbling himself before God. He's acknowledging his sin. He's saying I've got a problem, but he comes to the God who is a God who is ready and willing to forgive. In other words, his attitude is exactly the opposite of that expressed in that really dreadful poem that was written by William Henley. I'm sure you know it. It goes like this: "Out of the night that covers me, out of the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be for my unconquerable soul. Matters not how black the slate, how charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul." I pity a man who thinks like that. May God have mercy upon a woman who thinks like that. We are not the masters of our soul. We can't lift ourselves up out of the pit of our sin. We need a God who is able to do it, who is able to lift us up, forgive our sin, set us upon a rock, and establish our goings. And that's what the Bible is all about. That's what this Psalm is all about. And what the psalmist seeks is forgiveness, and that's what he begins to talk about in the second stanza. He talks about a record of sins in verse three. Wouldn't be terrible if all God did in respect to us was keep a record of our sins? God knows our sins, of course. He knows everything. There's nothing you've ever done that's hidden from him. God knows our sins, but what if all God ever did was write them down in a big book somewhere and then look at it and mull over it and say, oh, they've done another one, make sure you get that one written down in the book, Gabriel, we don't want to miss that one. Wouldn't be dreadful if that's all that God ever did? Who could ever hope to stand before God on the basis of his works if God kept a record of our sins? The answer to that is obvious. None of us could stand. That's what the Psalm says. That's what these verses are all about. We go to the New Testament, we find Paul writing about it. He says there's none righteous, no, not one; there's none that understands; there's none that seeks after God. They've all gone out of the way; they are together become unprofitable; there is none that does good, not even one. That's reality. That's the bad news. But the wonderful thing is that there's great good news as well, and that good news is this: that there is forgiveness with God. You see, God is not just a God who keeps a record. He's not just a God who knows. He is a God who gives forgiveness. You know what he said to Moses? Moses wanted to see the face of God. I suppose Moses wanted to have some celestial, wonderful experience. That's the kind of thing a lot of people think they would like to have today, and God explained, you can't do that; if you saw my face, you'd die. But God said, I'll tell you what I will do. I'll put you in a cleft of the rock, I'll cover you with my hand, I'll pass by, and you'll get a little bit of a feeling of who I am that way. And when that happened, what Moses heard was a voice. He didn't have a vision, but he heard a voice. What he heard were words. And God spoke to him explaining who he is. It said, "The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin." I don't know what Moses wanted, but I know that when he heard that, he said that's far better than a vision. You see a vision of God and you die, but here is God telling me that he's a God who forgives rebellion and wickedness and sin. Isn't that wonderful? There's forgiveness with you. Now just think about that a minute because that verse is the very heart of the Psalm. What does that teach us about forgiveness? Well, first of all, this forgiveness that it's speaking about is inclusive. I mean by that the verse is not saying there's forgiveness for this sin or forgiveness for that sin but perhaps leaving out the sin of which you were guilty. It doesn't specify. It's broad. It's all-inclusive. It says there is forgiveness for sins. It sets no limits at all. So whatever you may have done, there is forgiveness with God. Have you murdered somebody? There are people who have done that. There's forgiveness with God. Is it a sexual sin? There's forgiveness with God. Have you stolen money? There's forgiveness of God. Have you persecuted somebody else, perhaps destroyed their reputation, maybe even destroyed their life? There's forgiveness of God. Have you failed to honor God? Have you not kept the Sabbath? Have you blasphemed his name? There is forgiveness with God. For whatever sin it may be that you have committed, this verse embraces them all. Secondly, this forgiveness is for now. The translators of the New International Version put that present verb in it, "there is forgiveness," to get the sense. That's what it means. But in the Hebrew, there isn't even a verb. In Hebrew, it just says, "with you forgiveness." You see what that means? That means you don't have to wait for it. You don't have to say, well, perhaps someday at the final judgment God may see fit for his mercy to forgive my sins, but until that moment, I have to stand here trembling in anxious anticipation. It's not saying that. You don't have to say, well, there may be forgiveness for me somewhere, sometime if perhaps I can earn it in the meantime, and so I have to do all the good works I possibly can because that may somehow, sometime get God to be gracious to me. Not that at all, you see. It says this forgiveness is for right now, right now where you are. You can have forgiveness for whatever sin you have ever done. Thirdly, this forgiveness is for those who want it. You see, it's there, but you have to come to God for it. You have to do what the psalmist is doing. He's confessing his sin. He's not pretending that he's sinless. He's not pleading his merit; he has none. He's pleading God's mercy. But he's coming to God for mercy. God has said I'm a merciful God. He's coming to God for forgiveness because God says I am a God who forgives. In other words, he is believing, trusting God, and he's expressing that. He's saying, "With you there is forgiveness." I ask that question: Do you believe it? Do you yourself believe it? Has God given you grace to believe that? Have you come to him for forgiveness? You need to. You need to say, "God, I have sinned dreadfully in thought, word, and deed. I've done things I shouldn't have done. I've left undone things I should have done. There's no health in me. But there is forgiveness with you. And so I come." And then fourthly, I want you to see that this forgiveness leads to godly living. Owen spends a lot of time on this because you see how that sentence goes on, verse four: "But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared." It's the exact opposite of license, saying, well, if there's forgiveness with God and it's free and I can have it now, therefore I can just go on living anyway I please. It doesn't work that way. No one who experiences firsthand, personally, what it means to be forgiven of sin by almighty God treats it lightly. And instead, what happens is that we find ourselves humbled and abased and thankful and grateful and responsive to a God like that. You read that word "feared." Of course, it suggests some kind of trembling fear in our minds. It isn't exactly that, but it's not a bad word. We would tend to say "loved." You are a God who forgives; therefore, we love you. But it's more than that. It's not just loving God; it's fearing him enough actually to live for him and to live in a different way. That's what he's talking about. Spurgeon has a great discussion about it, and he rephrases it this way. He says, "There's forgiveness with you in order that you may be loved, worshipped, and served." That's what's involved. And it's the true effect of real forgiveness. As a matter of fact, it's the proof that one has been forgiven. If you say, well, I'm forgiven, I can do anything I please, you really haven't experienced the forgiveness of God. But if you've really confessed your sin and you know the wonder of the forgiveness that God gives, then and then you say, how can I ever sin against such a great, compassionate, merciful, and loving God? And you go in God's way. But what comes next? What's that third stanza about? It talks about waiting. Can't miss that; it says it several times over. I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, my soul waits, like the watchmen wait, like the watchmen wait. It repeats it several times. What's he waiting for? Is he waiting for deliverance? That's what Peterson was saying. No, it's not that because the Psalm isn't really about deliverance. Is he waiting for forgiveness? No, not that because he says in the previous stanza there is forgiveness with you. He already has forgiveness. What's he waiting for? What he's waiting for is God, that is his personal, restored fellowship with God. And so he says that he's waiting for that, but not in despair, not questioningly, not saying, well, will God come or won't God come or will I ever find him again? No, no, no. He has forgiveness with God. He knows he's going to see God, and so he's waiting for God just like the watchmen wait for the morning. Do they question whether the morning's going to come? No, no, the sun is going to rise. It's dark now; the sun is going to rise. And if we have forgiveness of God, we're going to see God again. God's going to restore his favor to us. All that discouragement and loss and alienation that has been characteristic of our lives, perhaps all our lives, because of our sin has been removed, and now there's fellowship with God again. You see, that third stanza is a joyful one. What he's waiting for is God, and he's waiting with persevering faith. And then we come to the last stanza, and the last stanza is really remarkable. Up to this point, all of the psalmist's sorrow for sin and his repentance and his prayer and his testimony about forgiveness, it's all been centered around himself, and rightly so because he's the one who sinned, he's the one who needs forgiveness, he's the one who's waiting for the restoration of fellowship with God. But having gotten to that point, coming to the end of the third stanza, he now realizes that if he has been blessed in this way, this blessing isn't for him alone; it's for others as well. And so he steps back, as it were, and he looks at the greater company of the people and he proclaims it for all of Israel. He says you need to hope in God too, just as I have done, because of God's character. In him is unfailing love, and with him is full redemption. Coverdale had a wonderful expression for that that's preserved in the King James, the Revised Standard Version, though not in the NIV. Coverdale talked about plenteous redemption, ample redemption, redemption from every sin, everything we possibly need. In other words, what the psalmist found when he had confessed his sin and realized that God was forgiving him for his sin was not a once-in-a-blue-moon experience or something just for him. Rather, this is something for everybody because this is what God is like. God is a forgiving God. It's something anyone can discover. Moreover, God is as forgiving now as he was in the past, and he is going to have exactly that same character in the future. And so you, whoever you are, wherever you may be, can find exactly what the psalmist discovered so many thousands of years ago and that God's people have discovered ever since. And how about that last verse? Isn't that a marvelous promise, that last verse? "He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins." I don't know what the psalmist understood fully by that. I think in the Old Testament, as I study it, that these Old Testament saints understood a lot more about what was coming than we give them credit for. They may not have known the name of Jesus, but they understood that God was going to send a redeemer, and what's remarkable about this Psalm is that that's what he's talking about. Because you see you may, even though you're overwhelmed with God's revelation of his forgiving nature—I am a compassionate and gracious God, forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin—you may find yourself asking the very pertinent question: yes, but how can God do that? How can God do it? Understand that he might want to be merciful; that's a great marvel. I can understand that, but how can he do that and be the just God of the universe at the same time? Doesn't God have to punish sin? Forget about forgiving sin. Doesn't he have to punish it? The answer is yes. Yes, he does. But that's why he sent Jesus Christ, and that's what the psalmist is anticipating. He's looking forward to a future day. He has forgiveness now, "with you there is forgiveness," but that forgiveness that I experience now, he says, is on the basis of a redemption that God will provide as he talks about the future. And that redemption has been accomplished by Jesus Christ. What is redemption? Redemption is a commercial term; it means to buy out of the marketplace. As the Bible uses it, it has to do with slavery to sin. It means to pay the price in order that the sinner might be set free, that all his debt might be satisfied, that there might be no wrath hanging over his or her head forevermore. Because the price has been paid, because the sin has had an atonement, because of that, the person for whom Jesus Christ died is now set free, redeemed, fully forgiven on the basis of Christ's blood. Do you understand that? That's what the gospel is. That's what Christianity is all about. God sending his son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross so that you might have forgiveness. And so I say, if God has worked in your heart, give you an awareness of sin so that you know that you need forgiveness, I pray that he might also be working in your heart that you might discover where that forgiveness can be found and know that it's in Jesus Christ and that you might believe on him. Believe on him. Do it now. Our Father, we thank you for this marvelous Psalm, which we understand to be a record of one man's experience of your grace, but at the same time, a pattern and a model and a testimony of that grace which all who have passed from death to life have found as they've turned from their sin and trusted Christ. Would you bless that Psalm to us today as you have done it down through the history of your church in so many countless men and women, and by your grace, bring many out of the depths of sin and the despair of spiritual alienation to quiet trust and hope and perseverance, yes, and even praise and service because of what Jesus Christ has done. We pray in his blessed name, amen and amen.
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