The Fifth Sunday in Lent
HOPE IN THE LORD
~Psalm 130:1-8~
William S. Epps, Senior Pastor
|
|
1Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD. 2Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. 3If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? 4But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. 5I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. 6My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning. 7Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. 8And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
Psalm 130:1-8
Introduction
Bewildering (confusing, puzzling, baffling, mystifying, perplexing) Adverse (unfavorable, unpleasant, undesirable, unhelpful, unsympathetic) Developments
~Iyanla Vanzant
Bad happens and bad is not going to leave you alone just because you are a good person. Bad makes its living trying to make you forget about what is good! Bad doesn’t care that you go to work on time, give to charitable organizations and volunteer to help people. Oh no! What you call bad times, bad experiences and sometimes bad people, are going to find their way into your life. Working its way into the lives of good people is what bad does and that’s what makes bad so bad.
Bad is not going to give you a pass because you read self-help books, have an
" I Love You" bumper sticker on your car, own a string of prayer beads or know how to meditate. Get real! Bad is going to show up in any disguise available in an attempt to beat you up, knock you down, run you over and tear you apart.
How do you handle bad when it happens to you? Different people respond in different ways to be sure. However, there is a suggestion in this Psalms worth considering. Psalm 130 is one of the Penitential Psalms.
The Book of Psalms is a collection of 150 poems, hymns, and songs originating from worship in ancient Israel. Throughout history, church fathers and Bible scholars have classified individual psalms into various categories according to their content, theme, and structure. One grouping, known as the penitential psalms, shares the key feature of expressing penitence—the psalmist’s sorrow over sin and spiritual failure. There are seven penitential psalms: Psalms 6; 32; 38; 51; 102; 130; and 143. In each, the author acknowledges or confesses his trespass before the Lord and recognizes his need for God’s favor and forgiveness. The penitential psalms make fitting prayers for the repentant person.
Consider what it means that bad happens without your
permission whether you are a good person or not.
|
|
This psalm is thought by some to have been written by David either when persecuted by Saul, and in great distress, or else when in great distress of mind because of sin, after the affair with Bathsheba; and it is reckoned therefore among the penitential psalms. Let me add here parenthetically that we all have that for which we need to repent - whether it is sins of commission or omission - such as negligence or ignorance or insensitivity. This is the season of Lent, during which
we realign our allegiances, reconsider our commitments and reorder our priorities because all of these determine what we value and choose to do.
The specific situation that led to the psalmist cry is not mentioned; only the condition the circumstance has caused is cited. Whatever was going on was bad and has caused the writer to plummet. The psalm begins with a passionate, pathos-filled petition, "out of the depths have I cried to thee O Lord, Lord, hear my voice; let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication."
Then, the psalmist shares an acknowledgement about God: 3If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? 4But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. Psalm 130:3-4
Then, the posture of the psalmist is to wait for the Lord: 5I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. 6My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.
Psalm 130:5-6
Finally, there is the admonition to, "hope in the Lord for with the Lord there is mercy and with the Lord is plenteous redemption."
Consider what it means that as we cry to the Lord in our distress,
we come to the conclusion who the Lord has been in lives.
|
|
Sometimes we feel like asking, “Where do I go to give up?” Despair is a kind of dying within; despair is the death of hope. Job reflected that we are “born to trouble, man is born into trouble as sure as sparks fly.” (Job 5:7). To be human is to be in trouble. The question is whether we will remain troubled or choose hope. The cause of despair is sin (our frailties, failures, foibles, insecurities, weaknesses, vulnerabilities). We all have them whether we admit it or not. We need to remember how desperate our condition is apart from God. Psalm 130 is an anguished prayer, but it conveys hope in God’s power to intervene. This prayer may seem anxious, but far worse is to have no One to cry out to when we reach the depths to which we have sunk.
What do you do when bad happens? This psalm has a suggestion.
Firstly, cry to the Lord and ask to be heard.
1Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD. 2Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. Psalm 130:1-2
The depths usually silence all they engulf but they could not still the voice of the sweet lyricist of Israel. Beneath the floods, prayers live and thrive. Above the roar of the billows is the cry of faith. It matters little what you face and where you are if you are able to pray. Prayer is never more real and acceptable than when it arises out of the worst places. Deep places begat deep devotion. Depths of earnestness are stirred by depths of tribulation. Diamonds sparkle most amid the darkness. Out of the depths of affliction, distress, misery, sorrow have I cried to the Lord. Pray your way through your life's painful, perplexing predicaments. Cry out to the Lord.
Where could I go but to the Lord
Living below in this old sinful world, hardly a comfort can afford,
striving alone to face temptation’s call, where could I go but to the Lord.
Where could I go, where could I go, seeking a refuge for my soul,
needing a friend to help me in the end, where could I go but to the Lord?
Neighbors are fun I love 'em everyone, we get along in sweet accord,
but when I pass the chilling hand of death,
where could I go but to the Lord
Life here is grand with friends I love so well,
Comfort I get from God's own word,
but when my soul needs manna from above,
where could I go but to the Lord
Lord, hear our voices. It is all we ask. If the Lord will hear, we will leave it to the Lord’s superior wisdom to decide what is to be done. It has been said that it is better for our prayers to be heard rather than anything else. If the Lord were to promise to answer all of our requests, it might be a curse rather than a blessing for it would be casting the responsibilities of our lives upon ourselves placing us in a very anxious and precarious position. But the Lord hears our desires and that is enough. We only wish God to grant them if in God’s infinite wisdom it would be for our good and God’s glory. A lot of the times we do not know what we are asking. What seems like a good idea at the time can prove to be disastrous in retrospect. Remember that the Lord sees our suffering, hears our cries, observes our sorrow by virtue of our experiences and comes to deliver us. (Exodus 3:7).
What is desired first in the depths is that you are heard. Being heard is not as easy as it may seem. Sometimes just trying to get someone to listen can be near to impossible.
Consider what it means that when you are in the depths and
you want someone to hear your cries and understand
the depth to which you have fallen.
|
|
Wednesday, March 29, 2023 |
|
Search me O God and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24
Everyone gets into the depths, but everyone does not choose to reach out to God. Someone wrote with a marker on a “Dead End” sign the words, “What isn’t?”
To some people, every road is a Dead End. Disheartened people need to look to God for a way out of the depths. When we reach rock bottom, it is there that we realize our need for mercy. We then want God to reach down and rescue us from our troubles.
The composer says, Just a little talk with Jesus; tell him all about your troubles. He will hear your faintest cry and he will answer by and by. Feel a prayer wheel turning, know a fire is burning. Just a little talk with Jesus makes it right.
Consider what it means that disheartened people
need to look to God for relief.
|
|
Secondly, acknowledge what you have come to know about God.
3If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? 4But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. Psalm 130:3-4
The Lord recognizes the frailty of humanity as the Lord of history. The history of God’s activity with humanity constitutes the central subject of the Bible.
The Bible narrates a genuine history of humanity with the reality of pain and amazement, life and death. And what a history it is. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Moses and the Israelites sojourn in the wilderness, the conquering of the promised land, the establishment of a monarchy, the splitting of the kingdom - just to name a few of the highlights.
What has been learned about God from God’s activity with humanity? The Psalmist says that if God would mark iniquities, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with the Lord. Thank God for forgiveness. The Lord forgives us so that we can learn to mimic that behavior with one another. The Bible tells the story of a people who have been forgiven, redeemed, refreshed, restored, and renewed.
You would think that punishment should cause fear, and forgiveness love. No one truly loves God more than he who is most fearful to offend the Lord. To need forgiveness means that you have offended someone. Oh, to fear offending God would cause a lot of second thoughts about what we do.
We fear the Lord’s justice and love the Lord for the Lord’s mercy. Your mercy reaches to the heavens, and your faithfulness to the clouds. God is glorious in all God's works, but most glorious in the works of mercy. This forgiveness, this smile of God binds one to God with a beautiful fear. Fear to lose one's glance of love. Fear to lose one's work of kindness. Fear to be carried away from the heaven of God's presence. Fear of not enough pleasing. There is forgiveness in God's nature.
Consider what it means to acknowledge what you have
experienced about the Lord in your life.
|
|
Third, wait for the Lord.
5I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. 6My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning. Psalm 130:5-6
Our lives are characterized by speed, impatience, noise, and activity. Occasionally we throw in a little panic. For most of us, we'd rather do anything than wait. That is the source of many problems for us. When we get impatient we sometimes move too quickly or in the wrong direction. Waiting is the posture of people who are expecting something. The posture of faith is to wait for the Lord. The posture of prayer is to wait to be heard by the Lord. The posture of rest is waiting for what God brings to pass. We are skilled in waiting. We wait everywhere in anticipating the waiting will not be in vain. It is worth it to wait on the Lord. There are witnesses who waited who testify to the benefit of waiting on the Lord.
Waiting exercises patience. Waiting teaches submission. Waiting endears the result.
Four purposes of waiting:
1) It practices the patience of faith.
2) It gives time for preparation for what is coming.
3) It makes the blessing the sweeter when it arrives.
4) It shows the sovereignty of God.
In all of your waiting remember two things. Let it not be so much the event for which you wait on the Lord, but for the event you come to discern and know.
This hope is reinforced by the double use of the verb watch, which refers to the night watchman, the sentry who stands alertly on guard to anticipate any intrusion that will disrupt or disturb. The watching of a sentry can be defensive, but it can also be anticipatory as in waiting for a messenger with an order or with a battle report, or the arrival of much-needed supplies. This petition waits for God’s future, and welcomes it with eagerness.
In all of your waiting, let it not be so much the event for which you waiting as much as the Lord of the event.
Consider what it means to wait for the Lord in your distress.
|
|
Fourth, hope in the Lord.
7Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. 8And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
Psalm 130:7-8
Waiting and hoping go hand in hand. You wait for that which you hope. No one will wait for what he or she does not hope will be.
Hope is good medicine; it triggers an internal pharmacy that provides us with forward motion to meet our goals. At the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas (where I received some training), the staff asserts that the single most important factor in treating emotional distress is hope. Hope is a regenerative force, and faith puts that force to work. Hope does not deny our problems, it defies them. Hope means learning to live without fear, to be at peace with life. It means confidence in God’s care.
We trust God’s “unfailing love”. The Hebrew word for love here (hesed) means compassion and commitment. We can be assured that for the rest of our lives we
will experience a constant overflow of this steadfast love. Hesed is difficult to translate. No single word in English captures its meanings. Translators use words like "kindness," "loving-kindness," "mercy," "loyalty." Perhaps "loyal love" is closest to its meaning. Hesed is one of the richest, most powerful words in the Old Testament. It reflects the loyal love that people committed to the God of the Bible, and that ideally should also have been extended to one another. It is not a "mood." Hesed is not primarily something people "feel," it is something people DO for other people who have no claim on them.
What started out as personal, ends being communal. The psalmist moves from the singular "I" to include all of Israel in the hope that comes from the Lord.
My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ, the solid rock, I stand; all other ground is sinking sand,
all other ground is sinking sand.
In every rough and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the vale.
When all around my soul gives way, he then is all my hope and stay.
Not earth, nor hell, my soul can move; I rest upon unchanging love.
I trust his righteous character, his counsel, promise, and his power.
When he shall come with trumpet sound, oh, may I then in Him be found,
Dressed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne.
Consider what it means to hope in the Lord Jesus Christ
in all of life’s changing scenes.
|
|
2412 Griffith Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90011
Phone: (213) 748-0318
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
