The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me. In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.
— Psalm 18:4-6
To the chief Musician upon Nehiloth, A Psalm of David. Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray.
— Psalm 5:1-2
And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.
— Psalm 143:2
Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
— Psalm 2:11-12
So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me: for I trust in thy word.
— Psalm 119:42
When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.
— Psalm 63:6
And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.
— Psalm 40:3
Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
— Psalm 103:3-4
General Scope of the Whole of Psalm 130, by John Owen. The following contains an excerpt from his work, “The Forgiveness of Sin: A Practical Exposition Upon Psalm 130.”
A Song of degrees. Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD. Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. 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. 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.
— Psalm 130:1-8
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 itself perplexed, relieved on the account of grace, and acting itself 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 we have,
I. The state and condition of the soul therein represented, with his deportment in and under that state and condition, in verses 1, 2:—
“Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD. Lord, hear my voice; let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.”
II. His inquiry after relief. And therein are two things that present themselves unto him; the one whereof, which first offers the consideration of itself to him in his distress, he deprecates, verse 3:—
“If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?”
The other he closeth withal, and finds relief in it and supportment by it, verse 4:—
“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, verses 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, verses 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 entanglements 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.
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