Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 130

Out of the depths - The word translated “depths” is from a verb - עמק ‛âmaq - which means to be deep, then to be unsearchable, and then to make deep. It would apply to anything low, deep, or profound, such as the ocean, a pit, or a valley.

This word occurs elsewhere only in the following places: (Psalms 69:2) and (Psalms 69:14), where it is translated “deep” (applied to waters); and (Isaiah 51:10) and (Ezekiel 27:34), where it is translated “depths.”

As used here, the word would be applicable to deep affliction, dejection, or distress. For instance, it applies to:

• To affliction - the depths of sorrow from loss of friends, property, or bodily suffering.
• To sin - the depths into which the soul is plunged under the consciousness of guilt.
• To mental trouble - low spirits, melancholy, darkness of mind, loss of comfort in religion, powerful temptation, disappointment, the anguish caused by ingratitude, or sadness of heart in view of the crimes and sorrows of people, or grief at the coldness, the hardness, and insensibility of our friends to their spiritual condition.

From all these depths of sorrow it is our privilege to call upon the Lord; in those depths of sorrow it is proper thus to implore His help. Often He brings us into these “depths” that we may be led to call upon Him; always when we are brought there, we should call upon Him.

Have I cried to You, O Lord - Or rather, “do I now invoke You,” or call earnestly upon You. The language does not refer so much to the past as to the present. I now cry for mercy; I now implore Your blessing. The condition is that of one who, in deep sorrow or under deep conviction for sin, pleads earnestly that God would have compassion on him.

Lord, hear my voice - This is the prayer; this is what he cried. It is the language of earnest pleading.

Let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications - Do not turn away from me; do not disregard my cry. See the notes at Psalms 5:1.

If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities – If you should observe, note, attend to, or regard all the evil that I have done. The Hebrew word properly means to keep, to watch, to guard.

The word, as used here, refers to that kind of vigilance or watchfulness that one is expected to show who is on guard, who keeps watch in a city or camp by night.

The idea is, if God should look with such a scrutinizing eye, if He should try to see all that He could see, if He should let nothing escape His observation, if He should deal with us exactly as we are, if He should overlook nothing, forgive nothing, we could have no hope.

Who shall stand? – Who shall stand upright? Who could stand before you? Who could hope to be acquitted? This implies:

1. That the petitioner was conscious of guilt, or knew that he was a sinner;
2. That he felt there was a depth of depravity in his heart which God could see, but which he himself did not—as every person must be certain that there is in his own soul;
3. That God had the power of bringing that to light if He chose to do it, so that the guilty person would be entirely overwhelmed;
4. That he who urged the prayer rested his only hope on the fact that God would not mark iniquity, would not develop what was in him, would not judge him by what He saw in his heart, but would deal with him otherwise and show him mercy and compassion.

Every person must feel that if God should mark iniquity as it is—if He should judge us as we are—we could have no hope. It is only on the ground that we may be forgiven that we can hope to come before Him.

But there is forgiveness with you— The Septuagint renders this ἱλασμός hilasmos—propitiation, reconciliation; the Latin Vulgate “propitiatio,” propitiation. The Hebrew word means “pardon.” The idea is, that sin may be forgiven; or, that God is a Being who does pardon sin, and that this is the only ground of hope. When we come before God, the ground of our hope is not that we can justify ourselves; not that we can prove we have not sinned; not that we can explain our sins away; not that we can offer an apology for them; it is only in a frank and full confession, and in a hope that God will forgive them. He who does not come in this manner can have no hope of acceptance with God.

That you may be feared— That you may be reverenced; or, that men may be brought to serve and worship you—may be brought to a proper reverence for your name. The idea is, not that pardon produces fear or terror—for the very reverse is true—but that God, by forgiving the sinner, brings him to reverence him, to worship him, to serve him: that is, the sinner is truly reconciled to God, and becomes a sincere worshipper. The offender is so pardoned that he is disposed to worship and honor God, for God has revealed himself as one who forgives sin, in order that the sinner may be encouraged to come to him, and be his true worshipper.

I wait for the Lord — That is, in this state of distress and trouble — from these “depths” of woe, and sorrow, and conviction of sin. This implies two things:

1. that he had no other dependence;
2. that his soul was actually in a waiting posture, or that he actually looked to the Lord for his interposition.

My soul waits — I wait, with all my soul and heart.

And in his word I hope — In his promise. I believe that he will fulfill that promise, and that I shall find a gracious answer to my prayers. Under conviction for sin, under deep sorrow and distress of any kind, this is the only hope of man. If God does not interpose, there is no deliverer; that he will interpose we may feel assured, if we come to him with a humble, a believing, and a penitent heart.