Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord;
2 Lord, hear my voice!
Let Your ears be attentive
To the voice of my supplications.
3 If You, Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
4 But there is forgiveness with You,
That You may be feared.
5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
And in His word I do hope.
6 My soul waits for the Lord
More than those who watch for the morning—
Yes, more than those who watch for the morning.
7 O Israel, hope in the Lord;
For with the Lord there is mercy,
And with Him is abundant redemption.
8 And He shall redeem Israel
From all his iniquities. – Psalm 130
Nobody likes to wait. No one likes to stand in a long line. No one wants to hear that his order has been back ordered. We want what we want and we want it now.
The Psalmist urges us to learn to wait for the Lord. We wait because we have come to the Lord with our requests for help. We must wait for his answer to our prayers. Out of the depths of our trouble we have cried to the Lord. We have pleaded with him to hear us and to be attentive to the sound of our prayers. With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like a day. We must wait for his answer, on his time.
We learn to wait patiently because of what the Lord has already done for us. “If you, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?” But the Lord has not marked our iniquities. He has erased them from the book. He has washed them away in the blood of Jesus Christ. Wait patiently, because you know there is forgiveness with God.
Wait with hope, because you have his promise to hear your prayers, to answer them, and to give you what you need. As surely as the morning dawns after the dark night, so surely will the Lord hear and answer. “My soul waits for the Lord More than those who watch for the morning… And in His word I do hope.”
Why hope in the Lord? Because with the Lord there is mercy. Above all, God wants to be known for his mercy. Mercy is never earned or deserved. Even in secular affairs, in secular life, mercy is a gift. A judge is not merciful in his sentencing as if the accused deserved mercy. He is merciful simply for the sake of mercy. This is the nature of God. He mercifully cares for our physical, earthly needs. But more than that, He has provided for our spiritual needs through the loving sacrifice of Christ.
Hope in the Lord, patiently waiting, for with Him is abundant redemption. Redemption in Christ is for everyone. Jesus didn’t die for just some people, or for a certain race, or certain color. Jesus didn’t die just to pay for some sins or for some whose sin seems more forgivable. With Him is abundant redemption, from all iniquities, for all sinners. You don’t have to wait for God’s forgiveness. He offers it to you right now, because Christ paid for your forgiveness long ago on the cross.
And that makes waiting for everything else much easier. We will always have plenty of needs to pray about. There will be other crises and many more troubles as our lives march on. But we can wait for the Lord’s help knowing that our eternal welfare is already taken care of. Jesus has prepared a place in the Father’s House for each one who trusts in him. What a wonderful future we wait for!
-Pastor Anderson