I was talking with a former elder of this church test week concerning the number of relationships we both know about that are crumbling. We agreed that the pain, the anguish and the despair that the people involved are experiencing is not a mere accident of fate, rather it is a consequence of people's own deliberate choices.
For instance, one man I know (an alcoholic who had been dry for five years), began drinking again on his honeymoon. He was so devastated by the burden of guilt that he turned around and committed adultery with his wife's best friend. Sixteen days after his wedding the marriage was over. I know a girl in her mid-twenties who has always refused to take responsibility for her actions. She inherited her family's fortune and used it all on cocaine in six months. Now she is living in poverty. Three months ago a middle-aged man who was overwhelmed with guilt, anguish and despair because of his own choices counseled with me. After thirty years of marriage he had fallen in love with a younger woman. He told me, "I can't help it. I'm in love with two women." Each of you probably knows of similar examples. It is hard to argue with GordonTaylor's statement, "Current indications are that the world is bent on going to hell in a hand cart- and that is probably what it will do."
What makes matters worse for such people is that they finally wake up to the fact that not only are they occasional sinners, but they have a disease called "sin"- they are habitual sinners whose very nature is to sin. Because of their past record they feel that there is really no point in crying out to God, as they think God will have nothing to do with them. They have messed up their lives so badly they feel they have no hope for the future.
Is there any hope for people in such a pit of despair? In ancient Israel there was a hope, there was a remedy. Solomon details that hope in I Kings 8, in his prayer at the dedication of the temple. The king particularly had the privilege of coming to this house when Isreal was facing the judgment of God because of their own deliberate disobedience. 1 Kings 8:37-40:
If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight or mildew,locust or grasshopper, if their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is, whatever prayer of supplication is made by any man or by all Thy people Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart, and spreading his hands toward this house; then hear Thou in heaventhy dwelling place, and forgive and act and render to each according to all his ways, whose heart Thou knowest, for Thou alone cost know the hearts of all the sons of men, that they may fear Thee all the days that they live in the land which Thou hast given to our fathers.
That prayer parallels the context of Psalm 130. This psalm was probably written by one of the kings of Israel. Overwhelmed with despair as he faced the consequences of his own deliberate disobedience to God, he came to the temple and offered this prayer.
The Psalm is made up of four couplets which illustrate the four steps that one must take in order to come out of the depths of despair. Here is the first step, found in verses 1 and 2:
From the depths I call to you, O Lord.
My Lord, hear my voice!
May your ears be inclined
To the voice of my supplications.
Cry out to God! There is the first step. Notice that the psalmist cries out after he has made a realistic appraisal of his situation. His assessment is given in the first three words, " From the depths. " He is overwhelmed with distress and anguish; he is in the unfathomable depths. Further, he admits that he is there because of his own sin, his own "iniquity'' (verse3). This word means to bend or to pervert what is straight. It is used in the Old Testament not just of the guilt which is incurred as a result of one's sin, but of the consequences of such sin. Thus the king is saying that he is in the depths of despair as he is receiving the consequences of his own perverted choices. The first step to healing, therefore, is a frank admission of wrongdoing, with no attempt at a coverup. Eugene Peterson comments, "This is no plastic smile propaganda behind a billboard of positive thinking." Left to himself the king knows there is no hope. When he makes a realistic assessment of his situation he becomes a candidate for proper prayer.
In his appeal to God the king makes a three-fold cry, and each succeeding cry increases with intensity: "I call...Hear...lncline your ears to me." He is saying, in effect, "I must have your attention, Lord. Please pay close attention to my situation and act." He knows that there is no help apart from God. Then consider the king's attitude as it is expressed in the words, "the voice of my supplications." "Supplications" has the same root as the word "grace". He is saying, "My appeal to you is based solely on your grace." We cannot come to God and offer him something if he will act in our behalf: "Lord, I'll do this for you if you will do that for me." Nor does the king try to impress God with his past record: "I've been good up to now. This is the first time I've fallen. Please get me out of this one." We cannot impress God. Nor can God be bribed by a vow of obedience. An alcoholic might pray, "Lord, if you will just bless me now I'll never touch another drop." No, the king does not do that. Rather he prays, "I can't coerce you, I can't impress you, I can't bribe you, Lord. My healing depends solely on your free grace. "
So the first step is a realistic appraisal of the facts- authentic soul- searching. When you admit that your situation is grim you are driven to pray to God in a proper way. Then you leave everything at his feet so that he can act out of his free grace.
From prayer, the king now moves to assurance. Verses 3-4:
If you, O Lord, should keep iniquities My Lord, who would stand?
Surely with you is forgiveness In order that you might be feared.
Oftentimes you are reluctant to cry out to the Lord because you have disappointed him so many times. You hesitate to come to the throne of grace because your record is so blighted with repeated failures. You feel that God is unapproachable, that a cloud of disquiet encircles his throne: "Oh, you again!" And our failures are not accidental, but high-handed, usually. We really have left ourselves open to sin again; it is our fault again. Addressing the throne of grace for the umpteenth time we feel like hypocrites.
But, the psalmist says, there is good news: God is not a bookkeeper. Many of us think that God is a Scrooge-like, stern, stingy, long-nosed bookkeeper, that when we try to approach him he pulls a big dusty ledger off the shelf where he keeps a record of all our minute offenses. But no one could approach such a God, the psalmist says; no one could endure such an examination. God does not keep our iniquities in his mind. He is not a bookkeeper, but a forgiving Father.
"Forgiveness" here means unmerited pardon. This concept is so radical that it is never used in the Old Testament of the way men treat other men. Isaiah takes it a step further, even. He says the concept is so marvelous that men cannot even think in these terms:
Seek the Lord while He may be found;
Call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way,
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
And let him return to the Lord
And He will have compassion on him;
And to our God
For he will abundantly pardon.
[Then he tells why: ]
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
Neither are your ways My ways," declares the Lord.
"For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts."
(Isaiah 55:6-9)
The extent of God's forgiveness is incomprehensible to us. No sin can disqualify us from this gift. Moses brought the law down from Mount Sinai to find Israel committing high-handed idolatry and immorality. Yet the Lord said that any man who would humble himself because of the consequences of his sin would find forgiveness. When the spies came back from the Promised Land with the report that there were giants in the land, Israel spurned the name of God and did not believe the word of the Lord that he would give them the land- the sin of unbelief. But in their 40 years of wandering they learned that any man who humbled himself because of the consequences of his sin would find forgiveness.
The best example to illustrate this concept is Mannasseh, the most wicked king ever in Israel. After Hezekiah had purged the land of idolatry and immorality, Manasseh rebuilt all the high places. He restored Baal and Asherah worship and the sex orgies that went with that worship. He sacrificed his sons into the fire. He even took the idol of jealousy and placed it right next to the altar of Yahweh, thereby inferring that the Lord of glory himself needed to be enticed by lust in order to act. Here is a summary account of Manasseh's life:
Thus Manasseh misled Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the sons of Israel. [He was worse than a Canaanite] And the Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention. Therefore the Lord brought the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria against them, and they captured Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze chains, and took him to Babylon. And when he was in distress, he entreated the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. [And how did God respond?] When he prayed to Him, He was moved by his entreaty and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.
Now that is forgiveness! No past sin can keep you from this gift, nor can any repeated sin or failure. Jeremiah records the good news that though Israel continued in unbelief and hardened their hearts generation after generation, ''God will again make a new covenant with Israel and write the law on their hearts. He will forgive their iniquity.'' No repeated failure can keep you from forgiveness. The only condition to receiving this gift of grace is that you be truly humbled by the conseauence of your sin, and that you cry out to God unconditionally
Harold Hughes was Governor of lowa at one time, and then he became a Senator in Washington. Prior to that period in his life all he knew was alcoholism. In his autobiography, he writes a graphic account of his attempted suicide. Distressed and despairing over the heartache he had caused his family over the years, he had decided to take his own life. He lay in his bathtub, and...
With the shot gun resting on my stomach, I positioned it with the muzzle in my mouth toward my brain. Reaching down, my thumb found the trigger and I was about to push it. A terrible sadness filled me. I knew what I was doing was wrong in God's eyes. Yet, my whole life had been wrong. And God had always been very remote. In a few years my family would get over it, I reasoned. They would have an opportunity to rebuild their lives. But if I remained here, I would never change and only hurt them more. The thought came that I should explain all of this to God before I pulled the trigger. Then if He could notforgive this sin, at least he would know exactly why I was committing it. Climbing out of the tub, I knelt on the tile floor and laid my head on my arms, resting on the cool tub rim. "Oh God," I groaned, "I'm a failure, a drunk, a liar and a cheat. I'm lost and hopeless and want to die. Forgive me for doing this..." I broke into sobs, "Oh, Father, please take care of Eva and the girls. Please help them to forget me..." I slid to the floor, convulsing in heavy sobbing. As I lay face down on the tiles, crying and trying to talk to God, my throat swelled until I couldn't utter a sound. Totally exhausted, I lay silent, drained and still. I do not know how long I lay there. But in that quiet bathroom, a strange peace gently settled over me. Something that I had never experienced before was happening, something far beyond my senseless struggles. A warm peace seemed to settle deep within me, filling the terrible emptiness, driving out the self-hate and condemnation. My sins seemed to evaporate like moisture spots under a hot, bright sun. God was reaching down and touching me. A God Who cared, a God Who loved me, Who was concerned for me despite my sins. Like a stricken child lost in a storm, I had suddenly stumbled into the warm arms of my Father. Joy filled me. so intense it seemed to burst my breast. Slowly I rose to my knees and looked up to Him in the awe of gratitude. Kneeling on that bathroom floor, I gave Him myself totally. "Whatever You ask me to do, Father," I cried, through hot tears, "I will do it."
Harold Hughes did not find a bookkeeping God. Having been truly humbled, and in despair, he found that God was a forgiving, loving Father.
"But," someone objects, "if God offers that kind of forgiveness, despite one's lifestyle, won't that lead to licentious living?" To that objection the psalmist says, no, receiving that kind of forgiveness does not lead to licentiousness, rather it leads to the "fear" of the Lord. We need to understand what that word means. "The fear of the Lord" to some people conjures up an image of a hellfire and brimstone preacher proclaiming to his flock, "I'm going to put the fear of God in you!" In other words, "If you don't shape up you're going to run headlong into God's wrath!" If you believe that, your lifestyle will be a tightrope where your walk is always two inches from hell. But that is terror, and terror does not enhance, rather it destroys, relationships.
No, the "fear of the Lord" does not come with the threat of facing God's wrath. it comes after you have experienced some of it, after you have already tasted it. But now for the first time you have experienced his love, his love which has forgiven you and freed you; and out of that love relationship you totally surrender your heart to his revealed will. The "fear of the Lord'' is motivated by love, therefore a proper understanding of forgiveness does not lead to licentiousness, but to obedience. You have so been touched by his love that you freely give your heartfully to God.
In despair, the psalmist cried out to God, and in his utter helplessness he found rest and assurance. He found that God is not a bookkeeper, but is compassionate and ready to forgive all offenses; and he found that such assurance leads to the ''fear of the Lord.''
Step 3 is hope. Verses 4 and 5:
I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait,
And for His word I do hope.
My soul waits for the Lord
More than the watchman for the morning;
More than the watchman for the morning.
One of the things that causes us to despair is the feeling that we have so botched things up, we have hurt so many people and caused so much anguish in life there is absolutely no possibility of rebuilding our future. Or if there is a hope for a new life it is totally up to ourselves to build it. Once they havefou nd forgiveness, some Christians run around frantically trying to repair broken relationships, rebuilding things they had destroyed, or filling their lives with things they had lost. But that kind of frantic haste and activity only leads to emptiness. The psalmist will not do that. He will wait because he knows there is a hope. He is waiting for a Person, and for his message: "I wait for the Lord, and I am hoping for his word.''Thus we need to learn to wait expectantly for our true hope, because we do have a future. This is not some pacifying wish to drown out your sorrows while you are here on earth. This is a living, not a vain, hope because it based on a Person. It is specific. It is based on God's word, so it is a certain hope. Like the watchman who waits for the morning, the psalmist waits for the Lord. Derek Kidner comments, "Night may seem endless, but morning is certain, and its time is determined." Thus the psalmist bases his hope on a Person, and he eagerly awaits his appearance.
Again I quote from Harold Hughes' autobiography. He served under General Patton in the invasion of Italy, and in this excerpt he describes one night he spent as a watchman:
My outpost was far forward where I'd watch for four hours. I started up the steep mountain path in pitch darkness, feeling the thin communications wire for guidance. As I crept along, my heart leaped at every falling pebble. I neared the outpost and whispered the first half of the password, "Trafalgar," and waited for the answer, "Square." Not a sound. I called out again: "Trafalgar!" Deadly quiet. My insides congealed and I lay there, fingers gripping the dirt. Finally, I inched forward to the hole and reached in, expecting to find a body. But it was empty. I dropped into the pit, picked up the telephone, which worked, and settled down with my rifle and waited. The hours crawled by as I waited. Would the sun never rise? "Let me live through this night," I continued to plead until daylight when I was relieved.
The watchman knows that however long the night, however dark the darkness, morning and sunshine will inevitably follow.
As we look through the Scriptures we learn how righteous men learned to wait upon the Lord. Following his sins of murder and adultery, King David wrote Psalm 51. He cried out to the Lord for forgiveness and laid everything at God's feet. Then he did not race around trying to rebuild his future and make up for all the evil he had done. He waited for the word of the Lord and for the messenger of the Lord. The word of forgiveness, the hope of eternal life came from the prophet Nathan, who told David, "The Lord has also caused your sin to pass away. You shall not die.''
Jesus Christ, the eternal Word, came in person; he became the message. On Passover Eve he was crucified, his life poured out, but after the long night of darkness and anguish, the watchman announced on Easter morning, "Behold, he is risen. Your sins are forgiven. There is the hope of eternal life.'' Yes, we do have a hope and a future, but it is not of our own making. God will do it by his word. Our God has come in person to bring the word of forgiveness and the hope of eternal life, so we can say with Joel, "I will restore to you the years the locust has eaten." With that hope we can learn to wait.
The psalmist began in despair, and that despair led to a cry, which in turn led to assurance, and that assurance led to a hope. Now the fourth and final stage of the psalmist's healing: he becomes a witness to others. Verse 7:
O Israel, hope in the Lord;
For with the Lord is loyal love.
And with Him is abundant redemption;
He himself will redeem Israel
From all his iniquities.
The king was so touched by the grace of God in his own life he would not remain silent. He became a witness and encouraged others with the new hope he had found. Healing is not complete until you are able to minister to others. If you are not eager to share this glorious hope with others around you, I question whether you have fully understood the depths of your own forgiveness. The king is so touched he wants to share his light of hope with a dark and downcast world.
And here is his message. First, he gives the basis for hope. He says, "My hope and your hope is based not upon your commitment to God, but it is based on his loyal love." This word answers the objection of those who say Christianity is not for them because they are no good at keeping commitments; they will only disappoint the Lord. To that, the king says, "This hope is based upon the God who makes covenants. He swears and places himself under oath; now he must give you a steady outpouring of his love because he has bound himself to a promise, and his promises are unfailing." That is loyal love. Thus you can be assured that you will experience a steady outpouring of his love, not based on your inconsistent behavior, but upon God's unfailing promises.
And those promises are like nails- you can hang your life on them. That gives stability to your hope. Have you ever asked yourself why you are so blessed today, why did the gospel ever come to America, let alone the Bay area? Do you think that it is because you are so good, that you deserve it? No! You are experiencing God's love today because 4,000 years ago he made a commitment to Abraham! "Through you I will bless all the nations of the earth." God remained loyal to that oath, and then he expanded it to Isaac and Jacob and David. God is keeping his promise. The basis of your hope is that God initiated that unconditional covenant. In premarital counseling, couples wonder, ''What is going to keep our love going?" I always tell them that their covenant with each other is exactly like our covenant with the Lord; what will keep love strong is not feelings, but the commitment they will make to each other on their wedding day. And that commitment is unconditional. It is not fifty-fifty. It is not based on responses, or on good looks, on financial security, etc. It is based on commitment, and that is loyal love. That is the way God loves us, and marriage reflects his love.
Then someone objects, "Well, God may initiate things, but how can I be sure he is dependable? How can I be sure he will give me hope?" To that the psalmist says, "With Him is abundant redemption." God has not only initiated our hope by giving us promises, he has actualized that hope in redemption. Redemption means to transfer ownership from one to another by the payment of a price. In the Scriptures it is always God who pays the price. Ultimately he paid the price in his own Son's precious blood to transfer us from the kingdom of darkness, of Satan, the world and the flesh, to his own kingdom of light. How do we know God is committed to giving us hope? He has already paid the bill. It is one thing for me to tell my children I am going to put them through college, but is is another thing for me to come up with the funds- especially by the time they are 18! But if I make the promise and sign the check, their hope has a basis in fact because I have actualized the promise. That is what God has done.
''But,'' someone says, "I've gone too far. God can't redeem me. My sins are too terrible. You don't know how many times I've failed.'' To that the psalmist says again, ''With him is abundant redemption.'' And he emphatically says,"He himself will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.'' Redemption is not merely forgiveness. Redemption, the transfer of ownership, eradicates the disease of sin itself. Yes, the disease if deep, but redemption will eventually blot it out entirely and give you a new nature. Jeremiah 50:20:
"In those days and at that time," declares the Lord,
"search will be made for the iniquity of Israel,
but there will be none."
[People will go looking for Israel's perversions, iniquity, guilt, and the consequences but they will not find them]
and for the sins of Judah,
but they will not be found."
God has not only dealt with the acts of sin, he has eradicated the disease of sin; his bride will be holy, blameless and perfect. God's redemption is deeper than any of our sins or our sin nature. He will eradicate all of it.
To me the impressive thing about this psalmist is that he moved from despair to a cry, to assurance, and to a hope, then he takes this message to others. We are not fully healed from despair until we are able to look at the vilest offenders, not with a bookkeeper's eyes, but with our hearts overflowing with the message of hope. I do not care what your past sins were. God does not condemn you. There is forgiveness to be found; there is a future to be found. Just humble yourself before God; then you will be fully healed.
Last week I listened to a news broadcast with one of our national Christian leaders who was being interviewed by three homosexuals: one a doctor in San Francisco, one a journalist, and one young man who had A.l.D.S. The Christian spokesman said that you cannot break God's moral laws and not face the consequences, and that A.l.D.S. is a consequence of sin. However, the man who has the disease said to the Christian spokesman, "You know what my problem is with you? I don't sense any compassion from you." I tell you, that rebuked my spirit. If we have been fully healed from despair, we are to have the same countenance toward the most vile offender of God's law. We are not to be condemning bookkeepers, but messengers who offer them healing, hope and restoration. Yet we must do so without compromising God's laws. There has to be an admission of sin; there has to be true humility.
So what began in the depths of despair ends in a glorious hope. Our pilgrim goes from despair to being a preacher.
Are you in the depths? Have your sins caught up with you? do you find yourself enslaved to jealousy, lust, self-pity, ambition, arrogance? Have repeated sins cast a cloud over your horizon? Do not blur your vision of reality with the spectacles of positive thinking. Your situation is grim. Admit it, and then cry out to the Lord. Let your anguish be heard. Leave it all with him, for he is your only hope. And may your cry lead to assurance, knowing that the One to whom you cry does not keep records. He is not a bookkeeper, he is a forgiving Father. Then wait on him to renew your future with forgiveness and eternal life. May the love of God and the fear of God so fill your soul you cannot but share this great hope with all who, like you, hunger for such a glorious Savior.
Catalog No. 3906
Psalm 130
Seventh message
Brian Morgan
July24, 1983
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