I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. Psalm 130:5

When I was a little girl I did something my mother had explicitly forbidden. I felt guilty while doing it, but I felt even worse when she discovered the truth. I cried. “I am so sorry! I’m sorry!” My cry sounds like the psalmist, crying out to God after he recognizes his sin.

Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD;
O Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy. Psalm 130:1-2

• Secular thinkers reject the idea of sin. They reject the phrase “sinful human nature” even more. They also deny the existence of God. How would you explain this cry to them?

If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins,
O Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness;
therefore you are feared. Psalm 130:3-4

• Anyone who reads prophecy knows that God keeps track of what people do. What is it about God that causes the psalmist to suggest that God does not have a record of all his sins? The psalmist lived long before Jesus. On what basis was he forgiven? (Hint: John 17:24, 1 Peter 1:20)

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
and in his word I put my hope. Psalm 130:5

• Why does the psalmist put his hope in the word of the Lord? Human beings sometimes say, “My word is my bond.” Have you known someone in whose word you could trust? How does that compare with trusting in God’s word? Why can the psalmist who is grieving his sin put his hope in the word of the Lord?

My soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.
O Israel, put your hope in the LORD,
for with the LORD is unfailing love
and with him is full redemption.
He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins. Psalm 130:6-8

• How long can you wait for the Lord? Do you ever really wait for him?
• On what basis can you identify yourself with Israel in this psalm and claim promises made to Israel?