Awaiting Redemption

A song of ascents.

Out of the depths I call to you, LORD!

Lord, listen to my voice; let Your ears be attentive to my cry for help.

LORD, if You considered sins, Lord, who could stand?

But with You there is forgiveness, so that You may be revered.

I wait for the LORD; I wait, and put my hope in His word.

I [wait] for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning--more than watchmen for the morning.

Israel, put your hope in the LORD.  For there is faithful love with the LORD, and with Him is redemption in abundance.

And He will redeem Israel from all its sins.

Psalm 130 (HCSB)

Or

A Pilgrim Song

Help, GOD--the bottom has fallen out of my life!  Master, hear my cry for help!  Listen hard!  Open your ears!  Listen to my cries for mercy.

If you, GOD, kept records on wrongdoings, who would stand a chance?  As is turns out, forgiveness is your habit, and that’s why you’re worshiped.

I pray to GOD¬--my life a prayer--and wait for what he’ll say and do.  My life’s on the line before God, my Lord, waiting and watching till morning, waiting and watching till morning.

O Israel, wait and watch for GOD--with God’s arrival comes love, with God’s arrival comes generous redemption.  No doubt about it--he’ll redeem Israel, buy back Israel from captivity to sin.

Psalm 130 (The Message)

I posted two versions of this psalm because both are excellent examples of a cry out to Jesus moment.  I’ll give a quick comparison of the two, because with both we can more clearly see the big picture.  Many often critique The Message for its simplicity and its drastic changes to the biblical texts.  Of course, The Message is noted as a paraphrase on the cover, so it’s not gonna be exactly like the original texts.  I will admit that I don’t often like to read from it for this reason, but I have found that the Psalms come through rather well in The Message, and so I will use it to share a few psalms with you in the near future.

The first reference in both is to the ocean.  In the HCSB, the depths of the ocean are discussed, because of course the ocean is vastly deep.  The ocean would represent the sin we get consumed by so often, and crying out for help is our first step in repentance.  The Message refers to more of a container, which gets so full that the bottom collapses.  This would symbolize the grip we have on our lives, and at some point we become so full of sin that we can no longer contain it (or keep it secret.)  In essence, both state that we’ve lost control.  Both then offer a similar cry to the Lord for help, because in both situations there is no way out for the speaker.

Both versions are good at asking the question of Verse 3, which is a simple thought really?  If the Lord looked at our sins, who could even come to Him in prayer?  We know that it is against His nature to smile upon sin, and so if He were to always keep a record of our sins we would be doomed.  Verse 4 explains that He is worshiped and revered because He forgives.  We can talk to Him.  We ask for forgiveness, and truly mean it, and God is loving and just to forgive us. 

Verses 5 and 6 prove to be another part of the psalm that each version takes differently.  The psalm in the HCSB declares that  “I wait for the LORD; I wait, and put my hope in His word.  I [wait] for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning- more than watchmen for the morning.”  In The Message, the passage reads, “I pray to God--my life a prayer--and wait for what he’ll say and do.  My life’s on the line before God, my Lord, waiting and watching till morning, waiting and watching till morning.”  It’s obvious that both versions are distinctly different, but why?  Well, both are obviously about waiting on the Lord, but the HCSB tends to focus more on the act of waiting on God, while The Message seems to point more towards the idea of a deprived life without God.  Both are biblical stances to this psalm, but I would say the HCSB is more fitting in the context of the psalm.  The Message does provide more insight into the idea of praying continuously because without Christ we would fail.  Either way, there is a strong message indeed.

In Verse 7, the HCSB version calls Israel to put their hope in the Lord because “there is faithful love with the LORD.”  The Message is a bit more poetic in that it takes the previous line’s reference to “waiting and watching till morning” and applies it to God by calling Israel to “wait and watch for GOD—with God’s arrival comes love, with God’s arrival comes generous redemption.”  The idea here is that once God arrives, He will bring the things we need (love and redemption.)  The HCSB takes that last portion and instead refers to God’s nature in general, not what He will bring when He comes.  It says that “there is faithful love with the LORD, and with Him is redemption in abundance.”
The last verse sums it up beautifully in both versions.  The HCSB says that God “will redeem Israel from all its sins,” while The Message says that there’s “no doubt about it—he’ll redeem Israel, buy back Israel from captivity to sin.”

What did we learn from this study of the differences in the two versions?  Well, we know that God will:
a) Hear us when we cry out to Him
b) Not consider our sins if we genuinely repent

d) He offers us all plenty of love and redemption

With all of these promises, I must ask: have you asked God to forgive you when you’ve done wrong?  He will hear your cry, He will save you form your situations, and He will bring love and redemption in abundance to you.  It all starts by putting your faith and trust in Jesus Christ as Savior.  Pray about this, consider it, read Romans Road, call someone.  Do whatever it takes.  God is willing to help you and show you His love.  Are you willing to accept it?

Your Brother in Christ,

Phillip