Word of Salvation – June 2026
With You There Is Forgiveness
Sermon by Rev. John Haverland
Text: Psalm 130
Reading: Psalm 32; Romans 4:1-12
Theme: The psalmist cried to God because of his sin and waited with hope for God’s forgiveness.
Purpose: When we are feeling low and overwhelmed by sin we must cry to God for forgiveness and wait for this with confidence.
Before reading text: Psalm 130 is one of the Psalms of Ascents, but it is also one of the 7 penitential psalms, that is, psalms of confession, prayers expressing sorrow over sin and pleading for God’s forgiveness. (cf. 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143)
Read: Ps 130…
Introduction:
There are times when we feel very low.
We feel depressed and discouraged, down hearted and in despair. We feel as though we are in a deep dark hole.
Sometimes this is the result of difficult circumstances, or of poor health, or of disappointment, or failure in our family or work or studies, or a combination of these.
These feelings of being so low and despondent could also be the effect of the sins of other people, or the result of our own sins.
And sometimes we don’t know why we feel as we do.
We wonder whether we will ever recover, and if so, how, and when? Can I climb out of this deep dark pit?!
In our despair we call out to God!
We know we need his help.
We plead for his grace and mercy.
We need his forgiveness and love.
Most of us have been in this situation at some time or other, and if you haven’t as yet, one day you will.
This psalm gives you words to express your thoughts and feelings. When you are overwhelmed by your sin you can cry out to the Lord and receive his forgiveness.
The psalm divides into four parts of two verses each.
- HIS EARNEST PRAYER, v 1-2
a) We don’t know who wrote this psalm, nor his precise situation, but we do know he was in the depths of despair. This was a dark night of the soul, a time of great depression, of severe discouragement.
He was as low as he could go and could see no way out.
There are a number of examples in the Bible of people in this sort of situation:
Job felt like this after he had lost his family and his possessions and his health and was covered in boils; his situation was made worse by the unhelpful analysis of his friends!
Think of Joseph when he was in prison in Egypt, wondering what God was doing with him.
Think of David when he had to leave Jerusalem because of the rebellion of Absalom; or of Jonah when he was in the stomach of that great fish, wondering if he was going to live or die!
Think too of our Lord in his great struggle in the Garden of Gethsemane, and of his terrible suffering the next day in his trial and crucifixion. At one point he cried out: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”
Verse 1 does not specify the problem this man was facing – we read more about this in verse 3.
His prayer begins generally.
Many of the other psalms deal with the various problems we face in our lives – sorrow and sadness, death and disease, homesickness, illness, depression, disappointment, internal darkness….
Some of you have been troubled by these things, and some of us may face these in the years that lie ahead.
This psalm, and many of the others, give us words to express our thoughts and struggles. For this reason it is helpful to read them regularly and to be familiar with them. You never know when you will need them.
b) His awareness of need made him cry to the Lord.
When you are really down in the depths there isn’t a lot you can do; but one thing you can do, and should do, is cry out to the Lord, to plead with God.
This man did: v 2 -“O Lord, hear my voice, let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy!”
Spurgeon wrote: “It would be dreadful to look back on trouble and feel forced to own that we did not cry to the Lord in it; but it is most comforting to know that whatever we did not do, or could not do, yet we did pray, even in our worst times.
He that prays in the depth will not sink out of his depth. He that cries out of the depths shall soon sing in the heights.” (The Treasury of David)
This man cried out to the Lord in the hope God would hear him. We know that God always hears us, he is always available.
In April of 2026 Artemis II completed a 10 day flyby of the Moon with four astronauts aboard. When the spacecraft orbited the ‘dark side’ of the moon NASA lost communication with the astronauts.
We have the same thing with our mobile phones when we are out of reception or we are in a dead spot.
But this never happens in our communication with God – he is always listening, always in contact, we always have a clear line. You can cry out to the Lord at any time, in any situation, with any problem or question!
This is our earnest prayer!
- HIS CONFIDENT HOPE, v 3-4
He was troubled by his sins but he put his hope in God’s forgiveness.
a) He was in the depths because of his sin.
v 3, “If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?”
The psalmist knew that God was holy, that he was a just judge, the perfect God, and the righteous lawgiver.
He thought of what it would be like if God kept a record of sins.
Children, imagine that every time you did something wrong that your parents would write it down:
Monday: argued about doing the dishes, didn’t share with his sister, and thumped his little brother.
Tuesday: did not tidy his room, refused to do homework, answered back, nasty to a friend.
Imagine that God kept a complete record of every sin we had ever committed – it would fill a very large book with very small print!
It would include our visible sins, but also the sins which other people had not seen.
It would include sins of commission (sins we actually did) and sins of omission (what we failed to do).
It would include our deliberate and wilful sins, and the sins done in ignorance.
In our modern Christianity people don’t talk nor write much about sin. It was different in the past.
The Puritan Ralph Venning was born in 1621 and later in his ministry wrote a book about sin titled, “The Plague of Plagues”.
In the late 1800’s J C Ryle wrote his famous book “Holiness”. The first chapter is on sin.
He began, “He that wishes to attain right views about Christian holiness, must begin by examining the vast and solemn subject of sin. He must dig down very low if he would build high.”
The man who wrote this psalm was digging down low.
He examined his own sin. He knew he was guilty.
But nowadays people don’t use the word “guilt” very often. It’s not politically correct.
People talk freely about their weaknesses, problems, struggles, co-dependency, and their lack of authenticity, but they don’t think or talk about their sin or guilt.
But this man knew he was guilty before the Lord; he had sinned and he could not stand before him.
King David recognised his quilt before God because of his sin of adultery with Bathsheba and his murder of her husband, Uriah.
Saul, who became Paul, recognised his sins of being a blasphemer against Jesus and a persecutor of the church.
You and I may not be murderers, or adulterers, or blasphemers, but each one of us is a sinner before God. We need to recognise the sin that clings so closely to us, that pulls us back, that holds us down.
b) This man recognised his iniquities and prayed that the Lord would forgive him; “But with you there is forgiveness.” (v 4)
As the people of Israel went up to the temple in Jerusalem they sang this psalm and put their hope in the Lord and in his mercy and forgiveness.
This forgiveness was pictured in the Old Testament sacrificial system. Every day in the temple there was a morning and evening sacrifice of a lamb.
The people also brought sacrifices for their own sins. And once a year, on the Day of Atonement, there was a special sacrifice of a goat.
All these pictured God’s forgiveness.
Those sacrifices pointed forward to the person and work of the Lord Jesus, to the cross, to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, which we remember in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.
c) Because of this God is to “be feared” (v 4b).
To fear God is to both love him and respect him. We love him because he loves us and forgives us our sins and includes us in his family, but we also respect him because he is holy, all-powerful, just and righteous!
The children in the Narnia Chronicles were warned that Aslan, who was a picture of the Lord Jesus, was not a tame lion!
The children could love him but also needed to fear him.
Always remember that God is not the same as us; he is the Lord Almighty, the Holy and Awesome God, and he is to be feared!
The man who wrote this psalm prayed earnestly to God, and he put his hope in God’s forgiveness,
- And HIS WAITING FOR GOD, v 5-6
a) “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope” (v 5).
He put his hope in the promises of God’s word.
Psalm 103:8, “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.”
Jer 31:34b, “For I will forgive their wickedness and remember their sins no more.”
We could quote many other texts.
(cf. Isaiah 1:18; Micah 7:18-19; 1 John 1:9)
These are God’s promises to you, his assurance to you. Yes, you need to recognise your sin, but you also need to put your hope in God’s promised forgiveness.
You might say, “I have prayed but I don’t feel forgiven.” If this is how you feel then you need to keep praying and keep waiting, as this man did.
In verse 6 he pictures a watchman waiting for the morning.
Children, in those days cities were surrounded by high walls to protect the people from their enemies. Watchmen would stand on the walls day and night to look out for danger. The last watch of the night was the longest. The watchman would look for the first streaks of dawn that marked the beginning of a new day.
Think of times when you have been unable to sleep because of anxiety or sickness and you have been waiting for the morning.
Think of a mother sitting all night by the bed of a sick child waiting for the morning light.
This is a picture of longing, of expectation; this is how he waited for God’s forgiveness.
The word used for ‘wait’ originally meant to twist or stretch; later it came to have the meaning of tension.
Waiting involves a certain amount of tension – we are expecting something, longing for it, hoping for it to arrive, anticipating its coming.
The psalmist waited for God’s forgiveness.
One of the greatest of the English Puritans was Dr John Owen. A young man came to see him about forgiveness through Christ. Owen said: “I preached about Christ for many years but didn’t really know what it meant to go to God through Christ. But then the Lord gave me a terrible sickness, which brought me close to death. God used the words of Psalm 130 verse 4 to bring me great comfort and peace: ‘But with you there is forgiveness’.”
The Holy Spirit has written these words to give you comfort and peace.
Take these words to heart and apply them to yourself.
Are you struggling with sin? Do you lack confidence in your soul and peace in your conscience?
Then take encouragement from the assurance of this psalm that with the Lord there is forgiveness!
We have considered this man’s prayer, his hope, his waiting, and finally,
- HIS FIRM TESTIMONY, v 7-8
The Psalmist found such joy in the Lord’s forgiveness that he wanted to tell others.
Verse 7: “O Israel, hope in the Lord!”
Spurgeon wrote: “What one Israelite does he wants all Israel to do.”
We need to do the same. We who have been forgiven need to tell others how they can be forgiven.
Someone has said that witnessing is “one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread”.
The Psalmist gave a testimony about the Lord;
“For with the Lord is steadfast love” (ESV), or “unfailing love” (NIV). (v 7)
This refers to the covenant love of God; it is God’s faithful and gracious love to his people. God will forgive us because he loves us.
“… and with him is full redemption” (v 7b).
God has redeemed us by sending his Son into the world to pay the price for sin, to buy us back. Jesus bought us to be his own by purchasing us with his blood.
This forgiveness and freedom is for all of you who put your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ,
for you who believe that Jesus paid for your sins,
for you who are committed to serving Jesus as Lord.
So this Psalm ends very positively.
It began with sin and ends with forgiveness;
It began with a trembling hope and concludes with a strong conviction;
it began in the depths and rises to the heights;
it began with a cry and finishes with a chorale!
This is the assurance of God to you who are burdened by the weight of your sin and who cry out to the Lord from the depths:
“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.” (v 7-8).
He will redeem you from all your sins.
Amen!