Berean Standard Bible · Public domain

Psalm 130

Israel’s prayers give language for praise, grief, repentance, and trust. Poetry uses imagery and parallel lines; each psalm should be read as a whole rather than as a detached promise.

Historical context & book outline

1A song of ascents. Out of the depths I cry to You, O LORD!

2O Lord, hear my voice; let Your ears be attentive to my plea for mercy.

3If You, O LORD, kept track of iniquities, then who, O Lord, could stand?

4But with You there is forgiveness, so that You may be feared.

5I wait for the LORD; my soul does wait, and in His word I put my hope.

6My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning—more than watchmen wait for the morning.

7O Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is loving devotion, and with Him is redemption in abundance.

8And He will redeem Israel from all iniquity.

Read closely

  1. What repeated words, contrasts, or actions stand out in this chapter?
  2. How does this chapter fit the surrounding chapters and the book’s purpose?
  3. What did it communicate to its first hearers, before applying it to your life?