Psalm 130
8 verses · Song of Ascents, penitential psalm
But with You there is forgiveness, so that You may be feared.
Introduction
Author unstated, Out of the Depths, Book 5: The return and the great Hallelujah, Poetry, Psalms Overview.
This psalm names no writer and no trouble, which is why every kind of sufferer has been able to pray it. The church has long counted it among the seven penitential psalms. It moves from a cry out of deep distress to a question about guilt, then to a long wait and a word of hope for the whole nation. Listen for the watchmen waiting through the night for morning, and for where the prayer turns from one voice to Israel.
Context
- Who
- Israelites who knew they were walking toward a holy place carrying real guilt
- What
- A penitential prayer from the depths that turns to hope in the LORD's forgiveness and redemption.
- Where
- On the road to the sanctuary in Jerusalem.
- When
- Undated; the psalm names no event.
- Why
- To bring a guilty person to God with a confession and a hope before he comes to the sanctuary.
Historical context
No name stands in the heading, and the psalm names neither a sin nor a circumstance, which is why it has been usable by every kind of person in every kind of trouble. The depths in the first line are deep water, the standard Old Testament image for being overwhelmed. The word behind keeping track is the one used for a ledger of debts, and standing was the posture of a defendant acquitted. The night was divided into set watches and men stood guard in rotation until dawn. At the temple, priests and Levites kept watch through the night, and the day's first sacrifice could not begin until an appointed man called out that light had reached the eastern sky.
Significance
Pilgrims were coming to a sanctuary where sin was dealt with by blood, and this psalm makes them say what they were bringing before they arrived. Its hinge is a strange sentence, that there is forgiveness with You so that You may be feared. Being pardoned by someone who could have done otherwise puts a person in awe.
This chapter in Jewish lifeWhat this chapter is in Jewish life and reading.
What is done
Psalm 130 is the eleventh of the fifteen Songs of Ascents, sung within the collection whose setting this site records at /featured/psalms-of-ascent from Mishnah Middot 2:5 and Mishnah Sukkah 5:4. It is a prayer out of the depths for forgiveness, and the classical commentators read the depths as the condition of the people in exile rather than as one man's private trouble. Ibn Ezra answers the question of what the depths are in one line: "Because of the depth of poverty and low status in the diaspora" (Ibn Ezra on Psalms 130:1:1, Sefaria Community Translation, CC0).
How it is read
Rashi reads the fourth verse as a claim about who may forgive. He takes the line that forgiveness is with God to mean that God gave no agent the permission to forgive, and cites the warning in Exodus about the angel who will not pardon transgression. The reason he gives for it is the second half of the verse: God is feared "so that no man will rely on the forgiveness of another" (Rashi on Psalms 130:4:2, the Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg, CC-BY). A Christian reader meets the parting of the ways at that sentence, because the Christian confession is that the Son forgives sins on earth, and Rashi is closing the door that confession walks through. This site holds the Christian reading and reports Rashi's in his own words beside it. On the two verses that follow, Rashi reads the waiting as doubled on purpose, one hope after another and one end after another end, and takes those who watch for the morning to be "those who look forward to the redemption" (Rashi on Psalms 130:6:1). Radak comments on six verses, Ibn Ezra on seven more beyond the one quoted, Metzudat David on four and Malbim on one, and the corpus holds no English version of those under a licence permitting quotation, so they stand as citations: Radak on Psalms 130:1:1, Ibn Ezra on Psalms 130:2:1, Metzudat David on Psalms 130:1:1, Malbim on Psalms 130:2:1.
What the rabbis say
The corpus records forty locators on this chapter, thirty-two Midrash and eight Talmud. The cry out of the depths is taken up at Midrash Tehillim 130:1, Kohelet Rabbah 4:17:1, Shir HaShirim Rabbah 2:1:3, Tanna DeBei Eliyahu Rabbah 18:6, Berakhot 10b:26, Taanit 15a:7, Taanit 23b:10 and Tractate Soferim 19:2. The question of who could stand if God kept account of sins is taken up at Midrash Tehillim 38:1 and Midrash Tanchuma, Mishpatim 18:6, and the forgiveness of the fourth verse at Vayikra Rabbah 30:7, Pesikta DeRav Kahana 27:7, Kohelet Rabbah 9:7:1 and Bereshit Rabbah 98:14. The watching for the morning is taken up at Bamidbar Rabbah 20:20 and Avot DeRabbi Natan 33:2. Each is a locator without text in the corpus.
Sources: Ibn Ezra, Ibn Ezra on Psalms 130:1:1, Sefaria Community Translation, CC0; Rashi, Rashi on Psalms 130:4:1, 130:4:2, 130:5:1, 130:6:1 and 130:6:2, the Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg, CC-BY; Radak, Radak on Psalms 130:1:1, cited only, no English version in the corpus; Metzudat David, Metzudat David on Psalms 130:1:1, cited only; Malbim, Malbim on Psalms 130:2:1, cited only; Midrash, Midrash Tehillim 130:1 and 38:1, Kohelet Rabbah 4:17:1 and 9:7:1, Shir HaShirim Rabbah 2:1:3, Tanna DeBei Eliyahu Rabbah 18:6, Vayikra Rabbah 30:7, Pesikta DeRav Kahana 27:7, Bereshit Rabbah 98:14, Bamidbar Rabbah 20:20; Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 10b:26, Taanit 15a:7 and 23b:10, Avot DeRabbi Natan 33:2; Jerusalem Talmud, Berakhot 2:3:17, Megillah 1:9:8, Taanit 2:2:1; Tractate Soferim, Soferim 19:2; Mishnah, Middot 2:5 and Sukkah 5:4, as /featured/psalms-of-ascent records them; MannaFest, the Songs of Ascents, at /featured/psalms-of-ascent, 2026.
Psalms 130:1-2
Out of the depths I cry: The only detail is the cry out of the depths. Spurgeon read the depths as the abyss that silences what it swallows, and this was the voice it did not silence. The psalm asks the LORD to hear and to keep His ears attentive to a plea for mercy.
Psalms 130:1
“Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord. This is the Psalmist's statement and plea: he had never ceased to pray even when brought into the lowest state. The depths usually silence all they engulf, but they could not close the mouth of this servant of the Lord; on the contrary, it was in the abyss itself that he cried unto Jehovah. Beneath the floods prayer lived and struggled; yea, above the roar of the billows rose the cry of faith.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 7 (1885)Particular Baptist
1 more voice on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Psalms 130:1
“And it is wonderful, considering that whilst we enjoy peace and prosperity we are cold in prayer, because then our hearts are in a state of infatuated security, how in adversities, which ought to quicken us, we are still more stupefied.”
John Calvin · Commentaries (1554)reformed
let Your ears be attentive: The word for attentive stands only five times. Each describes the LORD's ear: Solomon asked at 2 Chronicles 6:40, the LORD promised at 7:15, and Nehemiah asked at Nehemiah 1:6 and 1:11. Spurgeon held that to have a voice heard is better than to have a prayer answered.
Psalms 130:2
“Lord, hear my voice. It is all we ask; but nothing less will content us. If the Lord will but hear us we will leave it to his superior wisdom to decide whether he will answer us or no. It is better for our prayer to be heard than answered.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 7 (1885)Particular Baptist
Psalms 130:3-4
kept track of iniquities: The question is put to two names in one line, Jah and Adonai, which Henry marked as emphatic. Nobody could stand if the LORD kept track of iniquities. Forgiveness is with Him, and the verse makes that forgiveness the reason He is feared.
Psalms 130:3
“If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand. If Jah, the all seeing, should in strict justice call every man to account for every want of conformity to righteousness, where would any one of us be? Truly, he does record all our transgressions; but as yet he does not act upon the record, but lays it aside till another day. If men were to be judged upon no system but that of works, who among us could answer for himself at the Lord's bar, and hope to stand clear and accepted?”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 7 (1885)Particular Baptist
2 more voices on this verse
Psalms 130:3
“If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities,.... Or "observe" (f) them. Not but that God does observe the sins of men: he sees all the evil actions of bad men done in the dark, which cannot hide them from him; and all the iniquities of good men, so as to correct and chastise for them, but not with his eye of vindictive justice.”
Psalms 130:3
“His calling God Lord twice, in so few words, Jah and Adonai, is very emphatic, and intimates a very awful sense of God's glorious majesty and a dread of his wrath. To acknowledge our iniquities, that we cannot justify ourselves before God, or plead Not guilty. There is that which is remarkable in our iniquities and is liable to be animadverted upon.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
with You there is forgiveness: The noun for forgiveness is rare. It stands only here, at Nehemiah 9:17 and at Daniel 9:9. Gill held that forgiveness of iniquities is with the LORD alone, and Barnes read feared as the LORD reverenced and worshipped.
Psalms 130:4
“But there is forgiveness with thee. Blessed but. Free, full, sovereign pardon is in the hand of the great King: it is his prerogative to forgive, and he delights to exercise it. Because his nature is mercy, and because he has provided a sacrifice for sin, therefore forgiveness is with him for all that come to him confessing their sins. The power of pardon is permanently resident with God: he has forgiveness ready to his hand at this instant. "That thou mayest be feared." This is the fruitful root of piety.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 7 (1885)Particular Baptist
3 more voices on this verse
Psalms 130:4
“Forgiveness - Thou art able and ready to forgive repenting sinners. Feared - Not with a slavish, but with a childlike fear. This mercy of thine is the foundation of all religion, without which men would desperately proceed in their impious courses.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Psalms 130:4
“But there is forgiveness with thee,.... And with God only; not with angels, nor any of the sons of men; and which flows from his grace and mercy, through the blood of his Son. It appears to be with him by his promise of it in covenant; by appointing his Son to shed his blood for it, and exalting him as a Saviour to give it; by proclaiming it in the Gospel; and by the numerous instances of it, both under the Old and under the New Testament.”
Psalms 130:4
“God's grace discovered, and pleaded with him, by a penitent sinner: But there is forgiveness with thee. It is our unspeakable comfort, in all our approaches to God, that there is forgiveness with him, for that is what we need. He has put himself into a capacity to pardon sin; he has declared himself gracious and merciful, and ready to forgive, Exod. xxxiv.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Psalms 130:5-6
I wait for the LORD: The soul waits twice over in verse 5, and its hope rests on His word. The watchman line of verse 6 is repeated whole. Spurgeon read the watchmen as men guarding a city and as worshippers waiting for the morning sacrifice.
Psalms 130:5
“I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait. Expecting him to come to me in love, I quietly wait for his appearing; I wait upon him in service, and for him in faith. For God I wait and for him only: if he will manifest himself I shall have nothing more to wait for; but until he shall appear for my help I must wait on, hoping even in the depths. This waiting of mine is no mere formal act, my very soul is in it, —"my soul doth wait." I wait and I wait—mark the repetition!”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 7 (1885)Particular Baptist
1 more voice on this verse
Psalms 130:5
“The degree of that dependence--" more than those that watch for the morning, who are, (1.) Well-assured that the morning will come; and so am I that God will return in mercy to me, according to his promise; for God's covenant is more firm than the ordinances of day and night, for they shall come to an end, but that is everlasting." (2.) Very desirous that it would come.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen: The Hebrew line has no verb, and wait carries over from verse 5. Henry read the watchmen as men sure that the morning will come, and he held the LORD's covenant firmer than day and night. The soul waits for the Lord's mercy with the same certainty.
Psalms 130:6
“My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning. Men who guard a city, and women who wait by the sick, long for daylight. Worshippers tarrying for the morning sacrifice, the kindling of the incense and the lighting of the lamps, mingle fervent prayers with their holy vigils, and pine for the hour when the lamb shall smoke upon the altar. David, however, waited more than these, waited longer, waited more longingly, waited more expectantly.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 7 (1885)Particular Baptist
Psalms 130:7-8
put your hope in the LORD: Israel is told to hope, and the ground of it is what stands with the LORD. That is hesed, His covenant loyalty, and redemption in abundance. The word for iniquities returns from verse 3, and He redeems Israel from all of it.
Psalms 130:7
“Let Israel hope in the Lord. Or, "Hope thou, Israel, in Jehovah." Jehovah is Israel's God; therefore, let Israel hope in him. What one Israelite does he wishes all Israel to do. That man has a just right to exhort others who is himself setting the example. Israel of old waited upon Jehovah and wrestled all the night long, and at last he went his way succoured by the Hope of Israel: the like shall happen to all his seed. God has great things in store for his people, they ought to have large expectations.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 7 (1885)Particular Baptist
And He will redeem Israel: The Hebrew sets He first, the LORD Himself. Titus 2:14 echoes the Greek here, where Christ redeems His people from all lawlessness as the LORD redeems Israel from all iniquity. Spurgeon read the verse as a prophecy of the first coming of Jesus and a promise of His second.
Psalms 130:8
“And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities. The Lord shall do it; in whom Israel is encouraged to hope; with whom grace and redemption were; or who was appointed to be the Redeemer.”
1 more voice on this verse
Psalms 130:8
“And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities. Our iniquities are our worst dangers: if saved from these, we are saved altogether; but there is no salvation from them except by redemption. What a blessing that this is here promised in terms which remove it out of the region of question: the Lord shall certainly redeem his believing people from all their sins. Well may the redemption be plenteous since it concerns all Israel and all iniquities!”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 7 (1885)Particular Baptist
How this psalm is built
The form: A song of the ascents that is also one of the seven penitential psalms of the church, as Cassiodorus classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| The depths at the first word | The psalm opens in the depths and gives no other detail about the trouble at all. Charles Spurgeon read the depths as the abyss that silences whatever it swallows, and this was the voice it did not silence. Nothing in the eight verses says what the depths were.Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 7, 1885, on Psalm 130:1. | Psalm 130:1, Psalm 130:2 |
| The watchmen, said twice | Verse 6 repeats a whole clause: more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. The repetition is the waiting, so the line takes as long to read as the point it makes. Charles Spurgeon read those watchmen both as men guarding a city and as worshippers waiting for the morning sacrifice.Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 7, 1885, on Psalm 130:6. | Psalm 130:5, Psalm 130:6 |
| Iniquity at the start and at the end | The word for iniquities stands at verse 3, where nobody could stand if the LORD kept track of them, and again at verse 8, where He redeems Israel from all of it. The question asked about one man is answered about a whole people.Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms, on Psalm 130:8. | Psalm 130:3, Psalm 130:8 |
| The turn from one voice to the nation | Verses 1 to 6 are spoken by one person about his own soul. Verse 7 turns and addresses Israel, and verse 8 speaks of Israel in the third person. The same turn closes Psalm 131, which ends with the same charge to hope in the LORD.Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710, on Psalm 130:7. | Psalm 130:7, Psalm 130:8 |
The structure
13 more paragraphs on the patterns
Eight verses in four pairs, and each pair does one thing. Verses 1 and 2 are the cry. Verses 3 and 4 are the problem and its answer. Verses 5 and 6 are the waiting. Verses 7 and 8 turn outward to Israel.
The word for iniquities stands at verse 3, where nobody could stand if the LORD kept track of them, and again at verse 8, where He redeems Israel from all of it. The question asked about one man is answered about a whole people.
Verse 6 repeats a whole clause, more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. The repetition is the waiting, so the line takes as long to read as the point it makes.
Across the canon
Verse 7 and Psalm 131:3 give the same charge in almost the same words, put your hope in the LORD, which ties the two neighbouring psalms together at their last lines.
The loving devotion of verse 7 is chesed, the covenant loyalty of God, the same word that gives Psalm 117:2 its entire ground for calling the nations to praise.
The watchmen of verse 6 answer the watchman of Psalm 127:1, who stands guard in vain unless the LORD protects the city. There his sleeplessness is useless and here it is the measure of a right hope.
In the New Testament
No New Testament writer quotes this psalm. Luke 1:68 blesses the Lord, the God of Israel, for having visited and redeemed His people, which is the promise of verse 8 in Zechariah's mouth at the birth of John.
What is debated
Verse 4 is the psalm's hardest line and the one the readings differ over. It says there is forgiveness with You, so that You may be feared. One reading takes the fear as reverence produced by being forgiven, which is how Matthew Henry takes it, so mercy is what makes a man reverent. Another takes it as saying that forgiveness is what keeps a relationship alive at all, since a God who kept the record of verse 3 would have no worshippers left to fear Him. The Hebrew supports both, and neither softens verse 3, which grants outright that nobody could stand under a full account.
The Songs of Ascents
Psalm 130 is the eleventh of the fifteen songs of ascents, and the church has also read it with the seven penitential psalms, Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130 and 143. Albert Barnes records the reading that takes the title Songs of Degrees from an ascent of thought in these psalms (Notes on the Book of Psalms, on Psalm 124:2). On that reading a line takes up the words of the line before and carries them one step further. Here verse 5 says I wait for the LORD and then my soul does wait. Verse 6 climbs to more than watchmen wait for the morning and says that line twice, and verse 7 hands the same hope to Israel. The psalm moves the way the penitential psalms move, from the cry out of distress to the question of guilt and on to assurance, and it ends on Israel's redemption from all iniquity.
Keep studying
Studies5
Words10
Subjects3
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The form and classifications
Cassiodorus, Expositions of the Psalms, 585, as the grouping of the seven penitential psalms is recorded in the site's Psalms structure; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 7, 1885, on Psalm 130:6 and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710, on Psalm 130:4.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
The painting
The Ninth Wave. Ivan Aivazovsky, 1850. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.