Psalms 130:1

Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord. Out of deep waters, out of the depths of the sea; not literally, as Jonah, who really was there, and from thence cried unto the Lord, Jonah 2:2; but

Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD. Psalms 130:1-8.-Out of deep distress Israel cries to Yahweh, casting herself on God's mercy not to mark her iniquity (Psalms 130:1-4); she waits for

Psalms 130 THE This Psalm was composed by the prophet when he was conflicting with horrors of his conscience for the guilt of his sins, and imploring God’ s mercy and pardon. The psalmist being troubled for and acknowledging his sins, professeth his hope in God, , and exhorteth Israel to hope also in him, ,8. Being overwhelmed with deep distresses and terrors, and ready to despair.

Psalms 130:1 « A Song of degrees. » Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD.Ver. 1. Out of the depths have I cried unto thee] i.e. Ex portis ipsis desperationis, from the very bosom and bottom of despair, caused through deepest sense of sin and fear of wrath. One deep calleth to another, the depth of misery to the depth of mercy. Basil and Beza interpret it, Ex intimis cordis penetralibus, from the bottom of my heart, with all earnestness and humility. He that is in the low pits and caves of the earth seeth the stars in the firmament; so he who is most low and lowly seeth most of God, and is in best case to call upon him. As spices smell best when beaten, and as frankincense maxime fragrat cum flagrat, is most odoriferous when cast into the fire; so do God’ s afflicted pray best when at the greatest under, Isaiah 19:22; Isaiah 26:16; Isaiah 27:6. Luther, when he was buffeted by the devil at Coburg, and in great affliction, said to those about him, Venite, in contemptum diaboli Psalmum, de profundis, quatuor vocibus cantemus, Come, let us sing that psalm, "Out of the depths," &c., in derision of the devil (Joh. Manl. loc. com. 43). And surely this psalm is a treasury of great comfort to all in distress (reckoned, therefore, of old among the seven penitentials), and is, therefore, sacrilegiously by the Papists taken away from the living and applied only to the dead; for no other reason, I think, saith Beza, but because it beginneth with "Out of the depths have I cried"; a poor ground for purgatory, or for praying for the souls that are there, as Bellarmine makes it.

(1) Out of the depths.—A recurrent image for overwhelming distress (Psalms 18:16; Psalms 88:7; also Psalms 69:2, where the same Hebrew word occurs). It is used literally in Isaiah 51:10 for the sea.

PSALM CXXX The prayer of a penitent to God, with confession of sin, 1-3. Confidence in God's mercy, and waiting upon him, 4-6. Israel is encouraged to hope in the Lord, because of his willingness to save, 7, 8. NOTES ON PSALM CXXX This Psalm has no title nor author's name, either in the Hebrew, or in any of the Versions; though the Syriac says it was spoken of Nehemiah the priest. It was most probably composed during the captivity; and contains the complaint of the afflicted Jews, with their hopes of the remission of those sins which were the cause of their sufferings, and their restoration from captivity to their own land. This is one of those called penitential Psalms. Verse 1. Out of the depths] The captives in Babylon represent their condition like those who are in a prison-an abyss or deep ditch, ready to be swallowed up.

1–4. A cry of penitence from the depths of trouble to the God of pardon.

Out of the depths - The word rendered “depths” is from a verb - עמק ‛âmaq - which means to be deep; then, to be unsearchable; then, to make deep; and it would apply to anything low, deep, or

1. Out of the depths—A figure denoting great sorrow and mental dejection, as in Psalms 69:2; Psalms 69:14. In this case the affliction connects with remembered sin as its moral cause.