Psalm 130 expresses hope amidst desperation through what it says, but it also expresses confidence in God’s faithfulness through what it does poetically as well. The psalmist expresses a progression from repentant desperation to this hope and confidence in God’s mercy beautifully in the specific words that he chooses in this song. A good song writer doesn’t… Continue Reading
In our study of Psalm 130, we have seen that the psalmist uses various poetic devices like metaphor and repetition to create a picture of what true repentance should feel like–desperate need for forgiveness from sin. This is the primary function of stanza 1 (vss. 1-2) and 3 (vss.5-6) of this song of repentance. But… Continue Reading
The Scriptures teach us to pray for the things that God has promised. We often pray for things that we are unsure of. We often pray for health problems or for people to obtain employment or for a president to be of a certain political persuasions. This is good. We should continue to do this, for God… Continue Reading
Sometimes we really don’t appreciate the continuity of the Christian tradition, especially in that there is, by and large, an approach to the music of worship that can be traced back to ancient Israel itself and its psalmody. Over the next several weeks, I want to trace how a particular psalm, Psalm 130, has been… Continue Reading