Being Enlarged through the Knowledge of Ourselves


	PSALM 130: Being Enlarged through the Knowledge of Ourselves Affliction in Our Environment Drives Us to Pray Psalm 130 begins, "Out of the depths I have called upon You, O Jehovah. O Lord, hear my voice; let Your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications" (v. 1-2). This verse follows from the previous psalm. Whenever we experience the Lord's plowing work through our environment, we become a person of prayer. We are not this way by nature. We prefer to be wild and unrestricted and usually don't feel the need to pray. But when we go through a trial, or when something drastic happens, then we become a prayerful person. We are driven to the Lord. We call on the Lord "out of the depths." Because of our affliction we pray, "O Lord, hear my voice; let Your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications." Spending Time in the Lord's Presence Exposes Our Sinful Condition The next verse is extremely precious: "If You, O Jehovah, marked iniquities, who, O Lord, would stand?" (v. 3). The psalmist now has a realization of who he is. After experiencing the Lord's plowing, and after touching the Lord in prayer, the psalmist knows himself. He realizes that he is filled with iniquity. Previously he was so buoyant and strong. In the stage of enjoyment he became a "mighty man with arrows." He was like a fruitful vine and an olive tree, effectively serving the Lord and the saints. Yet now he has passed through a deeper process. He went through some plowing from the Lord, and deep furrows were cut in his back for him to grow in life. In the midst of this he cried out to the Lord and made supplications. This brought him to the proper realization of himself. Because of the Lord's cultivation, the psalmist can say, "Lord, I am in Your hand. I see now who I really am. I know what kind of person I am. If you marked iniquities, who would stand?" The Knowledge of Ourselves Makes Us the Proper Person for the Building Up of the Church How can we be built up with others in the church life? First we have to go through affliction from the Lord's governmental hand. As He plows over our person we need to spend much time with Him in prayer. It is in prayer, in the Lord's light, that we are brought to realize who we are. Then we will cry out, "Lord, if You would mark iniquities, who would stand? I'm only here by Your mercy!" This makes us the proper person for the building up of the church. The more we think that we are "right" the more the Lord will bring us to Psalm 130. To say "I am right!" is to be wrong to the uttermost. It means we are completely the wrong person for the building of the church. The More the Lord Forgives Us, The More We Will Fear Him The realization of who we are should not bring us under condemnation. For this the reason the psalmist continues, "But with You there is forgiveness, that You would be feared" (v. 4). The Lord's light should cause us to trust in the Lord's forgiveness. We should not overly dwell on our sinfulness, but on the Lord's salvation. This verse contains the interesting fact that the more the Lord forgives us, the more we fear Him. We should not think that enjoying the Lord's forgiveness will lead us to be loose and careless in our behavior. Actually, the more the Lord forgives us the more we are afraid to sin again. Our experience of forgiveness makes us very sensitive to the Lord. We develop a godly fear, because we do not want to offend Him. We Must Wait on the Lord and Hope in His Word Furthermore, because we see who we are we learn to wait on the Lord. "I wait for Jehovah; my soul waits, and in His word I hope" (v. 5). We used to be so confident in our ability to serve the Lord. Now we realize, "I am a hopeless, useless person. There is no way for me to build up the church, to help the saints, or to please the Lord. All I can do is wait for His mercy." Even though we know we are so terrible, we cannot go back to the world or try to escape the church life. All we can do is wait on the Lord. Not only do we wait, but we hope in the Lord's word. We realize that His word can nourish us, sustain us and lead us. When we are so aware of our poor condition because of the Lord's shining, we should hope in His word. The Lord's word can re-establish us in life. We Must Give Ourselves To the Lord's Testimony and Trust in His Redemption The psalm continues, "My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, yes watchmen for the morning" (v. 6). While we wait on the Lord, we are also watching. "Hope in Jehovah, O Israel" (v. 7a). We have seen that Israel represents the Lord's testimony. Not only should we wait, hope, and watch, but we must give ourselves to the Lord's testimony. Before we experienced the Lord's dealing and shining, we felt that we were honoring the Lord when we gave ourselves to Him. Now our feeling is very different. As we give ourselves to the Lord, we consider it a mercy and a privilege. We realize, "It is an honor that the Lord will even accept my service. It is the Lord's mercy that I am allowed to remain with all of these dear saints. Everyone else is so marvelous, but I am so poor. Thank You, Lord, that I can give myself to You for Your testimony." We no longer think that it is an honor to the Lord that we serve Him; instead, we are honored by the fact that He accepts our service. "For with Jehovah there is lovingkindness, and with Him abundantly there is redemption" (v. 7). Praise the Lord for His redemption! The Lord is the one who redeems us from all our corruption and iniquity. "And it is He who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities" (v. 8). Individually and corporately, the Lord redeems us from everything that is not of Himself. The church will be free from all its iniquity because the Lord is the church's Redeemer. Psalm 130 is a wonderful psalm. After experiencing what is described in this psalm we truly become enlarged. By our knowledge of ourselves and our trust in the Lord's redemption we become enlarged for the sake of His testimony. To purchase the book Journey of Life; the Psalms of Ascent and Song of Songs