King James Version
Psalms 130
8 verses with commentary
Out of the Depths I Cry to You
A Song of degrees. Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD.
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KJV Study Commentary
This penitential psalm opens with a cry from desperate depths: 'Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD.' The phrase 'out of the depths' (Hebrew 'ma'amaqqim') describes profound distress - not surface difficulty but overwhelming trouble. Depths suggest drowning, being in over one's head, engulfed by circumstances. The word can refer to deep waters (Psalm 69:2, 14), pit/grave (Psalm 88:6),...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(1) **Out of the depths.**—A recurrent image for overwhelming distress (Psalm 18:16; Psalm 88:7; also Psalm 69:2, where the same Hebrew word occurs). It is used literally in Isaiah 51:10 for the sea.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**19-22. For--**or, "That," as introducing the statement of God's condescension. A summary of what shall be written.
**to loose ... appointed--**or, "deliver" them (Psa 79:11).
Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.
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KJV Study Commentary
The cry continues with plea for divine attention: 'LORD, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.' The double reference to 'voice' emphasizes verbal prayer - words spoken in desperation. The imperative 'hear' (Hebrew 'shama') means to listen with intent to respond, not merely perceive sound. The phrase 'let thine ears be attentive' personalizes God anthropomorph...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**19-22. For--**or, "That," as introducing the statement of God's condescension. A summary of what shall be written.
**to loose ... appointed--**or, "deliver" them (Psa 79:11).
If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?
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KJV Study Commentary
A rhetorical question poses universal human condition: 'If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O LORD, who shall stand?' The conditional 'if' introduces a hypothetical that assumes reality - God COULD mark (record, observe, hold accountable for) sins. The word 'mark' (Hebrew 'shamar') means to keep, guard, preserve - here suggesting maintaining a record of wrongs. 'Iniquities' (Hebrew 'avonot')...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **If thou.**—The word rendered “mark” is “watch” in Psalm 130:6. If “Jah” were to watch for men’s lapses, as one watches for the dawn, nothing but signal punishment could follow. So Job (Job 10:14; Job 14:16) actually believed God did watch; while the prophets Jeremiah (Jeremiah 3:5) and Amos (Amos 1:11) use the word of the strict care taken that the consequences should follow the sin. It is a...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**19-22. For--**or, "That," as introducing the statement of God's condescension. A summary of what shall be written.
**to loose ... appointed--**or, "deliver" them (Psa 79:11).
But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.
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KJV Study Commentary
The crucial contrast emerges: 'But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.' The word 'but' introduces reversal - despite human guilt (v. 3), divine forgiveness exists. The phrase 'there is forgiveness with thee' affirms God's character as forgiving. Forgiveness (Hebrew 'selichah') means pardon, the sending away of sin. This isn't earned but is intrinsic to God's nature. The phr...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **But.**—Rather, *for, *marking an ellipse easily supplied. Israel’s sense of Jehovah’s readiness to forgive was too deep to need expression, it was understood; “Thou wilt not mark, &c, for . . .”
**Forgiveness.**—The article in the original may be more than that common with abstract nouns. “The forgiveness we need.”
**That thou mayest be feared.**—Either that the forgiven ones may become more...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**19-22. For--**or, "That," as introducing the statement of God's condescension. A summary of what shall be written.
**to loose ... appointed--**or, "deliver" them (Psa 79:11).
I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.
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KJV Study Commentary
The response to forgiveness is patient waiting: 'I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.' The verb 'wait' (Hebrew 'qavah') means to look for, hope, expect with confident anticipation - not passive resignation but active expectation. The repetition 'I wait...my soul doth wait' emphasizes comprehensive waiting - whole-person expectation. 'My soul' (nephesh) represents the ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **I** **wait.**—The Hebrew expresses, *I have been waiting, and still wait. *Mark the earnestness in the repetition, *I wait, my soul waits.*
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
23-28. The writer, speaking for the Church, finds encouragement in the midst of all his distresses. God's eternal existence is a pledge of faithfulness to His promises.
**in the way--**of providence.
**weakened--**literally, "afflicted," and made fearful of a premature end, a figure of the apprehensions of the Church, lest God might not perform His promise, drawn from those of a person in view...
Read full commentary →My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning. I say: or, which watch unto
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KJV Study Commentary
The intensity of waiting is illustrated: 'My soul waiteth for the LORD more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.' The comparison 'more than they that watch for the morning' uses night watchmen as metaphor. Guards who watch through night's darkest hours eagerly anticipate dawn - representing both relief from duty and victory over darkness. The psal...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **Watch for the morning.**—Comp. Psalm 123:2 for another figure of the same earnest upward gaze. In the “watcher for the dawn” there may be an allusion to the Levite-sentinel whose duty it was to signal the first ray of dawn, and the moment for commencing the sacred rites of the Temple (Psalm 134:1), but the figure if general, as marking the impatience of a deeply agitated soul—a sufferer wait...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
23-28. The writer, speaking for the Church, finds encouragement in the midst of all his distresses. God's eternal existence is a pledge of faithfulness to His promises.
**in the way--**of providence.
**weakened--**literally, "afflicted," and made fearful of a premature end, a figure of the apprehensions of the Church, lest God might not perform His promise, drawn from those of a person in view...
Read full commentary →Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.
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KJV Study Commentary
Personal testimony becomes corporate exhortation: 'Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.' The shift from personal (vv. 1-6) to corporate ('Israel') demonstrates that individual experience should encourage communal faith. The command 'let Israel hope' makes confident expectation a duty for all God's people. The word 'hope' (yachal) reap...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **Let Israel.**—Rather (as in Prayer-Book), *Hope Israel in Jehovah. *It is the watchword of faith addressed to the nation. (Comp. Psalm 131:3 for a rarer form of it.)
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
23-28. The writer, speaking for the Church, finds encouragement in the midst of all his distresses. God's eternal existence is a pledge of faithfulness to His promises.
**in the way--**of providence.
**weakened--**literally, "afflicted," and made fearful of a premature end, a figure of the apprehensions of the Church, lest God might not perform His promise, drawn from those of a person in view...
Read full commentary →And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
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KJV Study Commentary
The psalm concludes with confident promise: 'And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.' The certainty 'he shall redeem' (not 'may' or 'might') expresses absolute confidence in God's future action. The word 'redeem' (padah) means to ransom, deliver by payment, rescue. In exodus context, God redeemed Israel from Egypt; here, redemption is from 'all his iniquities.' The comprehensiveness 'a...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **He.**—Emphatic. He and only He. The redemption must not be limited to the *consequences *of *iniquity, *though including these. The psalm belongs to the age of true national contrition, when nothing would satisfy but deliverance from sin, as well as from its punishment. This appears decisively from a comparison with Psalm 25:22, where the expression is “from all his *troubles.” *Thus, this p...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
23-28. The writer, speaking for the Church, finds encouragement in the midst of all his distresses. God's eternal existence is a pledge of faithfulness to His promises.
**in the way--**of providence.
**weakened--**literally, "afflicted," and made fearful of a premature end, a figure of the apprehensions of the Church, lest God might not perform His promise, drawn from those of a person in view...
Read full commentary →