“The Hole” Psalm 130
There is a super deep well called The Kola a Borehole It is the most jaw-dropping, radical, human-made hole on the planet, and the deepest artificial point on Earth. The wicked shaft, built by the Soviets during the Cold War, is 40,230 feet deep. It is so deep that locals call it the “well to hell,” and swear they can hear the screams of souls in hell.
1. The Psalm writer maybe In a hole like that
• More than likely he is in Babylonian exile, He calls it the “depths.” We might say, the “pits.”
• We know his situation is considerable It has the tone of a person who has lost everything in life.
• It feels like the anguish of someone whose life and reputation have been destroyed and who now feels there is nowhere to turn.
2. It may be possible that the writer is at a Crossroads
• We have been there? People on drugs have been in the middle of nowhere they have two choices
• “I either end it all now and forever, or, I cry out of the depths of my despair to God. I die, or I ask for help. There are no other options.”
• I hope you’ve never been in such a deep, dark place, but many people have.
• This is where the psalm-writer is: in the depths.
3. Perhaps He would not have been in the Hole
• If I would have cried out to God 1Out of the depths I cry to you, 2
• I would not be in the hole if I had if I would have seeked your forgivness 4
• I would not be in the Hole if I had made my soul hope in the Lord 5
• I would not be in this hole if I had put my hope in your love and redemption 7
• He doesn’t identify his mistakes, but if we were to take a inventory of our own choices, decisions, behaviors and words that have landed us in hot water,
4. Maybe we would not be in The Hole if we would mind our own Business
• Haman wanted to dig a hole for Mordecai Let’s not dig holes for others
• The Scriptures say “Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein: and he that rolleth a stone, it will return upon him.
• Don’t lay traps for your enemies. You’re likely to fall in the hole you dug.
• Haman’s in the story of Esther, when he died on the very gallows he had constructed for Mordecai. The psalmist had a similar thought: “Whoever digs a hole and scoops it out falls into the pit they have made” (7:15, NIV).
5. Finally How do we get out of the Hole?
• We Cry out The psalm writer said “Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD. LORD, hear my voice!” (v. 1).
• From the bottom of this pit, he’s now hollering for help. “LORD, hear my voice!”
• When troubles arise we can cry for help.
• the Bible teaches us that it is okay to ask God for help, it is required
• We will get out of the hole by acknowledging God’s Forgiveness There is forgiveness with you.”Forgiveness! What a sweet word. This amazing God is one “who forgives all our iniquities … for … as far as the east is from the west, so far he removes our transgressions from us” (103:3, 11-12).
• We get out of the hole by Waiting “I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope” (v. 5).
• Only those who wait upon the Lord, can hope in the Lord. So how do we do it?
• In a hole, there is no way to go except up, and that is not going to happen without waiting with a clear mind and heart.
• We wait with confidence in the One on whom we have called for help.
• We wait with courage. This is the advice of the psalmist: “Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD” (27:14).
• We wait with contentment. We do not wait as though we’re standing in front of an elevator door, punching the “UP” button again and again as if it will make the elevator arrive faster. The elevator will come when it comes. We learn to practice peace; we learn to be content with God’s timing. As the apostle Paul wrote to the Romans, “But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently” (8:25).
• Corrie ten Boom once wrote: “There is no pit so deep, that God’s love is not deeper still.” When God’s forgiving love reaches down to the depths of our soul, it lifts us up to a new place, a fresh start, and it is then that we realize that when we are forgiven, we indeed have a future. This is what the psalmist wanted; it’s what we all want. Forgiven with a future.
