Soul-depths and Soul-heights: an Exposition of Psalm 130

Psalm 130 is perhaps the best known of all the Penitential Psalms. It contains the ardent prayer of a man who is distressed by a sense of God's anger against sin: by an earnest, penitent turning to God, he longs for the forgiveness of his iniquities. But this Psalm, perhaps more than any other, is also marked by a steady upward progression: depth; prayer; conviction; light; hope; waiting; watching; longing; confidence; assurance; universal happiness and joy. Just as the barometer marks the rising of the weather, so each sentence of this Psalm records the progress of the soul.