Martin Luther on Psalms 130:1

The 130. Psalme. Out of the depth I call vnto thee, O Lorde, &c.

The argument of this Psalme: which emongest all the Psalmes is one of the chiefest. This Psalme we doe also account emongest the most excellent & principall Psalmes: for it setteth forth the chiefest poynt of our saluation, our iustification I meane, & righteousnes before God. The true and sincere knowledge whereof is it which mainteyneth and preserueth the Church: for it is the knowledge of veritie and life. Contrariwise, where the knowledge of our iustification is lost, there is no life, no Church, no Christ, neither is there any iudgement left either of doctrine or of spirites, but all is full of horrible darkenes and blindnes. That we may therefore preserue and leaue this light to our posteritie, we wil take in hand, as God shall make vs able, to expound this Psalme also.

And here first of all ye haue to note, How the prophets are wont to speake of God, & how they describe him. that the Prophets, when they speak of God or name God, do meane their owne God, whose promises & worship they had emongest them, lest ye should thinke that we haue any accesse vnto God by our owne imaginations which we conceaue of God without the word, as the Turkes, the Iewes and the Papists do, which seke after God altogither without his word, or else they transforme the word from the right sense and vnderstanding thereof, into a fantasie of their owne imagination. For the Prophets did know that the true God, although he be of him selfe and of his owne nature infinite and incomprehensible, was included notwithstanding in the Mercieseat, whereunto he had bound him selfe by his word and promise. Wherefore, although they called him the God of heauen & maker of all thinges, yet this had they as a more neere & proper token of the true God, that they knewe him to haue his dwelling in Sion. When they prayed therfore vnto God or talked of God, they did it according to that forme and maner wherby God had reueiled him self in his word and promises. Albeit therefore the Prophet maketh no mention in this place of yt tabernacle or promises, but semeth to speak vnto God simply and without all respect thereof, yet we must vnderstand that he speaketh no otherwise to God, then as he is setts forth in his word & worship: VVithout Christ God is neither to be sought nor worshipped. Like as we ought now no otherwise to thinke or speake of God, then as he is in our true Mercieseate Christ. For so Christ himselfe saith vnto Philip: He that seeth me, seeth my father. No man commeth vnto my father but by me.

When we haue attained this knowledge, then may we safely worship God and call vpon him as he is the maker of heauen and earth, and so shall we vndoubtedly find him. For although of him selfe and when he is not thus reueiled, he is vnsearchable and not to be found: yet in his word and promises, wherein he wrappeth him selfe, he will both be found & knowne of them that will there seke after him. The Iewes therfore praying before the arke, worshipped the true God of heauen and earth. For God by his worde had promised that he would be there present, & there would heare the praiers of his people. Euen so we likewise loking vnto Christ & worshipping him, doe worship the true God: for he hath reueiled him selfe in Christ. Therefore Christ saith: VVhat so euer yee shall aske the father in my name he will giue it you. They therefore that pray vnto God and fasten not their eyes and minds vpon Christ, come not vnto God, but worship the imaginations of their owne harts in steed of ye true God, & are plaine idolaters. For neither wil god be sought nor found, nor heare our praiers, but in our mercieseat Christ. Wherfore if we wil find God in deede, knowe him as we should do, & with boldnes come vnto him, let vs loke vnto Christ, according to y• saying of S. Iohn: He that seeth me, seeth my father. Thus y• word gathereth togither y• wandring cogitations of our harts, vnto this only person Christ God & man, to ye end we should know yt there is or can be found no God without Christ, Dost thou not beleue (saith he) that the father is in me, & I in him?

In like maner did the holy Iewes pray vnto God dwelling in Sion. That place who so euer neglected, although they vsed one and the same kind of worship, & the same wordes in prayer which they did, notwithstanding they committed idolatrie, because they did contrary to this commaundement, namely that he would be worshipped in Ierusalem. This is then a general rule to be obserued in all the Psalmes & in the whole Scriptures, that in the olde Testament there was no God but in Sion: or in the place of the tabernacle, and that all prayers were made vnto God sitting betwene the Cherubins. Nowe, when this temple was destroyed, God set vp an other temple, in the which he would be sought, serued and worshipped. Without this temple there is no God, but the deuill in steede of God, is there both sought and founde: and therefore men fall either into desperation if they haue an euil conscience, or else through hypocrisie into presumption, as did the Idolatrous Iewes, and as our Papistes now doe, most arrogantly presuming of their owne righteousnes.

Hereunto doe these and such like sentences of the Psalmes & the Prophets apperteine: I lift vp mine eyes vnto the mountaines. Again, The Lorde out of Sion blesse thee. In like maner are all such other sentences also to be vnderstand wherin is added no manifest signification of the place or of ye temple, as in this place: Out of the depth haue I called vnto thee O Lord. He doth not here cal the Lord absolutely ye maker of heauen & earth, as the Turks also do, but the same God which dwelleth in Sion, whose word & promises they had amongs them, that he would there receaue & heare their prayes. The Prophet resteth therefore wholy & onely in the assured confidence of y• free mercy & grace of God, but of that God which was in Sion, & which said vnto Satan: I will put enmitie betwene thee and the seede of the woman: For God will not be sought by our deuises. Which if we shoulde doe, what should we need then ye word? To what end was ye law? why was Christ reueiled? Behold our aduersaries the papists wherunto they are come. They pray much. They recite Psalmes often. They say: Pater noster qui es in caelis, &c. But beca[illegible: 1 letter]se they contemne the worde, yea and persecute it also with might and maine, therefore vnder these good wordes they mainteine plaine idolatrie. So hapneth it also to the Turkes, euen then when they say they worship the liuing God the maker of heauen and earth.

For this cause I do so often admonish you, that without Christ ye should shut your eyes and stoppe your eares, and say ye knowe no God besides him which was in the lappe of the virgine Marie and suckt her breastes. Where this God Christ Iesus is, there is God wholy, there is the whole diuinitie, there is ye father and the holy Ghost. Without this Christ there is no God. I haue known many in the kingdom of Antichrist, which seeking to comprehend God by mans speculations, haue horribly perished, and if God through his inestimable mercie had not deliuered me from this tentation, I had also fallen headlong into destruction.

Albeit the Prophet (as I sayd) maketh here no expresse mention of the temple, The prophe[illegible: 1 letter] praying for the remission of sinnes, includeth Christ in his prayer. yet shal ye see how in this psalme he wrappeth the promise concerning Christ. For this is the whole argument of this Psalme, that there is no saluation, no grace, no iustification, but in that God which forgiueth sinnes. And is this God any other then the same which sayd vnto the Serpent: The seede of the woman shall bruse thy head? Therefore he taketh God here as a promise maker, and sheweth that Christ was promised of the father to be a sacrifice for the sinnes of the world. And here the Prophete setteth foorth vnto vs a principall poynt of doctrine touching Christian righteousnes, Christian wisedom and the glory of Christ. These thinges Dauid treateth of euen then, when the law was in his full strength, and leapeth ouer the boundes of the law into Paradise, or rather into the very heauen of grace & mercie. For why should I not call grace heauen it selfe, by the which we haue an open passage vnto heauen, and the which we can neuer atteyne vnto by the law, by workes or by our owne endeuour, but rather, as a most large heauen it receaueth vs beleuing that by adoption we are made righteous before God through Christ.

Hereby we may see what the entent and purpose of the Pr[illegible: 1 letter] phet is in this Psalme, namely to teach vs the true way to righteousnes, life and saluation. Againe, to shew vs the way how to escape death, sinne and the wrath of God, that out of this life we may passe to life euerlasting. And in teaching of these things he sheweth his owne experience, and layeth open vnto vs his owne hart, which the holy Ghost had exercised and scholed with many tentations, that so he might atteyne to this doctrine: wherein he goeth about here to enstruct vs also. The summe whereof is, that he resteth wholy in the hope of Gods mercie, and in the sure trust of the forgiuenes of his sinnes. But these thinges shall more clearely appeare hereafter in expounding of the Psalme.

Verse. 1. Out of the depth haue I called vnto thee, O Lorde.

It may seeme that the Prophet vseth here moe wordes then needeth. But he that considereth well the cause which forceth him to burst out into these wordes, The greatnes of the tentation wherewith Dauid was oppressed. shall see that no plentie of wordes could expresse the sorrow and anguish of his wofull hart, nor sufficiently declare his daunger. For it was no light or common tentation that vexed him. He complained not of ye perills that he was in by the rage of Saul, by his sonne Absolon, by ye false Prophets and others, nor of any other tentations which proceede of malice and hatred wherewith the world persecuteth the godly: but he setteth forth here the griefe of a vexed and wounded conscience & the very sorrowes of death, when a man feeling his hart as it were oppressed with desperation, thinketh him selfe forsaken of God: when he seeth his owne vnworthines and desertes accused before God as a terrible iudge: yea when it seemeth vnto him that God hath not onely forsaken him, but cast him away for euer, hateth & abhorreth him for his sinnes. These tētations are much more terrible then those which men commonly fall into: for they are not without daunger of soule & eternall saluation. Therefore he vseth here this maner of speech, saying: Out of the depth I call vnto thee, &c. As if he should say: great are the troubles wherewith I am oppressed. For I feele mine owne sinnes and the iust wrath of God vpon me for the same, neither can I find reliefe or comfort to my restles & afflicted soule. Against the malice of men, wherewith they molest and vexe vs, there are remedyes to be found: but this wound is vncurable, except the Lord send helpe and succour from aboue.

And in dede such troubles as the godly are commonly exercised withall, as the losse of goods, wife, children & such other, may yet be ouercome or borne with patience. Moreouer, in those which are counted inferior sinnes, as the offences of youth, the deiect & broken herted may more easily be raised vp againe: But these afflictions seeme to them, and are in deed vntollerable, when they feele them selues oppressed with such horrible and hellish cogitations, that they can see nothing else, but that they are caste away from God for euer. They therfore that feele such bitter tentations, It is a great consolation to see that holy Dauid was exercised with the tentations of the wrath of God. haue here an example that Dauid in him selfe felt and had experience of the like. For it maketh the tentation much more greuous when they which are thus afflicted, feele that, (as to them it seemeth) which none else doe feele but they alone. We must learne therefore that euen the godly haue euer suffered the same afflictions, and haue bene beaten downe euen to death with the terrors of the law and sinne: as we may see here by the example of Dauid crying euen, as it were out of hell and saying: Out of the depth doe I cry vnto thee, O Lord, &c.

But it is not inough for vs to knowe that we sustaine not these troubles and tentations alone, but we muste also learne the way whereby such as haue suffered the like tentations, haue beene raysed vp againe. And here ye se Dauid what he doth. Ye see whither he flyeth in his great distresse. He despaireth not, but cryeth vnto the Lord, as one yet hoping assuredly to find reliefe and comforte. Rest thou also in this hope, and do as he did. Dauid was not tempted to the end he should despaire. Thinke not thou therefore that thy tentations are sent vnto thee that thou shouldest be swallowed vp with sorrowe and desperation. In the tentations of sin and of the wrath of god what we ought to do. If thou be brought downe euen to the gates of hell, beleue that the Lord will surely raise thee vp againe. If thou be brused and broken, knowe that it is the Lorde which will heale thee againe. If thy hart be ful of sorrow and heauines, looke for comfort from him who hath saide, that a troubled spirite is a sacrifice vnto him.

It is expedient also to haue some faithfull brother at hande, which may comfort vs in these bitter conflictes. For God would that in his Church one should help to comfort an other as mēbers knitte togither in one body: and he hath promised that when two are gathered togither in his name, he will be the thirde amongest them. And doubtles nothing comforteth an afflicted conscience so much, as to heare some godly brother declaring out of the word of God, that such terrours and afflictions are sent of God, not to destroy vs, but to humble vs, therby to make vs to acknowledge the great mercy of God offred vnto vs, and to receiue the same with thankful harts, But if, in this distresse we be destitute of the helpe of such faithfull brethren, we must then doe as Dauid [illegible: 1 letter]id in this place: that is, we must cry vnto the Lord, & pray as this Psalme teacheth vs. Wherein ye see such sorrowfull and bitter sighes as liuely expresse in Dauid the great anguish of spirite: from whence floweth such plentifull matter (and yet nothing superfluous) as compelleth him, not onely to say, that out of the deepe depth he cryeth and calleth vnto the Lord, but he putteth the Lorde also in minde of his promise, thereby to moue him the rather to giue eare vnto his prayer.