Charles H. Spurgeon on Psalms 130:1

1. In the pit.

2. The morning star seen: "Thee, O Lord."

3. Prayer flutters up "out of the depths." —W. B. H.

Verses 1-2.

1. The depths from which prayer may rise. a) Of affliction. b) Of conviction. c) Of desertion.

2. The height to which it may ascend. a) To the hearing of God. b) To a patient hearing. "Hear my voice." c) To an attentive hearing.

Or,

1. We should pray at all times.

2. We should pray that our prayers may be heard.

3. We should pray until we know we are heard.

4. We should pray in faith that when heard we have the thing we have asked. "That which thou hast prayed to me against the King of Assyria I have heard." God had heard. That was enough. It was the death of Sennacherib and the overthrow of his host. —G. R.

Verses 1-2. Consider,

1. The Psalmist's condition in the light of a warning. Evidently, through sin, he came into the depths; see Ps 130:3-4. Learn, a) The need of watchfulness on the part of all. b) That backsliding will, sooner or later, bring great trouble of soul.

2. His sometime continuance in that condition, in the light of a Divine judgment: "I have cried." Certainly his first cry had not brought deliverance. a) The realization of pardon is a Divine work, dependent upon God's pleasure. Ps 85:8. b) But he will not always nor often speak pardon at the first asking; for He will make His people reverence his holiness, feel the bitterness of sinning, learn caution, etc.

3. His conduct while in that condition in the light of a direction. He, a) Seeks deliverance only of God. b) Is intensely earnest in his application: "I cried." c) Is inopportunate in his pleading: "Hear my voice, "etc. —J. F.