Charles H. Spurgeon on Psalms 130:1

Whole Psalm. The Psalm is the eleventh in the order of the gradual Psalms, and treats of the eleventh step in the spiritual ascent, viz., penitential prayer. —H. T. Armfield.

Whole Psalm. Of the Psalms which are called Penitential this is the chiefest. But, as it is the most excellent, so it has been perverted to the most disgraceful abuse in the Popedom: e.g., that it should be mumbled in the lowest voice by slow bellies, in the sepulchral vigils for their liberation of souls from purgatory: as if David were here treating of the dead, when he has not even spoken a word about them; but says that he himself, a living man, was calling upon God; and exhorts the Israelites, living men also, to do the same. But leaving the buffooneries of the Papists we will rather consider the true meaning and use of the Psalm. It contains the most ardent prayer of a man grievously distressed by a sense of the Divine anger against sin: by earnest turning to God and penitence, he is seeking the forgiveness of his iniquities. —Solomon Gesner.

Whole Psalm. The Holy Ghost layeth out here two opposite passions most plainly —fear, in respect of evil deserving sins, and hope, in regard of undeserved mercies. —Alexander Roberts. 1610.

Whole Psalm. The passionate earnestness of the Psalm is enhanced by the repetition eight times in it of the Divine Name. —The Speaker's Commentary, 1873.

Whole Psalm. This Psalm, perhaps more than any other, is marked by its mountains: 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 does this Psalm, sentence by sentence, record the progress of the soul. And you may test yourself by it, as by a rule or measure, and ask yourself at each line, "Have I reached to this? Have I reached to this?" and so take your spiritual gauge. —James Vaughan, in "Steps to Heaven," 1878.

Whole Psalm. Whosoever he was that wrote this Psalm, he maketh mention and rehearsal of that prayer that he made to his God in the time of his great danger, and this he doth to the fifth verse; then finding in experience a comfortable answer, and how good a thing it was to pray to God, and to wait on him, he professes, that, as before, he had awaited on him, so still in time coming he would await on him, and this he doeth to the seventh verse. In the third and last part, he turneth him to Israel, to the church, and exhorteth them to await on God, as he had done, promising them mercy and redemption from all their iniquities if they would await on him. —Robert Rollock, 1555-1599.

Whole Psalm. Luther being once asked which were the best Psalms, replied, Psalmi Paulini;and when his companions at table pressed him to say which these were, he answered: Psalms 32, 51, 130, and 143. —Franz Delitzsch.

Whole Psalm. Luther, when he was buffeted by the devil at Coburg, and in great affliction, said to those about him, Venite, in conternptum Disboll, Psalmnum, De Profundis, quatuor vocibus cantemus;"Come, let us sing that Psalm, `Out of the depths, ' etc., in derision of the devil." —John Trapp.

Whole Psalm. The circumstances in which Dr. John Owen's Exposition of Psalm 130 originated are peculiarly interesting. Dr. Owen himself, in a statement made to Mr. Richard Davis, who ultimately became pastor of a church in Rowel, Northamptonshire, explains the occasion which led him to a very careful examination of the fourth verse in the Psalm. Mr. Davis, being under religious impressions, had sought a conference with Owen. In the course of the conversation, Dr. Owen put the question, "Young man, pray in what manner do you think to go to God?" "Through the Mediator, sir", answered Mr. Davis. "That is easily said", replied the doctor, "but I assure you it is another thing to go to God through the Mediator than many who make use of the expression are aware of. I myself preached Christ", he continued, "some years, when I had but very little, if any, experimental acquaintance with access to God through Christ; until the Lord was pleased to visit me with sore affliction, whereby I was brought to the mouth of the grave, and under which my soul was oppressed with horror and darkness; but God graciously relieved my spirit by a powerful application of Ps 130:4, But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared, from whence I received special instruction, peace and comfort, in drawing near to God through the Mediator, and preached thereupon immediately after my recovery." —William H. Goold, editor of Owen's Collected Works, 1851.

Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord. Is there not a depth of sin, and a depth of misery by reason Of sin, and a depth of sorrow by reason of misery? In all which, both David was, and I, God help me, am deeply plunged; and are not these depths enough out of which to cry? And vet, perhaps, none of these depths is that which David means; but there are depths of danger —a danger of body and a danger of soul, and out of these it seems that David cried; for the danger of his body was so deep that it had brought him to death's door, and the danger of his soul so deep that it had almost brought him to the gates of despair; and had he not just cause then to say, "Out of the depths have cried to thee, O God"? And yet there is a depth besides these that must help to lift us out of these —a depth of devotion, without which depth our crying out of other depths will never be heard. For devotion is a fire that puts a heat into out' crying, and carries it up into coelum empyroeum —the heaven of fire, where God himself is. And now join all these depths together —the depth of sin, of misery, of sorrow, the depth of danger, and the depth of devotion, —and then tell me if David had not, if I have not, as just cause as ever Jonah had to say, "Out of the depths have I cried to thee, O God." Indeed, to cry out of the depths hath many considerable circumstances to move God to hear: it acknowledgeth his infinite power when no distance can hinder his assistance; it presents our own faith when no extremity can weaken our hope; it magnifies God's goodness when he, the Most High, regards the most low; it expresses our own earnestness, seeing crying out of depths must needs be a deep cry; and if each of these singly, and by itself, be motive sufficient to move God to hear, how strong must the motive needs be when they are all united? and united they are all in crying out of the depths; and therefore now that I cry to thee out of the depths, be moved, O God, in thy great mercy to "hear my voice." It is cause enough for God not to hear some because they do not cry —cause enough not to hear some that cry because not out of the depths; but when crying and out of the depths are joined together, it was never known that God refused to hear; and therefore now that I cry to thee out of the depths, be pleased, O God, in thy great mercy to hear my voice. —Sir Richard Baker, in "Meditations and Disquisitions upon the Three last Psalmes of David", 1639.