Do you know the biggest problem facing mankind, today? It’s not climate change. It’s not war with China. It’s not Iran getting the nuclear bomb. What’s the thing that beats people down the very most? What leaves us hurting and depressed? Are you depressed about those things I mentioned? I’m not! I really don’t think about those things much.
What beats us down is what happens in our lives – from the
decisions we've made, the things we've done and the relationships we’ve destroyed. That brings me to the thing that is the biggest
problem facing mankind today. This is
the biggest cause of problems for people; the thing that causes the most damage
to families, to marriages and to people’s lives – Sin!
Do you know what one of the greatest blessings of
Christianity is? It’s that you can be
set free from sin. It can be removed
from you; taken away and forgotten by God.
Never to be remembered again! You
can have a fresh start, a new beginning.
You can be Born Again!
Psalms 130:1-8 (NKJV)
130:1 A song of Ascents. Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord; 2 Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive To the voice of my supplications. 3 If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 4 But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared. 5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, And in His word I do hope. 6 My soul waits for the Lord More than those who watch for the morning-- Yes, more than those who watch for the morning. 7 O Israel, hope in the Lord; For with the Lord there is mercy, And with Him is abundant redemption. 8 And He shall redeem Israel From all his iniquities.
A Song of Ascents
The very first words of this psalm are “A Song of Ascents.” To ascend means to elevate, to rise up; to be
lifted up. The psalmist is saying that
out of the depths he cried out. The
depths of despair; the depths of shame; the depths of guilt. I want to show you how another version of the
Bible puts it:
Psalms 130:1 (MSG)
130:1 … Help, God—the bottom has fallen out of my life! Master, hear my cry for help!
The bottom has fallen out of my life. I have sunk as low as I can go. My life is a mess.
Oh, how I have been in that place before! The bottom fell out of my own life, but it
wasn’t by chance. It wasn’t bad luck. It was the result of continuous and ongoing
sin in my life. That’s what destroyed
me. That’s what defeated me. That’s what beat me down. It was out of those depths that I cried out
to God and He heard my cry for help. It
was a prayer of ascents, “God lift me out of these depths.” Take away these things that I have inflicted
on my own life.
Sin always destroys – Satan is a destroyer.
John 10:10 (NKJV)
10:10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
What does he want to steal?
He wants to steal your life. He
wants to steal your finances. He wants
to steal your joy, but Jesus – He has come to give you life; more abundant
life. More abundant joy. He wants to bring you out of the depths. He wants to elevate your life.
The psalmist asks God to hear his supplications. Supplications is an earnest request for favor
from God. People in the Bible often
pray, “If I have found favor in your sight, meet this need.” That’s supplication. When we cry out like the psalmist has here –
He’s asking God to hear him, to help him.
This is supplications.
The thing about this is that when we cry out to God, He does
hear us. He heard the groaning of the
people in Egypt. He heard their cries in
the desert. He hears us when we cry out to
Him and He has mercy and compassion on us.
The way He lifts us up is through our salvation. This is when we see his mercy, His
forgiveness. This is when there is a
miracle of transformation in our lives.
I thought I was stuck in my sin.
I didn’t see any way forward. I
assumed I had completely ruined my life.
I couldn’t change on my own. I
had tried…I was stuck.
When I cried out.
When I came with supplications.
When I cried out to ascend. When
I was humble enough to do that. God
heard me and transformed me. He lifted
me out of that sin and lifestyle, and set my feet on solid ground again.
God hears you. He
hears you. He knows your hurts and sorrows. He’s heard your groaning. He knows the depths of your sin and your
despair. He will lift you out of those
things if you will cry out to Him. Oh,
what a gracious God we serve!
The Sea of Forgetfulness
How does God move to change us or transform us? How does God restore our peace and
confidence. The psalmist tells us:
Psalms 130:3-4 (NKJV)
130:3 If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 4 But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared.
Look again at the Message Bible:
Psalms 130:3-4 (MSG)
130:3 If you, God, kept records on wrongdoings, who would stand a chance? 4 As it turns out, forgiveness is your habit, and that's why you're worshiped.
Does God remember what you’ve done wrong? Does He remember every little sin and wrong
word? The answer to that is yes! These things are recorded, unless…unless what
an important word. Unless you have cried
out for forgiveness and really repented.
If you have then what happens?
This:
Isaiah 43:25 (NKJV)
43:25 "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins.
He blots them out. He
makes them disappear. They’re removed
from you as the Bible says, “As far as the East is from the West!” (Psalms
103:12) Never to be remembered again, “And I will not remember your sins.”
They will be sunk into the sea:
Micah 7:19 (NKJV)
7:19 He will again have compassion on us, And will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins Into the depths of the sea.
Never to be brought up again. All of those things you were ashamed of forgotten. All of those things that brought you to despair. All of those things that robbed the joy and
life from you. They are gone forever!
When I got saved this was the greatest thing for me. I was able to go on as if those things were no
longer a part of my life. God had
forgotten them and would remember them no more!
Hebrews 8:12 (NKJV)
8:12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more."
We can escape the weight of our sin. The weight that pulls us down. The weight that keep us from ascending. Have you ever tried to carry a heavy
backpack up a huge mountain. It’s very
difficult to climb up, but when the weight is gone, how strong do your legs
feel. This is the greatest thing about
salvation. The strength you have to go
on with your life once the weight of that sin is gone. We are set free from that burden of our sin.
No religious philosophy can do that. Only salvation and the repentance of sin can
cause this. Our God is a merciful God
who loves us, who hears us, who forgives us, and who relieves us of the
crushing weight of sin. Just think of
how it would be if God didn’t do that.
There would be no hope.
Repentance would be futile.
Buddhists are doomed to endlessly repeat life until they get it all
right, because their ascendance is based on their behavior. Every sin is recorded and never forgotten. Karma is a cruel master, but in repenting,
God will forgive and remember no more. Those
things you did before will not affect your future, unless you do them again,
and don’t repent of them.
There is Hope in God
Our God is a God of Hope.
Psalms 130:7-8 (NKJV)
130:7 O Israel, hope in the Lord; For with the Lord there is mercy, And with Him is abundant redemption. 8 And He shall redeem Israel From all his iniquities.
Before we get saved, we are sold under sin, as if we are
slaves, because if you think about it, we are slaves to our particular sins.
That’s why I needed salvation, I was overwhelmed, I was
burdened down, I was a slave to all that I was doing. I couldn’t stop, even when I wanted. I had lost all hope. I needed the mercy and compassion of God to
release me from all of that, and God did have mercy. God did show compassion.
Here I am today, to declare to you that God is a God of
mercy and compassion. God will redeem
you from the slave owner…Satan. He will
set you free from the chains that Satan uses to hold you: The chains called sin. There is hope today that the bondage of sin
can be broken. This is what the psalmist
is rejoicing over. This is the hope that
he’s declaring. This is the promise of
salvation.
God will lift you up, in a moment of time. You can be transformed. All of the shame and sorrow and burden erased.
Blotted out, because God is gracious. God is merciful. God is a loving God and a righteous
judge. Have hope today, God can do a
miracle in your life.
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