On My Way Up: A Summer Pilgrimage in the Psalms of Ascent | Psalm 130

The 15 Psalms of Ascent weren’t written together for this pilgrimage purpose, they were compiled together for this purpose. Out of 150 recorded Psalms, these 15 were strategically chosen to communicate the essence of who God is, what God does and how to relate to Him on this pilgrimage road of life.

There is a time for tears of repentance before the Lord but there is also a time to rejoice in the forgiveness and restoration of the Lord.

I find it easier to see my shortcomings and failures in the light of a righteous and holy God than it is to see my forgiveness and acceptance at the hand of a loving and faithful Father.

Satan works overtime to fixate us on who we were and/or our current performance. He wants us stuck in an evaluation loop. God wants us to fasten our eyes on who He is, what He has done and what He is doing. God wants us moving forward in Him and with Him.

“What we believe about God is the most important thing about us.” - AW Tozer

• What we believe about God impacts how we relate to Him and how we then live our lives.

• What we believe about God is determined by what we know about God.

• Our knowledge about God is the lens by which we understand our experiences with God.

What you believe about God is too important to leave it up to second-hand information or an AI synthesis.

Psalm 130:1-8 (NIV) Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord; 2 Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. 3 If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? 4 But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you. 5 I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. 6 I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. 7 Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. 8 He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.

YHWH is the personal name of God; the essence of His presence, faithfulness, love and covenantal relationship with humanity.

Adonai is the positional name of God. It expresses God’s majesty and authority. Adonai is Lord as master [position], we are His servants [position].

V1 Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord (YHWH). V2. 2 Lord (Adonai), hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.

Depths carry an “underwater” connotation. “Hey, Lord! I am drowning over here! I am below surface level.”

God isn’t bipolar, He doesn’t have multiple personalities. He is both loving and faithful as well as majestic and authoritative. But by using both names, the Psalmist is simultaneously calling out to His personal God while at the same time placing himself under the authority of God.

Our mortal enemy, Satan, wants to entice us into separation and then smear God as abandoning us or shame us into believing we won’t be heard or considered.

3 If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? 4 But with you there is forgiveness,so that we can, with reverence, serve you.

It’s not that God (Adonai) is a poor book keeper or is somehow flippant regarding our sin – He doesn’t miss a thing. The point is He (YHWH) chooses not to hold the past against us in a manner that “keeps us in our place.”

Ephesians 2:1-6 (NIV) As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

Satan’s once-held position and power over each of us has been broken by the atoning death and powerful resurrection of Jesus!

YHWH isn’t a record keeper, He is a covenant keeper. Adonai is a chin lifter.

5 I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word, I put my hope. 6 I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.

True repentance comes from the realized pain of the breach of relationship. Tears are an initial emotionally response to that loss. A 180 in movement is the action of repentance.

YHWH is worthy of our hope for restoration.

6 I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. 

Adonai is as faithful as the dawn. His majesty and authority will prevail!

7 Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. 8 He himself [YHWH] will redeem Israel from all their sins.

YHWH is hope-worthy. YHWH’s love is unfailing. YHWH redeems fully.

We are to live in the balance of Psalm 130:

• God is a loving, forgiving and faithful Father. He is YHWH.

• God is majestic and in complete authority. He is Adonai.

• We were far from Him, He came for us.

• We were unworthy of Him. He has made us worthy.

Who is God to you? A righteous judge or a loving father? He is both. But His first extension is as a loving, forgiving, faithful Father bound to us by His covenant.