Text -- Psalms 130:1-3 (NET)

Psalm 130

130:1 A song of ascents. From the deep water I cry out to you, O Lord. 130:2 O Lord, listen to me! Pay attention to my plea for mercy! 130:3 If you, O Lord, were to keep track of sins, O Lord, who could stand before you?

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Psa 130:1

¹ sn Psalm 130. The psalmist, confident of the Lord’s forgiveness, cries out to the Lord for help in the midst of his suffering and urges Israel to do the same.

² sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

³ tn Heb “depths,” that is, deep waters (see Ps 69:2, 14; Isa 51:10), a metaphor for the life-threatening danger faced by the psalmist.

NET Notes: Psa 130:2

¹ tn Heb “my voice.”

² tn Heb “may your ears be attentive to the voice of.”

NET Notes: Psa 130:3

¹ tn Heb “observe.”

² tn The words “before you” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The psalmist must be referring to standing before God’s judgment seat. The rhetorical question expects the answer, “No one.”