psalm 130 chiastic structure

Read Psalm 130 at Bible Gateway.

The paragraph divisions:

1 Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord;
2a Lord, hear my voice! {n}
2b 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. {p}

The chiastic structure:

introduction) Psa 130:1-2, I have cried to You / hear my voice;

1a) Psa 130:3, If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?

1b) Psa 130:4, But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared;

1c) Psa 130:5, I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I do hope;

central axis) Psa 130:6, My soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning— Yes, more than those who watch for the morning;

2c) Psa 130:7a, O Israel, hope in the Lord;

2b) Psa 130:7b, For with the Lord there is mercy;

2a) Psa 130:7c-8, And with Him is abundant redemption, and He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities. {p}

The Lord not only forgives sin because He is merciful, but He also redeems from iniquity. He delivers from the allure and chains and bondage of sin, changing the person from the inside out, so that the desire to sin is no longer there, in a process the New Testament calls, “sanctification.”