Psalm 130 is perhaps the best known of all the Penitential Psalms. It contains the ardent prayer of a man who is distressed by a sense of God’s anger against sin: by an earnest, penitent turning to God, he longs for the forgiveness of his iniquities.

But this Psalm, perhaps more than any other, is also marked by a steady upward progression: 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 each sentence of this Psalm records the progress of the soul. 

About the Author

Octavius Winslow (1808-78) was one of the best-known Nonconformist ministers of the 19th century in England, and held pastorates at Leamington Spa, Bath and Brighton. He was one of the preachers at the opening of Spurgeon’s Metropolitan Tabernacle.

Winslow’s many writings include The Work of the Holy Spirit; Help Heavenward; Personal Declension and Revival of Religion in the Soul; No Condemnation in Christ; and Soul-Depths and Soul-Heights, all reprinted by the Trust.

Table of Contents: 

1. Soul-Depths
2. Prayer out of Soul-Depths
3. Contrition and Confession
4. Forgiveness and Fear
5. Waiting and Watching
6. Watching for the Morning
7. Hoping in the Lord
8. Final and Full Redemption
9. Soul-Heights