Psalm 130

Psalm 130

1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. 2 Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications! 3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand? 4 But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered. 5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; 6 my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning. 7 O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is great power to redeem. 8 It is he who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.

 In times of trouble, no one wants to wait for help.  On the contrary, when we are in any kind of trouble, we want a solution now.  It’s bad enough to need help; having to wait for it is even worse.  Even further, sometimes things get worse while you are waiting.

I’ve been in pastoral care situations with families when they are waiting on medical test results.  Sometimes they get the diagnosis and a plan of treatment is also given.  That’s good news.  Sometimes there are numerous tests and each time, the worst case scenario is revealed; if anything can go wrong, it does.  These are heart-wrenching times.  The waiting can be excruciating.

In Psalm 130, the psalmist cries out from the depths of trouble, and yet even from those depths, there is an assurance that: 

1) God will hear the cry; (v. 1-3)

2)  God will not let sin get in the way of answering that cry; (v.3-4)

3) there is hope even in the waiting; (v. 5)

4) the steadfast love of the Lord is unshakeable; (v. 7) and finally, 

5) the Lord will use the power of that steadfast love to redeem the one (in this case Israel) who is in need of help. (v. 8)

While the psalmist cries to the Lord out of the depths of fear, pain, anguish, or despair, the psalmist also proclaims the depth of God’s mercy.  As Christians, we know this mercy through the saving love of Jesus Christ.  Sometimes we experience it in the time of waiting, and even as we wait, there is an undercurrent of hope that cannot be diminished.  That comes from the faith that we have received from those who have gone before us, the faith that we share with one another now, and the faith we continue to pass on to those who come after us.

Let us pray: Holy and merciful God, you hear our cries in times of trouble, and you are always ready to help.  Give us patience in our waiting, and with the help of one another, may our hope in you continue to be strengthened, through the power and mercy of your dear son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.