1 Out of the depths I call to you, Lord! 2 Lord, listen to my voice; let your ears be attentive to my cry for help. 3 Lord, if you kept an account of iniquities, Lord, who could stand? 4 But with you there is forgiveness, so that you may be revered. 5 I wait for the Lord; I wait and put my hope in his word. 6 I wait for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning—more than watchmen for the morning. 7 Israel, put your hope in the Lord. For there is faithful love with the Lord, and with him is redemption in abundance. 8 And he will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.
Psalm 130
This psalm immediately brings me to a point of soulful reflection on the trials I have endured. I can recall the sinking feeling in my spirit and being at a complete loss to know what to do next. Much like the psalmist, I begged God from these depths of despair to hear my pleas, knowing I had no strength of my own left.
Maybe you are struggling in these depths right now. Maybe you remember the last time you were there. Whichever is true for you, I pray that this psalm will give you the guidance and comfort it gives me personally. I pray that the truths he declares in his cry to God will resonate in your soul and fill you with hope.
The psalmist gives us a beautiful example of the most important step we need to take when we find ourselves in these depths: we must earnestly turn to God. We have the privilege of crying out to our God and resting in the assurance that He hears us. We are children of a God who has chosen to love us, who wants to forgive our many sins, and who desires a genuine relationship with us. No matter what circumstances carried us to the depths we’re in, we can trust that when we earnestly cry out to God in humility and repentance, He is merciful and gracious, and as verse four says, with Him “there is forgiveness.”
Through these truths and the promises written in His Word, our confidence in God can transcend any challenge we may face. We can submit to Him in trust, expectantly waiting for His answer and direction. As the psalmist proclaims with much sincerity, God knows the deepest parts of our soul. More than our assurance that the sun will rise and set each day, we can be confident that God will never abandon us. He is merciful, and His eternal promises are true.
There is no redemption in our own strength apart from Him. Only through faith in Christ is there plentiful redemption from all sin, gifted to us purely out of the love God has for you and me. If you are in the depths, know that you are not alone. Cry out to God, and He will hear you. Allow His love for you and the eternal truths of His Word to fill you with the only hope that always endures.
Questions to Ask Yourself
- What would it look like to seek God as desperately on our best days, as we did in the depths?
- How can you utilize God’s truths and your personal experiences to encourage others who may be in the depths?
Missions Prayer
Pray for brothers and sisters in Christ around the world who have not been able to meet in a year. In places where there aren’t many believers, and cultural/family pressures against faith in Christ are immense, this isolation can be a powerful force. Pray for the global church to be revived regardless of the obstacles