Wednesday, July 1
By Mary Nichols
Psalm 130
A song of ascents.
1 Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord;
2 Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.
3 If you, Lord, kept a record of sins,
Lord, who could stand?
4 But with you there is forgiveness,
so that we can, with reverence, serve you.
5 I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits,
and in his word I put my hope.
6 I wait for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.
7 Israel, put your hope in the Lord,
for with the Lord is unfailing love
and with him is full redemption.
8 He himself will redeem Israel
from all their sins.
This psalm begins with the writer calling out to God from “the depths”, a deep chasm of human suffering. This abyss can be different shapes, but each of us have or will have some experience with it. Grief, sickness, depression, abuse, coronavirus anxiety and despair can throw us in the depths.
The psalmist doesn’t cry to God in abandonment, but with hope and expectation that God will hear his voice for mercy. He is not calling out to a God of vengeance, but a God who loves, forgives and redeems. This psalm reminds us that we can be confident that we are not condemned to this abyss and trust God to listen to our cries. We can wait and hope with expectation for redemption. With God there is mercy, forgiveness and unfailing love.
In Garrett’s sermon ‘A Certain Man Had Two Sons’ on June 21, he stated, “The good news for us is that despair is where God places the seeds of hope.” As human beings we can fall into the depths of despair where hope may not be readily visible. But, the seeds of hope are already growing there. We can trust and find hope even in the abyss.
Let us wait for the Lord with hope and expectancy with our whole being.
Let us put our hope in His word.
May our Woodland Family put our hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love.
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