Psalm 130 (NRSV)
Read Psalm 130 on biblegateway.com
Verse 1Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.
Verse 2Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!
Verse 3If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand?
Verse 4But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered.
Verse 5I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;
Verse 6my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning.
Verse 7O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is great power to redeem.
Verse 8It is he who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.
Devotion
I wonder what it was like to be a night watchman on the wall of ancient Jerusalem, eyes peeled and body tensed to meet any coming threat. I imagine it was something like the feeling I had the night my infant daughter had a very high fever; the nurse told me to give her Tylenol and then watch her until the morning, to make sure the fever went down rather than up. I was exhausted and afraid, and yet also hopeful that relief would come in the morning. Our wait—our hope—for redemption from the Lord contains a similar mix of fear, frustration and hopeful anticipation. The word for "depths" in the psalm, from which the psalmist cries out, refers particularly to deep waters; how much more difficult it is to hear sound underwater! And yet the expectation that God will hear our cries and bring change for us persists. Even with the waters swirling around us, we continue to hope—even more than a mother clutching a feverish baby, even more than a night watchman trying to make it to the morning in peace.
Prayer
O God of presence, be with us in our watching and our waiting. Help us live in hope, knowing that at the end of our dark nights there will come the morning promise of your redemption and healing. Amen.