The Rev. Kathi Johnson
Spirituality of Preaching Class for the ACTS DMin program
Text: Psalm 130
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.
O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!
If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered.
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in the Lord’s word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning,
more than those who watch for the morning.
O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with the Lord is great power to redeem.
It is God who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.
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Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.
Would you repeat that with me: Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.
What are the depths that you find yourself in today?
Here we are together in this preaching program, nourishing our hearts and our minds and our souls – but that doesn’t mean that those depths of our lives go away and that the struggles disappear. And it doesn’t mean that those we know and love are not struggling in the depths of their everyday lives, too.
Maybe we have friends or family members or church members who are struggling in the depths of depression or illness or loss. Maybe we have church communities who are struggling in the depths of budget shortfalls or dysfunction. Or maybe we ourselves are struggling in the depths of transition or denominational politics or the day-to-day weariness of living in this world.
What are the depths that you find yourself in today?
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. O Lord, hear my voice.
If you look up Psalm 130 in your Bible, it’s probably identified as a Song of Ascents. So potentially, the people traveling to (or ascending to) Jerusalem for festivals sang this psalm as they traveled. Or possibly, people climbing the stairs to serve in the Temple sang this psalm as they ascended those stone steps. This psalm may start in the depths, but it is meant to lift us – to lift our spirits – to give hope to our souls.
Martin Luther rewrote Psalm 130 for people to sing. In the version we have now in English, it reads like this:
Out of the depths I cry to you;
O Lord, now hear me calling.
Incline your ear to my distress in spite of my rebelling.
Do not regard my sinful deeds.
Send me the grace my spirit needs;
without it I am nothing.
O Lord, now hear me calling.
Incline your ear to my distress in spite of my rebelling.
Do not regard my sinful deeds.
Send me the grace my spirit needs;
without it I am nothing.
This psalm, and Luther’s hymn, both recognize the depths of our lives, the depths of our sin, and the depths of our need for the Lord’s forgiveness.
About ten years ago, our family went to a cavern in Central Texas called the Inner Space Cavern. This cavern was re-discovered in 1966 as they were trying to build Interstate 35. They drilled through 33 feet of rock and then their big drill bit fell down into the cavern.
When we visited, we took the slow train ride down, down, down – into the depths of the earth. As we walked around, we marveled at the formations around us and the ancient drawings on the walls. Our tour guide led the group to an open area, and she explained that we were about to experience what they call “total darkness.” She hit a switch – and – there we were, in total darkness.
Some people gasped – and the darkness was breathtaking, in a way. Most people remained perfectly still. Eventually, I moved my hand maybe an inch in front of my nose – and I couldn’t see my own hand in front of me. The total darkness of the cavern wasn’t broken by even one light – not one cell phone, not one exit sign. The guide let us stand there for a minute or so, in that total darkness, before switching the lights back on again.
When we are in the depths, whatever those depths may be, sometimes we experience a kind of total darkness. The depth of our own sin or the sins of others may take our breath away. Our tendency may be to remain still – to be unmoved until that time of darkness passes. And so we sit and we become like that night watch person that the psalmist writes about – waiting for the dawn of the morning sun to arrive. Our souls wait for the Lord, more than those who watch for the morning.
Commentator Jerome Creach reminds us that this psalm and the other laments were meant to be offered within a covenant relationship, and so lament is offered alongside praise. Creach says that this psalm “gives evidence of faith worked out in the midst of hardship, hurt, and loss.”[1]
This is not a psalm about a God that requires us to have everything all figured out. This is a psalm about a God who hears us when we cry out from the depths of whatever we are facing in our lives.
What I find particularly beautiful about the psalms is that often the ones with the deepest sense of lament eventually lead us out of those depths. I think of it as the psalmist turning a corner, in their own spirit, and we get to follow along as we read that psalm. There is profound lament, and then, it’s as though, while they’re writing the words of the psalm, the psalmist remembers who they’re praying to, and who they’re writing about.
“Wait a minute,” they say to themselves, “there’s forgiveness with the Lord. There’s steadfast love with the Lord. There is great power to redeem with the Lord.” Some versions of this psalm say that with the Lord there is “plentiful redemption” – so, with the Lord, there is not just enough redemption, but more than enough redemption.
Out of the depths we can then ascend - rising up to walk, rising up to do the work that God has called us to do – with God giving us the breath to speak and the words to say. And God who calls us to work has already given us the grace our spirits need. It’s not like we have to sit around and wait for God’s grace – God has already given us the grace that our spirits need. Like it says in Ephesians: we have been saved by grace, through faith, and this is the giftof God.
My friends, the depths of our lives and the depths of sin - these are often perplexing and troubling. But take heart in this: that when we cry out to God from the depths, God most certainly hears us.
Hope in the Lord! For with God there is forgiveness, with God there is power to redeem, and with God there is steadfast love.
Amen.
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