Sooner or later, everyone prays, ‘Out of the depths I cry out to you’
By Dean Collins
No one wants to be in the depths, but there are moments, days, seasons where we can’t see anything but the towering walls surrounding us. You might have made mistakes that resulted in your overwhelming situation. But it is just as likely that you were living your life, loving your family, doing your job, and then the phone rang alerting you to a shock that led to depths you could not have imagined.
No matter the cause, the results are the same. In the depths it’s difficult to find answers. It’s hard to find help. It seems impossible to see a way out. It’s hard to believe there is an end.
Cries for help
We don’t know the situation that prompted Psalm 130 but we can certainly relate to the psalmist's cries for help.
Hear me, open your ears, Lord! Can you hear my desperation? The psalmist had confidence that God would listen to sinners. We know that, too. If God didn’t listen to sinners, there would be no hope for anyone. God’s response to sinners is well documented. Psalm 130 says, “But with you there is forgiveness.” Romans 5:8 reminds us that God’s forgiveness is prompted by his great love for us. If God’s love is so great that he sent his Son to die for us, then certainly he will listen to our prayers when we call to him from the depths of pain, loneliness, sickness, financial stress, injustice, and every possible dilemma that exhausts us and leaves us hopeless.
Waiting is required. I think we know each other well enough to admit that waiting is not our preference. The psalmist expressed it well: “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits.” We are as eager for the Lord’s answer as the watchman who has stood at his post all night long waiting for the first glimpse of daylight to break. But we must remember what the watchman who has stayed awake all night knows. Daylight always appears. God does hear us and he will appear as we wait. Every new day assures us of his steadfast love.
Transformed by God
Romans reminds us that, even in the depths of our suffering, God is transforming us. Suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character and character produces hope and hope will never bring shame. From hope we rediscover God’s love as the Holy Spirit washes over our pain and prepares us for the gift of each new day.
The psalmist and the apostle Paul agree. God is with us in the depths. He hears our prayers. He brings hope. His love is eternal. He will not abandon us to or in our suffering. He will bring us through it for his glory and for our good.
Your time with God’s Word
Psalm 130:1-8; Romans 5:1-8 ESV
Photo by Alex Knight on Unsplash
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