*This Advent season of 2023, my family will go through the Psalms. It is our hope that this Advent series will center around the themes of Longing, Deliverance and Hope. We will see the beauty of Christ and God’s sovereign plan in the birth and salvation of Christ. I invite you to join us this Christmas.
December 4, 2023
The depths of anguish surrounding us these last few years can be overwhelming at times. Wars, deaths of those we love, constant bickering and complaining — well, it is sometimes hard to be in the Christmas spirit.
I often think about the people of Biblical Israel. They had been through a lot. Wars, famine, fighting … loss of loved ones. Yet at the time of the birth of Jesus, they had been experiencing life without God’s voice for 400 years. Silence from God. I can’t imagine. I can’t imagine living at a time when I cry out to God … to not have the assurance that the Holy Spirit is within and that God will never leave me or forsake me. To just be met with silence …
Today, we look at Psalm 130.
“We name this the DE PROFUNDIS PSALM. ‘Out of the depths’ is the leading word of it: out of those depths we cry, wait, watch, and hope. In this Psalm we hear of the pearl of redemption, Perhaps the sweet singer would never have found that precious thing had he not been cast into the depths. ‘Pearls lie deep.’”-Charles Spurgeon
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 pleas for mercy!
If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness,
that you may be feared.
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning,
more than watchmen for the morning.
O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with him is plentiful redemption.
And he will redeem Israel
from all his iniquities. -Psalm 130
Perhaps, the thing I love the most about this Psalm is that it only asks God to listen. It doesn’t ask God to remove any sin. It doesn’t ask God to erase any enemies. It doesn’t ask God to fix their finances, to bring back the lost, to forgive their sin, to wipe away their mistakes … No, the Psalm just asks God’s ears to be “attentive.”
Why? I think the writer knew the true attributes of God. God’s steadfast love is never ending! His mercies are new every moment! He LOVES us unconditionally! There are so many moments in scripture where we cry out to God and His LOVE NEVER FAILS! The writer knew that God’s very nature was such.
“This Psalm, perhaps more than any other, is marked by its mountains: depth; prayer; conviction; light; hope; waiting; watching; longing; confidence; assurance; universal happiness and joy… Just as the barometer marks the rising of the weather, so does this Psalm, sentence by sentence, record the progress of the soul.” —James Vaughan, in “Steps to Heaven,” 1878.
Praise God that He hears us! Praise that because Jesus came to the manger, we have the ability to approach the throne and “cry out!” Then it becomes just the process of waiting and watching.
It is said that Martin Luther was so moved by Psalm 130, that he wrote the hymn From depths of woe I raise to Thee. In his commentary on 130:5-6, he says: “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.”
God continually shows his steadfast love to us. He broke that 400 years of silence! He sent his own son to provide the forgiveness we all desire. “For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption.”
This Christmas, I encourage you to cry out for God and then wait for His response. Much like the Israelites waited for their Messiah, we wait with hope and longing for His return.
Prayer
Father God, we cry out to you this Christmas season! Your steadfast love never runs out! You are a merciful and powerful God! We thank you for hearing our cries. Thank you for sending Jesus. Thank you for Christmas. Please be with the broken-hearted this season. We earnestly wait for your return! We long to be in your presence. We love you! Amen.
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