PRAYING THE PENITENTIAL PSALMS: 6th Friday of Lent – Psalm 130

One of my enduring memories of 9/11 is the odd yet absolute right-ness of the packed church that night.  Nobody was told to come, there was no mass, no scheduled prayer service – the people just came.  We came together in our grief, our fear, our incomprehension.  We huddled in silent prayer and wept.  Instinctively, we knew that God was there and would hear us.

“Out of the depths I cry to thee, O Lord!  Lord, hear my voice!”

Sin can cast us into the depths as surely as tragedy can.  Think of Jonah, running from God as most of us have done at one time or another.  Running as far as he can, then being cast into the sea: “the waters closed in over me, the deep was round about me; weeds were wrapped about my head…” (Jon 2:5).  Sin chokes and entangles us, weighs us down, takes us far from God.

And yet – neither the sea nor the body of the fish could keep Jonah’s cry from reaching the ears of God.

“Out of the depths I cry to thee, O Lord!  Lord, hear my voice!”

Psalm 130, the 6^th of our penitential psalms, celebrates the open “ear” of God.  When you read it, notice the shout of confident hope at the end!  Because of God’s steadfast love, no sin can put us beyond his reach (except the sin of refusing his grace, for he will not force redemption on us).

Notice all the times these eight short verses mention watching or waiting.  They culminate in a beautiful image of a soul that waits for the Lord “more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.”  Anyone who’s camped outside and woken in the wee hours can relate to the solitary man on the city wall:  alone with his thoughts and his fears, eyes straining against the dark, yearning for those first rays of light that will send him to his bed.

This image highlights the intensity of the psalmist’s yearning – but it also shows the certainty of hope.  The morning will come, his waiting will not be in vain.  And God’s “plenteous redemption” (vs 7) will come.  The light of his forgiveness can pierce any pit we hide in.

All we have to do is call to him.

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Note:  Psalm 130 is also called De Profundis, which is Latin for “Out of the Depths.”  As well as being a penitential psalm, it’s one of the “psalms of ascent” pilgrims prayed on the way to Jerusalem, sung as they climbed the steps to the Temple.  We read it last Sunday, when it was paired with the stories of Ezekiel’s valley of dry bones and the resurrection of Lazarus:  two dramatic portrayals of God’s saving power!

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To incorporate lectio divina into your prayer and better recognize where you have sinned, express your sorrow, and ask forgiveness:

Pray:  Incline Thine ear, O Lord, and show me mercy, for I am a sinner before Thee.

Read Psalm 130 all the way through several times.  At least one time, read it out loud.

Reflect on the same psalm: read it slowly, lingering where your heart draws you.

Consider these questions, writing your answers in a journal if desired:

1. What stands out to you in this Psalm?
2. What do you hear God saying to you, personally?

Respond:  What will you do about what you have heard?  Respond to God in prayer.

Rest in his presence.

Close:  Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.  As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.  Amen.

© 2014 Sarah Christmyer

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2016 update:  Set aside ten minutes a day during Lent for a “spiritual cleanse” using my new journal based on these posts, Create in Me a Clean Heart: 10 Minutes a Day in the Penitential Psalms, available in paperback and on Kindle.