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
Psalm 130 is the cry of a people in bondage, who wandered the wilderness and mourned in exile. The opening verse of this psalm expresses the anguish of all people who are unintended pilgrims, refugees from famine and poverty or victims of violence and oppression. We hear in Psalm 130 a wintry voice of prayer that does not permit us to evade death or despair. Instead, we are to wait in the darkness of our lives because hope does not hurry and because the deepest truths are revealed in waiting. Although waiting is an experience of emptiness, the psalmist reminds us that we are already forgiven. We wait for what we already have. It is the step before hope.
Prayer
Gracious God, hear our cries to you as we wait and hope in the promise of your forgiving love. Amen.