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OUT OF THE DEPTHS, INDEED!

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OUT OF THE DEPTHS, INDEED!

A Reflection on Psalm 130 for Thursday, March 19, 2026 by Rev. Elizabeth Jones

Lectionary reading for 03/19/2026:

Psalm 130

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Psalm 130 New Revised Standard Version

 A Song of Ascents.

1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.
2     Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
    to the voice of my supplications!

3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
    Lord, who could stand?
4 But there is forgiveness with you,
    so that you may be revered.

5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
    and in his word I hope;
6 my soul waits for the Lord
    more than those who watch for the morning,
    more than those who watch for the morning.

7 O Israel, hope in the Lord!
    For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
    and with him is great power to redeem.
8 It is he who will redeem Israel
    from all its iniquities.

REFLECT

There’s nothing like an emergency room or a critical care unit in a hospital to give a person a kind of perspective, a window into suffering and pain—on all different levels.

            In the depths. Overwhelmed by the chaotic waters. It’s real. It hits home. This is where some people are regularly at, more often than any of us would like to admit.

            When we read Psalm 130, we aren’t sure whether it’s the depths of sorrow or grief, or the depths of emotional frustration or psychological pain, or a combination of all of the above. This psalm is a window onto the psalmist’s soul, which is about to split in two.

            Have you ever felt like that? Have you ever cried to God from the depths of suffering and pain? I know I have, and it is painful. Horrible. I don’t care to remember it, most of the time, so I pack it away and submerge what unpleasant memories I have in some inner part of my mind.

            Sometimes, life stinks. Some might ask, how can it get worse?

The psalmist tells us how, in verse three. Just when we thought life was really rotten, sin can take center stage and make matters even worse. Sometimes, I can let the sins I commit every day really get under my skin. It isn’t always the huge sins; it can be the little ones, too. The white lies, losing my temper, ignoring people. These little slips of thought, word and deed. Oh, and the bigger sins, too.

What would happen if God were to keep a balance sheet, with all of the good, pleasing deeds I’ve done in one column, and all the bad, evil, nasty things I’m guilty of in the other? I’d imagine I would keep some angelic bookkeeper pretty busy, keeping track of all the petty little bad things I do each and every day, as well as the occasional good things.

            Thank God that God does not keep balance sheets, and weigh the good versus the bad in my life. Thank God I am forgiven! Did you hear that declaration? “But there is forgiveness with You, so that You may be revered.” God loves this psalm writer so much that God is willing to forgive.

            Then, there is a shift. The psalm writer changes from up close and personal to the corporate body. It’s like the psalmist says, “Hey, Israel!! If God can forgive me of my iniquities, surely God can forgive all y’all, too!” See, the LORD does have steadfast love. It isn’t just wishful thinking. God is ready to redeem all God’s people from all their iniquities, to embrace them in God’s everlasting arms.

            This is good news for us, today. Not only will God forgive our sins and iniquities, but God will be there to help us through the rough places, the difficult things, the frustrating circumstances, the painful heartaches. God has promised to be there for us, indeed.

            What a promise. What assurance. What a God. Amen!

RESPOND 

Just as God does not keep heavenly balance sheets on me or on you, so we do not need to keep track of good deeds versus bad deeds done to us. How freeing, and how wonderful! Who can you help through difficult times? Who needs a hand to travel through rough places today? Please, be that helping hand. And, if you can be kind and merciful to others, do that, too! 

REST 

Dear Lord, sometimes life is hard. Sometmes, life downright stinks. But Lord, You are right there in the middle of things! You come through, and can walk beside us, sit right next to us, even, going through the darkest valleys, You are right by our side.Thank You, God, for never leaving us nor forsaking us. What a God You are, indeed! I know it hardly seems adequate in the least, but – thanks. Thanks so much. Amen.

About the Author 

The Rev. Elizabeth Jones is a full-time hospice chaplain in Chicago, is a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor (IAODAPCA), and is working on a DMin in spiritual direction. Elizabeth has a loving husband who is a senior editor, four curious and strong-minded adult children and two adorable grandchildren.

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Tell God All About It

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Psalm 130:1-8 (130:1) – June 27, 2021

            Have you ever felt alone? I don’t mean alone in your house or apartment, where you can putter about, checking on things as you wish, sequestered from the hustle and bustle of daily life. No – I mean really alone. Desperately lonely. Do you feel so sad and abandoned that it seems like no one could ever come alongside of you – or me – ever again?

            I sincerely hope you have rarely felt such raw loneliness deep in your heart. However, many people have. The unknown author of our psalm has. Psalm 130 is a heartbreaking cry of loneliness and desperation. “Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord!”

            Whatever type or category of deep emotion we may be feeling, chances are one of our psalm writers has already documented it. The Psalms talk about emotions and feelings all over the interior human map, and Psalm 130 certainly hits one of those deep, emotional troughs of loneliness and despair. Can you relate? Have you – or one of your family – ever felt this way?

            This past year and a half has been a roller-coaster ride all over the track of emotions. Frequently for many, many people across this country, a great percentage of these emotions have been negative. Loneliness, anxiety, fear, grief, despair. With the isolation the pandemic has brought into so many lives, these are sadly familiar emotions and feelings.           

            Isn’t it ironic that this particular psalm should be a Psalm of Ascent? A special psalm that pilgrims to the big Temple in Jerusalem would sing as they approached that holy place. At first glance, how odd that this special psalm would start off with a heartfelt cry of loneliness and pain! However, this Psalm of Ascent is a true, authentic cry from the depths of the heart!

            Yet, haven’t we experienced people often doing something inauthentic and false, today? I can remember friends and acquaintances from my church-going past who would slap on a “happy face” for show, on Sunday morning. Yet, they wouldn’t breathe a word about how sad or frightened or miserable they were truly feeling. I suspect you remember the same kind of people, who would wallpaper over their deep, internal emotions and simply put on a “happy face.” I sometimes think of that as people’s “church face.” Totally a false face.

            Instead, we could ask God, “Pay attention to my suffering, and for heaven’s sake, have mercy on me!” “Often such a demand issues from a sense of God’s absence in the depths. Pain, whether physical, psychological, spiritual, or some combination, can be so isolating that we feel abandoned to our misery, even by God.” [1]

Except, Psalm 130 is not just about loneliness and abandonment. As the psalm writer continues in this Psalm of Ascent, he moves to forgiveness. Our psalm writer today might say, “Gracious God, please. I’m so tired, and I really need You to listen to me. If You, Lord, kept track of all my sins, all of everyone’s sins – Lord, could anyone stand before You?” (That’s a rhetorical question, you understand.) Thank God, my sins are covered, and so are yours!

I have known a few people who never, ever ask for forgiveness. We might call that kind of emotion arrogance! Imagine, never seeking forgiveness! “The arrogant person thinks he or she is above it all. Seeking forgiveness is the way we step back from the arrogance of our self-centered universe and see ourselves as we truly are.” [2]

            How do we approach God on Sunday morning? Do we wallpaper over our true emotions and put on a nice, happy “church face,” or are we true and authentic? Showing our deep emotions as they are? God knows us better than we know ourselves, even if we might try to fool others at church, in our community, even our home.

            For that matter, how do we approach God the rest of the week? God isn’t just for Sunday mornings. The psalms over and over let us know that instead of hiding deep sadness from God, the psalm writers choose to tell God the truth about their feelings.

            Let’s consider at certain people who feel so rotten and so horrible that they think God could never forgive them. I met a patient years ago, when I was a chaplain. This dear senior was so fearful that she was never going to be good enough for God. She had thought for decades that God was going to consign her to the depths of hell itself. Thank God I was able to reassure her that God did, indeed, love her. And no, a divorce because of an abusive marriage almost 50 years before would not mean the difference between heaven and hell for her.

            The key to this loving understanding about God’s character is found in verses 3 and 4. “If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered.” “Forgiveness, in other words, is who God is. This Psalm is about the very character of God, which remains steadfast even in the abyss. God is revered because “with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is great power to redeem” (v. 7). God’s unchanging love is the essence of who God is, and God’s power is precisely the power to redeem.” [3]

            Psalm 130 is gentle balm for battered and bruised souls. Yes, we can say with the psalm writer, thank You, O God, for forgiveness and mercy! Thank You, O God, for steadfast love and redemption!  

And most of all, as we pray to God about how we feel, honest, authentic prayer can help us remember God’s promises to love us and to be with us always—no matter how much in the depths we are feeling at any moment. For that, we can all say alleluia, amen!

(Thanks to Elizabeth Webb and her commentary from Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2014. I took several extended ideas from that article. And thanks to Illustrated Ministries for their lesson for the 5th Sunday after Pentecost from Psalm 130, from their 2020 Summer Children’s series.)

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] [1][1] https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/fifth-sunday-in-lent/commentary-on-psalm-130-4

Commentary, Psalm 130 (Lent 5A), Elizabeth Webb, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2014.

[2][2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.