Waiting In The Depths

Psalm 130

People today are a very impatient bunch.  Nobody likes to wait.  A casual reading through Scriptures, though, shows that often God requires His people to wait - wait for answered prayer, wait for promises to be fulfilled.  Waiting helps our faith and trust grow stronger.   In our psalm for today we see the writer waiting on the Lord, waiting for His blessings and answered prayer.

There aren’t a lot of details in this short psalm.  The unknown author doesn’t give us a lot of clues as to the circumstances in his life at this moment, but it doesn’t seem to be a real positive time.  In verse 1 we read that he is crying out to God from the depths.  He is down, depressed and discouraged.  Many of us have been there at some point in our lives.   The pit we are in is so deep that it seems the sunshine can’t even reach the bottom.  Our psalmist doesn’t give up, curl up, and wallow in his despair, though.  He calls out to God. “Lord, hear my voice!”, he cries out.  How many times have we cried out that to God? “Please listen to me, God!”, we often cry to Him.

Sometimes it is because of our sins that God seems silent.  Our psalmist knew this.  He knew that if God kept track of every one of our sins, no one could stand (vs. 3-4).  Every day we commit sin. They usually aren’t the “big ones”, like murder, robbing a bank, kidnapping, or committing adultery.  Things like unkind thoughts, gossip, the little “white” lies, selfishness - those are also sins. Those all need to be confessed to God.  When we confess and repent of our sins to God, He will forgive.   Regular confession of one’s sins will keep our “prayer line” to God open and clear, free from any obstacles that might block the way for Him to be free to answer us.

Our psalmist, knowing that God has forgiven him of his sins, and that He hears his prayers, now waits for Him to answer (vs. 5-6).  He is eagerly waiting for God’s response, more he says, than those who watch for the morning.  If tomorrow is a really big and important day, then often it is difficult to sleep the night before, and we wake up well before dawn as we wait for the morning. Little children are like that the night before Christmas.  They can’t wait for daylight to come so they can race out of their bedrooms to get their gifts.   A bride might feel that way the night before her wedding, or someone moving to a new home.  Someone who is starting their long anticipated and sought for job may be very anxious and sleepless the night before they start, too.  There are many reasons people eagerly wait for the morning to come.  Our psalmist is equally anxious and waiting to hear from God and receive His answer.   He knows that God’s Word and promises can never fail, so he places all of his hope in Him (vs. 5).

Who are we placing our hope in?  Are we putting all of our hope in ourselves or in some other person, feeling we or they can solve our problems?  Our psalmist tells us to put our hope in the Lord God (vs. 7).  He is the only one who can redeem us from our sins and deliver us from any situation we find ourselves in.