Not many of us can say that we have ever been at the bottom of a pit, needing to be rescued. There are times, though, when some people have gotten into a dangerous situation and needed to be rescued. Mountain climbers have fallen into crevices, unable to get out. Hikers have fallen off the edge of cliffs, and children into wells, again, unable to get out on their own. If able to, these unfortunates need to call out for help, as that might be the only way they will get out. Though many of us haven’t been in such circumstances, we may be deep in some other type of pit, and also need to be rescued. Our psalm for this week speaks of crying out to God to be rescued from any type of pit.
Our unknown psalmist writes of crying out to God from “the depths” (vs. 1). What type of depth was he in? Perhaps he was in a literal deep spot, such as having fallen into a pit, and he needed to be rescued. He prayed to God for help. It is also very likely that the depths that the psalmist found himself in were some other dire situation.
We speak of being “deep in debt” or “in some deep trouble”. The psalmist may have been in some type of trouble for which he felt that he couldn’t get out of. This was deep trouble, deep in distress, perhaps deep in pain. The psalmist was in the depths of despair. Perhaps he had turned to some friends or family for help, but received none, or at least nothing that was able to improve his situation. God is the only one who can help, and he cried out to Him, pleading for Him to hear his voice (vs. 1-2).
The psalmist remembered that Yahweh is a God that forgives us from our sins, as we all are prone to sin (vs. 3-4). As he wrote, if God marks down each time we sin, nobody would be able to stand before Him. However, he knows that God does forgive, and because He does, the psalmist knows he can turn to Him for help at any time. Not all of our suffering, or the problems that we have, are due to sin, and we should be very careful before we go pointing the finger at others, claiming their problems are due to some sin they committed. However, sometimes the mess we are in was brought about because of sin, or just not using wisdom or common sense. Yet we can be reassured that there is always forgiveness, never-ending forgiveness with God if we turn to Him.
Sometimes we seem to be in our “pit” for a long time, for longer than we would wish to be. Our psalmist knew that he needed to wait for the Lord (vs. 5-6). That is a message that we frequently read throughout Scripture - wait on the Lord. Psalm 27:14 and Proverbs 20:22 are just some verses that instruct us to do that. God doesn’t jump into action on our timetable. He waits for the best moment to intervene. Waiting for God helps us build a stronger faith. As we wait, we learn to trust Him.
The general tone of this short psalm is one of hope and faith. Sometimes when we are in a dire and desperate situation we might feel in despair. Despair can make us feel isolated and distant from God. However, this is when we need Jesus the most. He is the only one who can help us. As the psalmist knew, and we can too, God’s Word cannot fail, and we can safely hold on to it (vs. 5).
Sometimes when in a pit, whether literal or figurative, we may feel we are so deep in that pit that no one can hear us, including God. Yet God’s Word tells us that we are never so deep into the pit of trouble and despair that God cannot hear us. Whatever we are waiting for, whatever situation we find ourselves in, we can remember that God is on the throne. There is nothing too difficult for Him to handle. He is always in control. We can have confidence in Jesus.
When we are in the depths of that deep pit, crying to God for help, we need to remember that Jesus didn’t just reach into the depths to rescue us. Though that would have been wonderful enough, Jesus did even more than just reach in. He Himself descended into that pit to rescue us. If that is where you find yourself today, if you are in some pit that seems too deep to ever climb out of, turn to Jesus. He will come into that pit and bring you deliverance.
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