Hopefully you have never been trapped deep inside of something, like perhaps a well or a cave shaft. Fortunately I never have. However I do remember almost 37 years ago when a little girl, Jessica McClure, fell deep down a very narrow well in rural Texas in October of 1987, and was trapped for about 56 hours while all sorts of experts worked to safely rescue her. Being only 18 months old, she probably could not consciously pray, but if we were trapped in some similar type condition, we would undoubtedly be crying out to the Lord to rescue us! In our psalm for this week, the unknown psalmist also cried to God from the deep, and found rescue. Let’s see what his deep problem might have been.
As our psalm opens, the psalmist relates an incident in his life where he was in some desperate trouble, and he called upon the Lord to rescue him (vs. 1-2). We don’t know what the situation was, but whatever it was, he was deep into it. Perhaps he had literally fallen down deep into something, such as a well like little Jessica McClure, or down a deep crevice. Possibly the phrase “the depths” might be figurative, and the psalmist was deep in some other type of trouble, such as financial trouble, or problems unjustly brought against him by another. This deep trouble caused him great distress, and he cried out to God. He needed God to hear his voice, to listen and pay attention.
We’ve all been in some sort of trouble, possibly even very deep trouble, and we cry out to God. If help doesn’t immediately come, we wonder if God heard us, or was even paying attention. We want God to listen up and hear us! Then we wonder if we are so deep into the pit, that our voice isn’t even reaching Him. However, as the late Christian author and speaker Corrie ten Boom once said, “There is no pit so deep, that God’s love is not deeper still.” The prophet Isaiah tells us that before we even cry out, God has heard us (Isaiah 65:24).
We don’t like to wait for God’s answer. We want our rescue to be immediate. Sometimes when we find ourselves in an extreme or dangerous situation we panic, and then we may try to solve the problem on our own. Often that can make it worse. Instead, we need to stay calm and wait upon the Lord to be attentive to our cries for mercy, and to put our hope in the Word of God, which shall never fail. God, who knows the end from the beginning, knows that sometimes we do have to wait. Little Jessica had to wait nearly 2 ½ days in that well to be rescued!
There is one situation that every one of us have been deep in, and that is deep in our sins, and our psalmist knew that (vs. 3-4). Before we come to Jesus for salvation, our sins overwhelm us. We are sunk deep, and we have no way of rescuing ourselves. Our only hope is to call upon the Lord. Some may feel that their sins are so bad and so numerous that God would turn them away. The Lord reminds us here that when we come to Him, confessing our sins and repenting, He gives us never-ending forgiveness.
Continuing on in our psalm, the Lord reminds us that very often we have to wait for our deliverance or for answers to our prayers (vs. 5-6). God does not spring into action on our timetable. He waits until the very best moment to intervene. I am sure that those 56 hours of waiting were quite difficult for Baby Jessica’s mother! What if she hadn’t waited and trusted the experts to figure out the best way to rescue her little girl? What if she had decided not to wait, and started digging on her own? She wanted her baby, and she wanted her now! Quite likely the ground might have collapsed in on little Jessica, and she would have died. Waiting was important, and it meant that her child was rescued safely. When we wait on the Lord our faith grows stronger, and we learn to trust Him. His answer will be best in whatever trouble we are in.
In closing, let’s remember what our Psalmist learned. When we find ourselves in some deep trouble or problem, call upon the Lord. Confess your sins, and know that He will forgive you. The Lord does hear you, and at the perfect time, He will rescue you. God’s Word will never fail!
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