Dear Friends,
We hope this week's devotional will encourage you in your spiritual walk. We give thanks to Rev. Dr Linda Stargel, Academic Dean and Senior Lecturer in Biblical Studies and Biblical Languages, for writing this devotional.
You are welcome to share this and include it in your church newsletters if you wish; we just ask that you please give credit to NTC and the author. Thank you!
Psalm 130 (NIV)
A song of ascents.
1 Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord;
2 Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.
3 If you, Lord, kept a record of sins,
Lord, who could stand?
4 But with you there is forgiveness,
so that we can, with reverence, serve you.
5 I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits,
and in his word I put my hope.
6 I wait for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.
7 Israel, put your hope in the Lord,
for with the Lord is unfailing love
and with him is full redemption,
8 He himself will redeem Israel
from all their sins.
Devotional
This is one of fifteen Psalms of Ascent (Psalms 120-134). Exiles may have sung these songs as they came up out of Babylon. Pilgrims may have sung them as they climbed the hill of Jerusalem for the annual festivals. But over and over, worshippers in all times and places have sung these Psalms to God as a spiritual journey of ascent to God.
The singer recalls being at a very low point in life, and cries to God ‘out of the depths’ (v.1). We recall such places too. Maybe it felt like (or feels like) drowning, sinking sand, unrelenting rain, carrying a heavy burden, or walking on eggshells. With the singer, we beg God to hear us, to make it clear beyond any doubt that God sees and attends to us (v.2). Our voices sing in harmony, and we are reminded that without God’s forgiveness, we would not even be standing, much less serving God (vv. 3-4). We find hope (v. 5), hope to keep waiting, actively waiting; longing and anticipating (v. 6). Lives are at stake: the singer’s, ours, and others for whom we stand guard, watching for danger. As singers, we climb in hope, looking for that which brings life and redemption. We wait, looking for God working in ways that lift up rather than tear down; in ways that bring hope rather than anxiety and fear. We anticipate God’s redeeming love that heals all brokenness. As God lifts up our whole beings, what began as individual cries becomes encouragement for our communities to hope in God too and to look for his redemption. May we keep the song going, whether we find ourselves still in the depths, or on the journey of ascent—hoping and waiting and drawing others along. This is the song of the people of God. Thanks be to God.
Prayer
God of our journey, may you give us grace for the places in which we find ourselves, hope to wait and anticipate your full redemption, and strength to invite others along on this journey. Amen.
Linda Stargel (Academic Dean; Senior Lecturer in Biblical Studies and Biblical Languages)