"Out of the Depths"
Psalm 130
What a difference a day can make. For about three years our son, Adam, and daughter-in-law, Candace, have been trying to have a baby. Recently they have tried artificial insemination with no positive results. Finally, last Thursday Adam called and it sounded like there was some hope. We could tell from the excitement in his voice. And then he called back on Friday and we could here the disappointment in his voice. For whatever the reason, it is always difficult when your children hurt.
One day I am a joyful individual proclaiming that life is good. The next day I am like the dry bones in Ezekiel that need to be revived. One day I am rejoicing and the next day I am like Lazarus lying in the tomb. One day I am among the ninety-nine sheep that are part of the flock, the next day I am the one sheep who is lost. One day I am the prodigal son, the next day I am the elder brother.
As I read Psalm 130 this week I was reminded what a difference a translation can make. One translation spoke to my mind, the other translation spoke to my heart. When I read the words "From a sea of troubles," I was touched in a different way than when I read the words "Out of the depths." "Won't you please listen to me as I beg for mercy?" speaks to me in a different way than "Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications."
When I read the Psalm from the New Revised Standard Version it made me think about me. I read it more like we read the Prayer of Confession on Sunday morning. I see the words on the paper but they don't touch my heart. When I read it from the African American Jubilee Bible it made me think of someone who was really down on their luck, someone who hasn't had the opportunities that I have had, someone who has only known the struggles of life. We Presbyterians have always been known for using our minds. Maybe we need to put a little more heart into our faith.
One of the things I was reminded of this week is that when I read scripture I need to read it from more than one perspective. I shouldn't read it just thinking about how it impacts me. I also need to ask the questions, what does this say to someone down on their luck, what does God look like through their eyes?
What we call Christian faith has to be a faith that can speak to me on my good days as well as my down and out days. It has to speak to the person whose profession is going well and the person who can't find a job. It has to speak to the family who seems to never struggle as well as the family that seems to go through never ending struggles. It has to speak to the family in which all the children grow up and lead productive lives as well as the family of the girl at the
Walter Brueggmann wrote that this Psalm is "The miserable cry of a nobody from nowhere." One of the things we learn from Psalm 130 is that we don't have to be dressed in our best clothes on a Sunday morning to address God. We don't have to be from a prominent church going family, we don't have to be successful by worldly standards, it does not matter what country or family we were born in to. What matters is that we address God from the depths of our being. When we do there is forgiveness, there is opportunity for new life, there is the possibility of transformation.
I wonder how many of us can say that we wait on God with all of our heart. I wonder how many of us are more eager to hear from God than a soldier on guard duty waiting for the dawn.
As gas prices go up and the average person in our country becomes more concerned about the economy, the tendency is to predict doom and gloom. Maybe this would be a good time to get on our knees and be reminded that God is power and God is love and just maybe God will work all of these things together for good. Life as we know it in this world may change, but God will still be present, reaching out, forgiving, loving, seeking the lost sheep.
The dry bones in Ezekiel were revived. Lazarus was raised from the dead. When we cry to God from the depths of our heart there is hope of new life.