“Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning. Let Israel hope in the Lord: for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.”
This is truly a beautiful psalm for when we are in the “depths.” Have you ever been in deep trouble? Deep in debt? Deep in anger? Deep in guilt? Deep in failure? Deep in despair? Deep in defeat? Deep in sin? The Lord is speaking your answer through the psalmist. He was well acquainted with grief. He had seen death. He had tasted defeat. He know what it was to be attacked by enemies. But he had hope.
We can cry out to the Lord according to the first two verses. Pray is invaluable to the believer. It is the very breath of our soul and many times we forget to breathe. The Lord wants to hear from His children. Even though God already knows what we are going through it is in His divine plan that we talk with Him. He wants a relationship with us. Many times we treat God as we do family. I have seen many parents in the nursing home that are so proud of their children, their accomplishments, and love them with every ounce of strength that they have but the don’t understand why their children won’t call and won’t visit. Many times we neglect God in the same way. He loves us and desires for a close relationship but we won’t take the time to visit with Him.
Do you hope in God? Do you have faith in Him? People that have faith in God not only believe in Him but also trust His word enough to call out to Him in prayer. When we pray we are to wait on the Lord. This is not a just a, “Okay, now we have done this and we will see what happens,” and then go about our business like we just entered for some prize contest. No, the word wait here in the Hebrew means an active expectation. It means I prayed and I know an answer is on the way.
My children get so excited when mommy is home from teaching at school. They know when daddy says that mommy is on her way home that it won’t be long. They stand by the door and look out. They keep asking daddy if mommy is home yet. They are actively expecting. They it will happen and they are ready to receive her with open arms. Does you wait for the Lord? Do you hope in His word?
Jeremy Kamer Ministries 