Before reading the psalm, take some time to stop and still yourself. It may help to take a few intentional deep breaths; noticing but not being drawn into what is going on in the physical space around you. Take a moment to speak with God about how you are feeling and what you are hoping for in this time.
Now read Psalm 130. It may appear a rather dour text to begin with, particularly if, as you read it, you find yourself in a positive place and frame of mind. Never-the-less take time to read it in a measured way. You may want to read it aloud.
If any sentence or word strikes you, stay with it for a while. Perhaps ponder why that particular phrase has tugged at your heart.
Out of the depths I cry to you, LORD;
Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.
If you, LORD, kept a record of sins,
Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness,
so that we can, with reverence, serve you.
I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits,
and in his word I put my hope.
I wait for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.
Israel, put your hope in the LORD,
for with the LORD is unfailing love
and with him is full redemption.
He himself will redeem Israel
from all their sins.
“Out of the depths I cry to you, LORD;
Lord, hear my voice.”
Where do you feel you are crying out to the Lord from today? Do you identify with the psalmists ‘depths’ or are you in a different place? Do you feel numb; content; delighted? Write some words to describe the place you feel your heart is in as you come to God today.
Then consider how you approach God today – perhaps you wouldn’t use the psalmist’s word ‘cry’. What verb might you choose? Sing? Speak? Whisper? Perhaps you don’t want to vocalise – you simply want to ‘come’…
“Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.”
The author longs to be heard – take some time to consider what you long for from God today; are you longing for God’s attentive ears, or for an awareness of hope? Clarity? How best can you describe what it is your heart is longing for in the place you find yourself today?
“I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits,
and in his word I put my hope.
I wait for the Lord”
Waiting might feel like ‘doing nothing’ and ‘putting hope’ in something isn’t very tangible, yet it is what the writer is ready to do. What are you willing to commit to today? It may be directly related to what you long for from God or it may be something else entirely. Perhaps you have a niggling sense of what it is that God wants you to do with and/or about your longing. It may be the you are ready to commit to holding on, to making a choice or to taking some actions. Or perhaps it would help to reaffirm what you are already committed to. Can you distil this into words for the next part of your psalm?
“Israel, put your hope in the LORD,
for with the LORD is unfailing love
and with him is full redemption.”
As you review what you have written, call to mind the aspects of who God is that are most meaningful to you today, perhaps what is most pertinent to that which you long for. It may be unfailing love or something else. The depth of love, the assurance of hope, perhaps the unknowable mystery. What words will you choose?
Finally, pause again before re-reading the entirety of what you have written. Read it aloud if appropriate. Resist the urge to edit it too much, but let it sit as an expression of where you are with God today. You might want to date it for future reference.
Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™