SCRIPTURE
Psalm 130

1Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD. 2Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications! 3If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand? 4But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered. 5I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; 6my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning. 7O Israel, hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is great power to redeem. 8It is he who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.

DEVOTIONAL
In Christian tradition, Psalm 130 is one of the seven penitential psalms and is known by its first words in the Latin version: De Profundis, “Out of the Depths.” It is a personal prayer for help, a prayer for redemption, that is prayed from the depths, from the lowest points of life.

In a few weeks, we will observe Good Friday. We will remember the agony of the cross of Calvary and the darkest points of life. But then, for the rest of Friday and all day Saturday, we will wait. We will join the Hebrew poet who wrote Psalm 130 in declaring, “I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope.”

We wait and we hope in the LORD because we know that out of the darkest depths of Good Friday there will emerge a new dawn on Easter morning, a new dawn of life and renewal.

PRAYER

Lord, we wait for you. During this Lenten season, out of the deepest and darkest depths of life, we hope in you. On Good Friday, as we remember Jesus’ suffering and death, we put our hope in you. For we look forward to the life and renewal that you give us on Easter. Amen.

— The Rev. Dr. Jim Durlesser
Lecturer in Biblical Languages, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary