Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD! O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy! (Psalm 130:1-2, ESV)
“I think just releasing it now. I can focus my energy on myself and what I need to do to be successful, instead of wasting my energy trying to hide something. It’s my reality, it’s what I’m battling, and we’ll get better, for sure.”
After PGA Tour player Gary Woodland shared publicly about his battle with PTSD since having brain surgery in 2023, he has felt relief that has been life-changing.
We find the same example of bringing our struggles out into the open in Psalm 130. The author offers an emotional prayer to the Lord as he cries out to him in a time of distress and guilt.
As one of the Songs of Ascent Psalms, I recently learned from my friend Rabbi David Nekrutman how a Jewish reader gleans three themes from Psalm 130.
The first theme is the importance of authenticity with God, being able to express our truest emotions of desperation and need to him. Connection with God isn’t dependent on perfection. Being honest is the gateway.
Along with authenticity comes the example of active waiting. Often, we want our pain to be fixed and our guilt to vanish. A watchman waiting for the morning (verse 6) must be alert through the hardest hours of the night. Faith is not passive. It is an act of watching for God and his light flickering in the darkness.
With authenticity and active waiting, we learn about radical forgiveness, “…For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption (verse 7).” God is not keeping a record of our failures. While we need to take responsibility for our behaviors and words, we also need to release the tally of wrongs into God’s keeping.
Over the next four days, as we walk through the Easter narrative, we see these three themes of Psalm 130 also evidenced in Jesus.
Jesus is the divine example of authenticity—he cried out to his Father, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will (Mark 14:36).”
Jesus actively waited for God throughout his life and ministry. He submitted to his parents and grew in wisdom and stature (Luke 2:52). He waited for God to unfold the final days of his death and resurrection with confidence.
Jesus went to the cross willingly, suffered, and came out of the tomb so that ALL would have access to the Father’s radical forgiveness.
Might authenticity, active waiting, and radical forgiveness be a real experience for you this Easter weekend.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for how your Word is alive and real for us today. Help me be honest with my distress. Help me actively wait on you. And thank you for your forgiveness through Jesus.