Daily devotional · March 5
Out of the Depths
“Out of the depths I cry to You, O LORD! O Lord, hear my voice; let Your ears be attentive to my plea for mercy. If You, O LORD, kept track of iniquities, then who, O Lord, could stand? But with You there is forgiveness, so that You may be feared. I wait for the LORD; my soul does wait, and in His word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning— more than watchmen wait for the morning. O Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is loving devotion, and with Him is redemption in abundance. And He will redeem Israel from all iniquity.”
This short psalm begins at the bottom: the writer cries out from the depths, and the first thing he asks is simply to be heard. There is no polished prayer here. Then comes a striking confidence. If God kept a ledger of every failure, no one could stand, yet forgiveness is found with him, and that is exactly why he is worthy of reverence. The psalmist waits, more eagerly than a night watchman waits for morning, and he invites the whole community to hope with him because redemption is abundant. Waiting is hard when the night feels long. Yet the psalm treats waiting as an act of trust rather than a sign of failure. If you are in a deep place right now, speak to God from exactly where you are. And if the darkness includes thoughts of harming yourself, please reach out today to a doctor, a pastor, or your local crisis line.
Prayer
Lord, from the depths I call to You. Hear me, forgive me, and help me wait in hope. Amen.