PSALM 130|“DE PROFUNDIS” OUT OF THE DEPTHS

“DE PROFUNDIS”

OUT OF THE DEPTHS

PSALM 130

AUGUST 12, 2018

DE PROFUNDIS – IS LATIN FOR “OUT OF THE DEPTHS…”

“OUT OF THE DEPTHS, I CRY TO YOU, O LORD…”

SO, BEGINS THE 130^TH PSALM.  IT MAY BE FROM THIS PSALM THAT YOU KNOW THESE WORDS.

YOU MAY ALSO KNOW THEM FROM THE LETTER WRITTEN BY OSCAR WILDE, FROM PRISON, PUBLISHED AFTER HIS DEATH, ALSO ENTITLED, DE PROFUNDIS, IN WHICH HE SPENDS THE FIRST HALF OF THE LETTER DESCRIBING HOW HIS OWN EGO, AND THAT OF HIS LOVER, AND THEIR LAVISH LIFESTYLE, GOT HIM INTO TROUBLE IN THE FIRST PLACE.

HE SPENDS THE SECOND HALF OF THE LETTER COMPARING HIS STRUGGLES TO THOSE OF CHRIST: MISUNDERSTOOD; DESPISED; PERSECUTED; BUT ULTIMATELY, VICTORIOUS.

IT IS NOT THAT WILDE NECESSARILY HAD ANY SORT OF RELIGIOUS EPIPHANY WHILE IN PRISON, ONLY THAT HE KNEW THE DEPTHS OF SORROW AND DESPAIR, ESPECIALLY AT THE HANDS OF OTHERS;

BUT ALSO, IN PART, BY HIS OWN UNDOING;

ONLY TO WAIT, REMAINING HOPEFUL, THAT HIS LIFE WOULD TURN AROUND; AND IT DID.

IN A SOMEWHAT SIMILAR, YET DIFFERENT VEIN, IS ANOTHER STORY CONNECTED TO THE 130^TH PSALM:

ON AN AFTERNOON IN MAY OF 1738, JOHN WESLEY, WHO WOULD LATER BECOME THE FOUNDER OF THE WESLEYAN MOVEMENT, AND FATHER OF THE METHODIST CHURCH, LISTENED TO AND WAS MOVED BY THE SINGING OF PSALM 130 AT THE VESPERS IN ST. PAUL’S CATHEDRAL IN LONDON.

THAT EVENING HE ATTENDED A READING OF MARTIN LUTHER’S PREFACE TO ROMANS IN A MEETING HOUSE AT ALDERSGATE.

UNABLE TO CONTINUE HIS RESISTANCE AGAINST DIVINE REVELATION, WESLEY BELIEVED THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST AND WAS WONDERFULLY

CONVERTED.

MARTIN LUTHER HAD CLASSIFIED PSALM 130 AMONG WHAT HE CALLED THE “PAULINE PSALMS,” BECAUSE OF THEIR EMPHASIS ON FORGIVENESS OF SINS THROUGH GOD’S GRACE.

THREE VERY DIFFERENT STORIES (OR FOUR, IF YOU COUNT CHRIST’S STORY),

(OR FIVE, IF YOU COUNT MARTIN LUTHER’S, WHOSE STORY WAS ALSO SIMILAR)

(OR SIX! – IF YOU COUNT THE APOSTLE PAUL!)

– THE PSALMIST, OSCAR WILDE, JOHN WESLEY, MARTIN LUTHER, THE APOSTLE PAUL, JESUS CHRIST – THEY ALL KNEW WHAT IT MEANT TO BE IN THE DEPTHS OF SORROW AND DESPAIR;

AND ALL, EACH, IN THEIR OWN WAY, KNEW WHAT IT MEANT TO WAIT AND WATCH AND HOPE (AND PRAY) THAT LIFE WOULD GET BETTER…

AND BY THE GRACE OF GOD… IT DID.

AND WE KNOW IT TO BE TRUE OF OUR LIVES AS WELL.

“OUT OF THE DEPTHS I CRY TO YOU, O LORD.”

THE 130^TH PSALM IS PART OF A GROUP OF PSALMS KNOWN AS THE PSALMS OF ASCENT.

WHAT THIS GROUP OF PSALMS HAS IN COMMON IS THE WAY IN WHICH THEY MOVE FROM:

OUR PERSONAL DISTRESS – TO GOD’S STRENGTH – TO SECURITY IN GOD’S LOVE AND GRACE.

YOU CAN SEE, READ, HEAR THEIR ASCENT; FROM DISTRESS – STRENGTH – SECURITY; THE WORDS, AND OUR VERY SOULS, MOVING UPWARD.

THESE PSALMS ONLY BEGIN IN THE DEPTHS… THEY DO NOT END THERE.

AND ISN’T THIS OUR EXPERIENCE AS WELL?

AS YOU HAVE LIKELY HEARD ME SAY BEFORE, THE TWO THINGS THAT MAKE THE PSALMS SO WONDERFUL – AND WHY I RECOMMEND THEM TO PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY ARE IN PLACES OF DARKNESS AND DESPAIR, IS:

1. THE PSALMS ARE AS REAL AS IT GETS. THEY UNFLINCHINGLY LOOK AT LIFE AS IT IS – THE GOOD AND THE BAD OF IT; THE HAPPY AND THE SAD OF IT; THE HIGHS AND LOWS OF LIFE;
2. AND, THEY ALSO BEAR WITNESS TO THE FAITH, HOPE, AND LOVE OF BELIEVERS, AND OF THE GOD IN WHOM THEY HAVE THEIR FAITH, HOPE, AND LOVE.

IT IS VERY COMMON FOR A PSALM TO BEGIN IN DESPAIR AND END IN JOY.

TO BEGIN BEING LOST AND END IN BEING FOUND.  TO BEGIN IN SORROW, SADNESS, AND DESPAIR, AND END IN HOPE, JOY, AND CERTAINTY.

THE PSALMS ARE HONEST ABOUT THE FACT THAT MANY OF LIFE’S PROBLEMS JUST HAPPEN; WHILE SOME HAPPEN BECAUSE OF THOSE WHO HURT US;

BUT THE PSALMS ARE EQUALLY HONEST ABOUT THE FACT THAT SOME OF THE HARDSHIPS OF LIFE ARE OF OUR OWN MAKING.

THE 130^TH PSALM IS PARTICULARLY CLEAR ABOUT THIS:

“IF YOU, O LORD, SHOULD MARK OUR INIQUITIES, LORD, WHO COULD STAND?”

THE PSALMISTS ARE BRUTALLY HONEST WHEN IT COMES TO OUR OWN SINS BEING THE CAUSE OF OUR TROUBLES.

BUT THANKFULLY, JOYFULLY, THEY ARE EQUALLY CLEAR ABOUT HOW REPENTANCE BEFORE GOD – LEADS TO FORGIVENESS BY GOD – AND THUS, TO NEW LIFE WITH GOD.

“BUT THERE IS FORGIVENESS WITH YOU, SO THAT YOU MAY BE REVERED.”

AS MUCH AS WE ARE THE MAKERS OF SOME OF OUR OWN PROBLEMS, WE CAN ALSO BE PARTNERS WITH GOD IN MAKING OUR LIVES BETTER.

TO THIS END, IT’S WHAT’S IN THE NEXT SECTION OF THIS PSALM TO WHICH I WOULD LIKE US TO PAY PARTICULAR ATTENTION THIS MORNING;

AND MORE, TO WHICH I WOULD HOPE AND PRAY, SOCIETY IN GENERAL WOULD PAY BETTER ATTENTION; AND GIVE MORE CREDENCE.

I HAVE A THEORY.  IT IS MY OWN.

I HAVEN’T TESTED IT OUT WITH ANY SORT OF EXTENSIVE RESEARCH.

I HAVEN’T BOUNCED THIS IDEA OFF OF ANY SOCIAL SCIENTISTS.

I HAVE NO INDEPENDENT PROOF OF WHAT I AM ABOUT TO SAY, YET, I BELIEVE IT TO BE TRUE.

I BELIEVE THAT ONE OF THE GREAT CASUALTIES IN OUR “INSTANT GRATIFICATION SOCIETY” – THE MINDSET THAT WE SHOULD HAVE WHATEVER IT IS WE WANT – RIGHT NOW IS THAT WE HAVE FORGOTTEN HOW TO WAIT.

AND, FORGETTING HOW TO WAIT – FOR ANYTHING – WE HAVE ALSO LOST OUR ABILITY TO HOPE.

ONE OF THE GREAT AFFIRMATIONS OF THE PSALMS: IN FACT, YOU ALMOST ALWAYS SEE THE WORDS TOGETHER, IS THAT WAITING, AND HOPING GO TOGETHER.

LOOK AT VERSE 5 OF OUR PSALM FOR THIS MORNING:

“I WAIT FOR THE LORD, MY SOUL WAITS, AND IN HIS WORD, I HOPE.”

WAITING AND HOPING GO TOGETHER.

AND WHAT I MEAN BY SAYING THAT IN OUR “INSTANT GRATIFICATION SOCIETY” WE’VE FORGOTTEN HOW TO WAIT, AND THUS HOW TO HOPE, IS THAT IT SEEMS INCREASINGLY CLEAR, THAT IN THE ABSENCE OF WAITING AND HOPING…

PEOPLE GIVE INTO THEIR DESPAIR – OFTEN MAKING IRREVERSIBLE AND IRRETRIEVABLE DECISIONS – AND ACTIONS – WHICH HARM NOT ONLY THEM, BUT OTHERS AS WELL.

I BELIEVE OUR INABILITY TO WAIT AND TO HOPE IS A MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR TO THE RISE IN SUICIDE RATES IN OUR COUNTRY AND AROUND THE WORLD.

I BELIEVE IT CONTRIBUTES TO ACTS OF VIOLENCE, AND MASS SHOOTINGS, AND PEOPLE ACTING ON IMPULSE IN HURTING AND DESTROYING THE LIVES OF OTHERS, AND THEIR OWN.

THAT THEY CANNOT FIND INSTANT RELIEF; THAT NO QUICK FIX IS COMING; THAT THEY CANNOT IMMEDIATELY BE OUT OF PAIN AND SUFFERING;

I BELIEVE…

CAUSES PEOPLE TO ACT HASTILY, RASHLY, AND WITHOUT ANY THOUGHT OF THE CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR ACTIONS.

THEY CANNOT WAIT… THUS THEY CANNOT HOPE THAT THINGS WILL BE DIFFERENT… THAT THINGS CAN GET BETTER…

AND SO, THEY ACT TO END THEIR PAIN, THEIR FEARS, THEIR HURT, BY ENDING THEMSELVES OR OTHERS.

I BELIEVE THIS ALSO GOES FOR LESSER CONCERNS IN LIFE AS WELL.

PEOPLE WHO QUIT JOB AFTER JOB SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY CANNOT WAIT OR HOPE THAT THINGS WILL IMPROVE.

PEOPLE WHO BUY ON IMPULSE, OR DIG THEMSELVES DEEPER AND DEEPER INTO DEBT, THINKING THAT INSTANT GRATIFICATION IS THE WAY TO GET TO THEIR GOALS, WHEN, IN FACT, IT CAN HAVE THE EXACT OPPOSITE AFFECT, COSTING THEM EVERYTHING;

BANKRUPTING THEM OF NOT ONLY WHAT THEY HAVE, BUT OF WHO THEY ARE, INCLUDING THEIR OWN MORAL COMPASS.

I THINK THIS IS HAPPENS IN RELATIONSHIPS AS WELL; WHERE PEOPLE ARE UNABLE TO WORK THROUGH THEIR CHALLENGES;

AND WHEN THEY DO NOT WAIT FOR, HOPE FOR, AND WORK TOWARD THINGS CHANGING, AND FOR THE BETTER, THEY SIMPLY GIVE UP ON THEIR RELATIONSHIPS PREMATURELY; JUMPING OUT OF THEM; MOVING ON;

OR THEY MAKE THEIR RELATIONSHIPS ALL THE MORE MISERABLE FOR THOSE INVOLVED, RATHER THAN SETTING A COURSE FOR DOING BETTER.

THIS IS A COMMON CAUSE FOR AFFAIRS, DIVORCE, AND SERIAL MARRIAGE.

YET, SOME PEOPLE LIVE IN THESE SITUATIONS FOR YEARS, BUT RATHER THAN DOING WHAT THEY NEED TO IMPROVE THEM, THEY SOMEHOW DELIGHT IN THEIR MISERY, SHARING IT WITH WHOMEVER WILL LISTEN.

THE ISOLATION THIS CREATES, WITHIN AND WITHOUT RELATIONSHIPS, IN MY MIND, IS A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR TO THE UNHAPPINESS OF SO MANY PEOPLE TODAY.

SO POOR WE HAVE BECOME AT WAITING AND HOPING, AT DEFERRING GRATIFICATION, THAT IF THE MOMENT WE ARE IN IS NOT ALL WE WANT IT TO BE, EXPECT IT TO BE, BELIEVE IT SHOULD BE, BELIEVE WE DESERVE IT TO BE –

WE SIMPLY JUMP OUT OF IT, MOVING ON TO THE NEXT THING, WITHOUT EVER SOLVING ANYTHING.

NOW CONTRAST THIS WITH THE AUTHOR OF THE 130^TH PSALM:

“I WAIT FOR THE LORD, MY SOUL WAITS, AND IN HIS WORD, I HOPE;

MY SOUL WAITS FOR THE LORD MORE THAN THOSE WHO WATCH FOR THE MORNING, MORE THAN THOSE WHO WATCH FOR THE MORNING.

O ISRAEL HOPE IN THE LORD!”

WAITING AND HOPING.

I’VE NEVER SERVED IN THE MILITARY, AND THEREFORE, HAVE NEVER PULLED GUARD DUTY.

I’VE NEVER SAILED ANYWHERE, LONG ENOUGH, TO HAVE HAD TO PULL WATCH AT NIGHT, WHILE EVERYONE ELSE IS ASLEEP BELOW.

SOME OF YOU HAVE, I KNOW.

SO, I AM ONLY GOING ON MY SUSPICIONS, AND THE SUGGESTIONS OF THE PSALMIST.

I CAN ONLY IMAGINE THAT THOSE WHO HAVE STOOD GUARD IN THE MILITARY, ESPECIALLY AT NIGHT, AND ESPECIALLY IN DANGEROUS PLACES, WAIT, QUITE EXPECTANTLY, FOR THE MORNING TO COME; FOR SOMEONE TO RELIEVE THEM.

IT IS THE SAME, I IMAGINE, FOR THOSE WHO STAND WATCH AT NIGHT WHILE SAILING – WHAT A RELIEF IT MUST BE FOR THE LIGHT OF DAY TO COME.

THAT’S WHAT THE PSALMIST IS COMMENDING TO ALL OF US – THAT WE WATCH FOR WHAT OUR FUTURES WILL BRING; WHAT THE MORNING WILL BRING;

WITH ALL THE HOPE, ALL THE EXPECTATION, ALL THE ANXIOUS RELIEF OF ONE STANDING GUARD AT NIGHT.

THE DARKNESS WILL NOT LAST – THE MORNING WILL COME – AND IN THE LIGHT OF A NEW DAY – THINGS WILL BE CLEARER; PERHAPS, EVEN BETTER.

OF COURSE, FOR THE PSALMIST, THERE IS NO DOUBT IN HIS MIND WHO WILL MAKE IT SO:

“O ISRAEL, HOPE IN THE LORD!  FOR WITH THE LORD THERE IS STEADFAST LOVE, AND WITH HIM IS GREAT POWER TO REDEEM.  IT IS GOD WHO WILL REDEEM ISRAEL FROM ALL INIQUITIES.”

IT IS GOD WHO WILL REDEEM – FORGIVE – RESTORE – RESCUE – MAKE RIGHT –MAKE BETTER – DELIVER – FREE – AND SAVE US.

WE CAN PARTNER WITH GOD IN MAKING OUR LIVES BETTER.

AS INDIVIDUALS, AS BELIEVERS, AS A SOCIETY, LET’S WORK AT GETTING BETTER ABOUT WAITING AND HOPING; AT BELIEVING; AND THUS, AT KNOWING, THAT GOD REDEEMS OUR LIVES.

THE ASCENT – FROM DESPAIR, TO GOD’S STRENGTH, TO SECURITY IN GOD!