Psalm Meditation 807
Second Sunday of Advent
December 6, 2015

Psalm 130
1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD.
2 Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!
3 If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand?
4 But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered.
5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;
6 my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning.
7 O Israel, hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is great power to redeem.
8 It is he who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.
(NRSV)

My depths and yours are different. Yours may make mine seem shallow or the other way around. It is tempting to turn emotions into a contest; to see who has the deepest depths and the highest heights. Depending on the conversational topic each side can chalk up a win. If we are discussing how easy our lives have been then the person with the least drama comes out the winner. If we are talking about how hard life can be then it is the person who has suffered the most who wins that discussion. When everything is a contest we lose out on one of the most important parts of life, the connections forged by a life together.

When we allow the connection to take precedence over the contest we find ourselves living and working together in ways that are helpful to each of us. When we let another person touch our emotions we discover that we have common feelings even if the heights and depths between us are at different levels. While it is temptingly common to discount the emotional rollercoaster that is the teenage years, the emotions are no less real and raw than for anyone else who struggles and rejoices through life.

In our life together we discover a path toward hope. When it is more important to form bonds with another than to stand in judgment against one another we find hope, love and redemption together. Despair has a way of separating us from those around us, thus the psalmist’s solitary plea for the presence and deliverance of God. By raising this plea to God the psalmist is reminded that it is not necessary to be a lone ranger. From individual despair to the inclusion of the whole nation, the psalmist reminds us that we are not alone. We are in the presence of God and of each other.

November 30, 2015
LCM