Psalm Meditation 1010
Proper 25
October 27, 2019

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)

We expend a lot of energy comparing ourselves to each other as if our lives are a competition, especially those we don’t know well. When someone talks about being at their lowest we find comfort in knowing that our lowest was deeper than theirs. If that someone does have a deeper low than ours we content ourselves knowing that they are probably crazy, at least they were at that lowest point. We have trouble empathizing with those outside of our circle of friends and family so it is easier to compete with them.

Even though my deepest point is different from yours, and our deepest point is different from theirs, we have already reached our lowest point so far. Some of us may go lower yet, others have already hit their lowest point. Each of us has a point of contact with the psalmist. We have a place in the timeline of our lives that is the depths from which we were sure we could not rise alone. In that time we identify with the psalmist, “Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!” Since we can’t rise from this point alone we put our hope in the presence of God.

At that lowest point we feel disgusting, angry, and unloved, or as a friend said it, we feel, ‘helpless, hopeless, and worthless.’ In turning to God we find steadfast love that is uncompromising and unconditional in seeing each of us as persons of sacred worth. As that love touches us we begin to feel again. We know that we are loved, held, and redeemed from this worst moment so far. We know that we could hold our own in the competition for the lowest of low points. We also know that whether or not our lowest is the definition of ultimate suffering or not, we are loved beyond measure and redeemed from the depths.

October 21, 2019
LCM lcrsmanifold@att.net
http://psalmmeditations.blogspot.com/