Psalm 130 — Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord.?Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.?If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand??But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.?I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.?My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.?Let Israel hope in the Lord : for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.?And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
As Myra was dropping me off at work this morning we heard the wailing of sirens, and then saw EMS vehicles going past on their way to whatever the incident was.
As is our practice, we said a quick prayer for whoever was in need, and as we did so it occurred to me that we’re generally pretty quick to call 911 when we need emergency services — but perhaps we’re not so quick to call out to God when we need help. Oh yes, I know that in desperation in extreme circumstances the prayer often goes up … but what about at the spiritual crisis moments?
The psalmist knew the secret. When you are up to your neck in sin, call out. Call out, trust, and wait. God is holy, and if He were to hold us accountable the depths would be deep indeed … But He does not.
We should know this, of course. But most of us, when we’re in trouble, forget what the old cowboy Will Rogers said: “If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging”. When we are in a spiritual hole, instead of crying out to God, we turn further away — instead of spending more time in the Word, more time praying, more time seeking Him, we seek any way we can find to avoid Him. When we’re in the depths we need to smarten up and dial 911-Heaven!
“The depths” calls the depths of the ocean to mind … And that stubborn prophet Jonah. Jonah 2:2-9 could almost have been a model for Psalm 130. When it came to crisis, Jonah got wise — verses 7-9 say:
When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord : and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.
In fact Jonah takes our understanding even a little deeper. “I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving;” When we’re in trouble, it’s time to Dial 911-Heaven and thank The Lord!