Psalm 130
Opening Reflections.
Where have you seen God at work in your life this week?
Share any brief examples and encouragements.
Was there anything from Sunday’s message (from Chris Kimbangi) that stood out to you?
Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord;
Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.
If you, Lord, kept a record of sins,
Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness,
so that we can, with reverence, serve you.
I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits,
and in his word I put my hope.
I wait for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.
Israel, put your hope in the Lord,
for with the Lord is unfailing love
and with him is full redemption.
He himself will redeem Israel
from all their sins.
Psalm 130
Read Psalm 130.
1. Did anything immediately strike you, either on hearing Chris Kimbangi’s message on Sunday or in reading this passage just now?
2. The opening phrase of Psalm 130, “Out of the depths…” has long resonated with writers, particularly as it was known from Jerome’s Latin Vulgate translation, as “De profundis”. It has inspired classical composers (Bach, Charpentier, Liszt, Lully, Mendelssohn, Palestrina, Arvo Pärt, and Schoenberg, to name but a few), as well as Jazz, Ambient, Electronic and even Death Metal musicians. A famous letter written by Oscar Wilde in the torment of his imprisonment in Reading Gaol, was posthumously titled, De Profundis. Alfred Lord Tennyson, Federico Garcia Lorca, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and Christina Rosetti all wrote poems under the same title, which was also adopted for a short story by Arthur Conan Doyle, several films and even a table-top role play game!
- What do you think it is about this Psalm and the phrase “Out of the depths” that has evoked this kind of response from so many artists?
- How do the words “Out of the depths” speak to you? Is it out of an experience of suffering and despair? Or does it suggest somehow discovering meaning in suffering, or perhaps something quite different?
3. In Chapter 2 of the story of Jonah, the prophet finds himself literally “in the depths”. He poetically compares “the belly of the fish” (v.1) to “the belly of Sheol” (v3), the Hebrew place of the dead. Echoing the words of Psalm 42:7, he complains to God, “all your waves and your billows passed over me”. But this is the turning point in the Jonah story. “As my life was ebbing away, I remembered the LORD; and my prayer came to you…” (Jonah 2:7). [It almost sounds like he has just embarked on an AA- style 12-step program, which begins: 1. We admitted we were powerless… 2. We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us… 3. We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God…]
- Have you ever experienced “the depths” as a turning point in your life?
- How did you encounter God in that experience?
4. Chris Kimbangi summarised Psalm 130 as: “Life is Tough”, “God is Faithful”, and “In Him We Trust”.
- Does this capture the Psalm well for you, or is there anything else you particularly notice?
- The Psalm speaks also about waiting for the Lord and hoping. Is that the same as trusting God, or does it suggest something more?
5. The Psalm speaks of three things that are “with the Lord…” (You’re going to have to do the work here!)
- What are they, and why do you think the Psalmist highlight these things as he emerges from “the depths”?
Closing Reflections.
Is there anything you will take away from this study and discussion?What has stood out that you can take into your week ahead?
Pray together (in pairs or small groups) for each other, in response to your answers.
