“Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD; O Lord hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.” Psalm 130:1-2
“I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold.” Psalm 69:2
“From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. He said: ‘In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me.” Jonah 2:1-2
“…neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:39
Recently, I met with a new believer in need of simply talking. There was a flood of emotion welling up within her as she poured out her soul. She had a past and a present that was mired with the pain of addiction. She wept. I joined her.
She cried out for a healthy, normal family life. She longed for some hope, a place to get a foothold. I was empathetic, attentive, but unable to take her out of the engulfing depths that held her captive.
The depths is a place of near death, a place where it is impossible to get a foothold and save yourself. The floods of despair take over, engulf you and leave you gasping for breath. As a sinner, our condition is pitiful, marred with sin and far from God. Like the Psalmist and Jonah, we are distressed, drowning unable to simply stand.
The Psalmist goes on to say that because of our sin, no one can stand. But with the unfailing love of the Lord, there is hope, there is forgiveness! Apart from Christ, we are dead in our sin.
Our depths is our sin. Our depths of addiction, despair, grief, fear, worry, unresolved bitterness, unforgiveness… threaten our life and the life of our loved ones.
I could not save my friend from the engulfing pain, but I could bring her to the One who does. We prayed and cried out to our God who hears us, answers us, and brings our lives up from the pit.
Prayer: Father, thank You for the gift of salvation and thank You for the gift of prayer. In our distress we call to You. We may find ourselves hurled into the depths of trouble and calamity, but overwhelming victory is ours in Christ Jesus. We believe that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love-neither height nor depth. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
