Key Texts: Psalm 130:1-6
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.
It’s a powerful prayer, with powerful images. Those of
- Crying out from the depths of a raging sea
- Listening carefully for any hint of hope
- Falling in supplication, begging for mercy, for sins committed
- Yearning for forgiveness, waiting with one’s whole being
- Of watchmen, standing firm in the darkness, sentinels, facing the darkness
- Eagerly awaiting the light of dawn
Is this how we pray? Is this earnest supplication, desire, yearning, vigilance what marks our daily prayer?
It’s a high ideal that the Psalmist places before us, challenging us to accept as our own.
Prayer is too often something done in a hurry, or as an afterthought.
How much more powerful it is to think of it as this deep, sincere, almost desperate seeking of God.
The darkness is real – and ominous – but so is morning’s light.
So keep watch, always keep watch.
“I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning.”
May that always be our prayer.
IGW3 - In God's Word, In God's Will, In God's Work 