Out of the Depths

When you need to remember — that You're still my Shepherd.

You can be at the point where you are crying from the bottom of something. Not the surface — the bottom. You have run out of the prayers that work in the shallow places, and the ones that come up now are coming from depths you would have preferred not to know about. Pray from where you are. The cry from the depths is exactly the prayer this passage was written for — and there is forgiveness with the Lord precisely so that He may be feared.

This one opens with the line that has named centuries of midnight prayer: "Out of the depths have I cried unto You, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice; let Your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications." The depths are the bottom — the place where you cannot pretend anymore. Then the line that gives hope to anyone praying from the depths: "If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared." This is the heart of the prayer. If God kept score, no one stands. Forgiveness exists with Him on purpose — and it is the reason He is feared in a way that draws people closer rather than driving them away. Then the waiting that starts to rebuild: "I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word do I hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning — I say, more than they that watch for the morning." The repetition is the point. Watching for the morning is the longest, most patient waiting humans do — and his soul waits more than that. The close is corporate: "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." Mercy. Plenteous redemption. All iniquities. Not partial cleanup.

• Right now, pray the actual opening line out loud — even from where you are: "Out of the depths have I cried unto You, O Lord." • Write this down: "What depth am I crying from that I have been pretending was a shallower place?" • Repeat this line when shame circles back: "But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared."

Stop. Breathe. Let the depths be honest in front of God, then tell Him exactly where you are crying from — out loud if you can.

God, out of the depths I have cried unto You — and I do not want to climb up before I bring this prayer. Let Your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If You marked iniquities, no one could stand — but there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared rightly. My soul waits for You more than they that watch for the morning — more than the patient ones, more than the steady ones. Let plenteous redemption reach me where I am, because Your mercy is bigger than what I have done. You're still my Shepherd.

Out of the depths I have cried — and there is forgiveness with You.