During 2025, Peachtree Church is focusing on the Book of Psalms with a series called Dwell, through which we seek to deepen our conversation with God and open ourselves to hearing his response. The practice of praying three times each day will unite the voices of our hearts and souls as we seek the day when we will see the full realization of the Kingdom of God, promised in Revelation 21:3: “…Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.”
We will email devotionals twice weekly with Monday’s providing an overview of the Psalm as a whole, and Wednesday’s focused on that week’s Daily Dwell.
Out of the depths I cry to you, LORD;
I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.
Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption.
Psalm 130:1, 5, 7
Devotional
“Nobody loves me, everybody hates me, think I’ll go eat worms.”
Let’s acknowledge that each of us, at some point in time, has felt this way. Whether you said these words or not, this is a description of how you felt at the time—or, well, maybe, on multiple occasions.
I think this is where the Psalmist is emotionally. The word that is translated “depths” is equated with Sheol, the murky word that describes the “realm of the dead,” and a term that was familiar to the Hebrew people of that day—even very familiar to Jesus and his contemporaries.
The Psalmist’s life was in the depths, Sheol, the pit; he was feeling lower than “a snake’s belly in a wagon rut,” as the old folks used to say.
We don’t know what led to this sense of alienation from people and God. But we learn a couple of things from this Psalm:
First, it’s OK to voice your raw emotions to God. We believe that God is omniscient, that he knows everything, so why not be honest with him about our emotions?
And we also learn something about where we place our hope. When our hope is in other people, or even in ourselves, we set ourselves up for disappointment. People will let you down, and we are prone to make mistakes that disappoint. On the other hand, when we place our hope in God and his Word, these are realities that will never change or disappoint. In God we find unfailing love: unconditional love, love despite our sins, love with no strings attached. (By the way—if you need a good living example of unconditional love, get a dog!) And in God, we find full redemption. FULL redemption and forgiveness, not partial. FULL.
For Reflection
- Have you ever lost sleep worrying about the things that MIGHT happen “tomorrow?” How did things turn out?
- As you reflect on those “worrisome” moments (hours?), where were you placing your hope and faith? Where do you want it to be?
Prayer
Father of all mercies, I admit that too often I have placed my hope and faith in myself, or in the ways others perceive me. Forgive me for my misdirected faith, and help me today to trust in you. In the name of Jesus I pray, amen.
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Devotionals