UNROLL
Heavy dark sea swells far from any shore under a dull night-blue dusk, black water low in the frame beneath an empty sky.

Song of ascents

Psalm 130

From the bottom, where you cannot pretend, and all you have left is mercy.

8 verses≈ 3 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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Where we are

  1. 1–41Book IDavid's prayers: 'The LORD is my shepherd'
  2. 42–72Book II'As the deer pants'; the throne under pressure
  3. 73–89Book IIIAsaph and Korah: the kingdom falls
  4. 90–106Book IVBack to Moses: the LORD reigns
  5. 107–150Book VSongs of ascents, and the last HallelujahPsalm 130

Out of the Depths

From the floor of a deep dark rock cistern looking straight up: wet walls rising to a small ragged circle of sky.

A song of ascents.

Out of the depths

I cry to You, O LORD!

O Lord, hear my voice;

let Your ears be attentive to my plea for mercy.

Tap to go deeper: meaning, history and related Scripture

By clay lamplight, a long wooden tally stick lies on a stone counter, cut along its whole length with row on row of small notches.

If You, O LORD, kept track of iniquities,

then who, O Lord, could stand?

But with You there is forgiveness,

so that You may be feared.

But with You there is forgiveness, so that You may be feared.

Psalm 130:4

Reflect

Who could stand?

What would you hate to see counted? Bring it to Him, by name. Then read verse 4 again.

I wait for the LORD; my soul does wait,

and in His word I put my hope.

My soul waits for the Lord

more than watchmen wait for the morning—

more than watchmen wait for the morning.

The last dark before dawn: one small watchman with a spear on a plain flat town wall, cloak pulled tight, facing a thin pale line over the eastern hills.

My soul waits for the Lord

more than watchmen wait for the morning—

more than watchmen wait for the morning.

Full clear morning over the hill country: villages and terraces awake, smoke from cooking fires, small figures going out to the fields, the road busy.

O Israel, put your hope in the LORD,

for with the LORD is loving devotion,

and with Him is redemption in abundance.

And He will redeem Israel

from all iniquity.

You’ve experienced

Psalm 130

0 of 150 psalms read

A verse to carry with you

But with You there is forgiveness, so that You may be feared.

Psalm 130:4

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