Inspiration From the Psalms II

A few months ago I used a poem my mother had written, inspired by a Psalm. This week I am giving another of her poems inspired by Psalm 130:1: "Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord."

At a time when a loved one is taken from us through death, we feel we can not sink any lower in our grief; Or when we see our sin for what it is, we cry out with Paul: "O wretched man that I am!" (Romans 7:24) and we sink into the pit of despair. Yet our Lord sees us; He will reach down to our deepest needs and literally bring us up out of the depth of despair or sorrow. He reaches down to our deepest needs, and draws us up, placing us on the solid rock, and that Rock is Jesus:

Out of the depths of sorrow,
The midnight of despair,
I cried unto thee, my Savior,
And found Thee waiting there.
Oh, joy in the midst of darkness,
Oh, peace I can not understand,
For He reaches the depths of my sorrow
And holds me by my hand.

Out of the depths of sinning,
All hopeless, lost, undone,
I cried unto Thee, my Savior,
And there the victory won.
My heart is weak and wayward,
My soul is wounded and sore,
But He reaches the depth of my greatest need,
Restores His joy once more.

Out of the depths of suffering,
The darkness of physical pain,
When weakness and need engulfed me,
I cried unto Thee again.
Oh, help in the midst of weakness,
Oh, courage He doth impart,
For He reaches the depth of my suffering,
Pours healing into my heart.

Into the depths of sorrow
My Savior went for me;
Into the depths for sinners
He went to make me free;
Into the depths of suffering
He went for me indeed;
And He went that I might not cry in vain
Out of my depths of need.

---Written by Marjorie S. Paton