Psalm 130: A Song of Ascents.
1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!
2 O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleas for mercy!3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
4 But with you there is forgiveness,
that you may be feared.5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
6 my soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning,
more than watchmen for the morning.7 O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with him is plentiful redemption.
8 And he will redeem Israel
from all his iniquities.
I remember many nights as a child (and, let’s be honest, as an adult) laying awake in my bed waiting for a thunderstorm to pass. Some people enjoy a good summer storm, but I am not one of them. Each flash of lightning and crash of thunder sends new waves of terror through my body. The minutes drag by as I wait for the dawn that always seems to drive the storms away. It’s nights like these, kept awake by a storm, or a child who won’t sleep, or by my own anxiety, that call to mind verse 6 of this Psalm:
my soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning,
more than watchmen for the morning.
Do you find it curious that the second line of that verse is repeated? I don’t. Not anymore. Not after having waited through so many sleepless nights. I can imagine what it might be like to be the night watchman, alone on the wall of the city. There is nothing more excruciating than waiting through a night that never seems to end. Night is when the storms rage, night is when the enemy attacks. The morning brings security, but oh when will it come? I strain my eyes eastward, hoping for that first glimpse of light on the horizon. When it comes (and it always does) what sweet relief comes with it! Finally my fists un-clench, my muscles relax, my breath comes easy,
We are all watchmen now, waiting through some unimaginable night that has enveloped the entire world. We are straining our eyes and ears for some piece of news that will tell us where the storm will next strike, or when it will be over. We are desperate for each week, each day, each hour to pass so that we can claim one more step in the direction of daylight, though none of us knows when it will come. Or when it does come, what it will look like.
We are all keeping watch through the night, and it’s excruciating.
But don’t lose heart. Morning will come, as it always does. And steadfast Love and plentiful Redemption has already come for any who would reach out at claim it. We have so much to hope for. Don’t lose heart. Morning will come, and what a glorious morning it will be.
