Psalm 130 dates back to the 6th Century BCE. It was authored during the 70-year period of the Babylonian captivity under the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar. The people of Israel were detained or exiled to Babylonia. The temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. The Jewish people’s survival was hanging by a thread. (Not for the last time, either).

Out of the very depths of despair, the Psalmist cries out for the Lord to hear his supplication. He asks for forgiveness. Patiently, he waits for the Lord. “For in Him there is mercy, in Him there is hope.

Hope, understood theologically, is not simply wishful thinking. For Christians, it is the confident expectation that God will hear the prayer of those, who with a humble and penitent heart, call on him for forgiveness, mercy, healing and peace. In the words of a popular hymn “Praise My Soul,” God is “slow to chide, swift to bless.” His love for us is all-embracing: in the words of the Psalmist, in Him we find “Plenteous Redemption.”

Bob Beizer

Appointed readings for today: Ezekiel 18:21-28, Psalm 130, Matthew 5:20-26