A Prayer of Protest Out Of The Depths In Israel’s Time of Dire Straits

“Judah has gone into captivity…She finds no rest; All her persecutors overtake her in dire straits.”

Lamentations 1:3

“I have not lost faith in God. I have moments of anger and protest. Sometimes, I’ve been closer to him for that reason.”

Elie Wiesel

We are approaching the one-year mark of October 7. It has been a year of grief and lament for Jews the world over. With the bestial murder of the six hostages over the weekend, the foreboding darkness became even more profound. I cannot imagine the depths of despair to which the families of these hostages and all the hostages have trod. Or the suffering of those who lost loved ones on October 7 and since. Nor of the families of brave Israeli soldiers killed in battle. At this point, the despair is not only from the initial shock of October 7 but the longevity of the gnawing pain and anxiety. Speaking with my Israeli family, whose children have all been called up to military service, I hear in their voices the depth of sheer and complete hopelessness.

In praying for my Israeli family and Jews the world over in the depths of pain, I have found strength in reciting Psalm 130, one of the Bible’s most passionate and raw prayers. This prayer is recited during the ten days of awe from Rosh Hashanah through Yom Kippur. Psalm 130 is one of the 15 “Songs of Ascent” between Psalms 120-134. Worshipers sang these songs as they ascended up the Jericho Road from the lowest place on earth, the Dead Sea region, which sits 1,400 feet below sea level, to the 2,400-foot rocky peaks of Jerusalem.

A Lament

There are three pictures in Psalm 130. The first is the lament of a drowning person: “Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord! O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy!” (Psalm 130:1-2). The biblical phrase “out of the depths” is often used in poetry to describe a person in a place of absolute hopelessness. The phrase “the depths” describes a person drowning in troubled waters in biblical literature. Remember, the Songs of Ascent begin in the Dead Sea, translated from the Hebrew “sea of death.” For the ancient Hebrews, the sea represented chaos and calamity. I think to myself that most Israelis at this moment must have the sensation they are drowning. The Psalmist confirms that he’s in a place of emotional torment and misery. I think that the most sincere, raw, and desperate prayers lifted to G-d come from out of the depths of suffering.

The lament that opens Psalm 130 is a complaint that carries a petition for justice and mercy. A lament is a form of speech that releases and encourages a despairing person to complain about injustice and call on G-d to hear their cry of suffering. I think this is what Elie Wiesel was speaking about when he said, “There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.”

There are two key components of a lament and they’re found here in Psalm 130:1-2. The first is Complaint: “Out of the depths I have cried to you, O Lord!” The Psalmist is saying, G-d, I’m in the depths of despair and sorrow—I’m drowning!” That’s the complaint.

The second component of a lament is a petition: “O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to my pleas for mercy!” The verb tense in these verses indicates the writer of the Psalm has been drowning for a while, so he’s asking G-d for mercy and rescue. As I said earlier, it’s not the initial sting of our present trouble that is so painful. It’s the agonizing longevity.

Lament is ultimately praise because it proclaims that G-d is in the midst of the sea of death with me and can hear my cries for help as I’m being swallowed up. The prophet Isaiah affirms this when he says: “In all their (Israel’s) affliction, he (G-d) was afflicted” (Isaiah 63:9). This means when Israel suffers, G-d suffers with her.

An Attentive Watchman

The second picture in Psalm 130 is of an attentive watchman on a wall: “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word, I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning” (Psalm 130:5-6). The word watchman in Hebrew is ‘Sapha” and it means to look intently into the distance. It also carries the meaning of leaning forward to gaze at something far away. In ancient Israel, the watchman stood on the city wall leaning forward to watch for messengers or signs of enemy invaders. The watchmen were the first line of defense. A watchman’s burden was great because lives depended on him. That’s why he so desperately longed for the morning. Not only did he have to keep a sharp eye out for enemy attacks, but he also had to stay alert when his eyes grew heavy. The watchmen knew he could not cause daylight to appear, yet he waited with eager expectation and absolute assurance that the sun would rise.

In Psalm 130, the Psalmist says he is more desperate for G-d’s deliverance than a watchman who eagerly waits for dawn. Employing repetition for emphasis, the writer repeats the thought twice: “My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.” The Psalmist says he has more hope and expectation in G-d’s merciful deliverance than the watchman’s assurance in the sun’s rising. The watchman’s hope was predictable because he knew the time of the break of day. The desperate Psalmist crying out to G-d from the chaos of the depths of despair is saying he’s at a more significant advantage than the watchman because he has more assurance in G-d’s rescue than a watchman does in the sun’s rising.

Though filled with hope, the watchman is powerless to cause the sun to rise, yet he is assured it will. When we cry out to G-d from out of the depths, it means we have come to the end of ourselves. It means we cannot rise from the ashes without G-d’s help. Psalm 130 starts with a complaint and ends with a petition for mercy. David’s prayer in Psalm 30 uses the same pattern: “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5).

A Benevolent Relative

The third picture in Psalm 130 is of a benevolent relative: “O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities” (Psalm 130:7-8). These two verses include two of the most important words in the Bible: love and redemption. The psalmist states, “…with the Lord there is steadfast love.” The Hebrew word for love here is Chesed. Though translated as “steadfast love,” Chesed has absolutely no English equivalent because the steadfast Chesed love of G-d is indefinable and unexplainable. It is a magnificently enduring love that persists beyond our sins and failings. It is the grace-filled generosity of a loving and benevolent G-d. Chesed’s love, rather than being driven by emotion, is, in essence, the total expression of God’s covenantal relationship with Israel that cannot be broken.

Because lifelong love and loyalty are rare qualities these days, it’s hard for us to understand G-d’s steadfast love. G-d is reliable when we’re unreliable, consistent when we’re not, and permanent when we’re unstable and tentative. In the best but inadequate way I can explain it, that’s steadfast love—Chesed.

The second important word in Psalm 130:7-8 is the word redeem: “…with him is plentiful redemption. And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.”  Redeem means “to buy back.” There were redemption laws within the legal system of ancient Israel. If a person hit a rough patch financially, someone could buy them back from the brink of ruin by taking on the role of a redeemer. The Psalmist here declares that G-d is like a close, benevolent relative who purchases the debt of a needy family member and delivers them from the depth of despair.

Israel is in the low place of the “sea of death.” For Israel and Jews in the diaspora, this is a Lamentations 1 moment, and world Jewry is in dire straits. May we, in heartfelt solidarity with the suffering, lift our voices with the words of Psalm 130 and petition G-d for justice and mercy for all Jews drowning in the depths of anguish in this somber and dire time:

“Out of the depths, I cry to you, O Lord! O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy!

If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you, there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word, I hope; My soul waits for the Lord, more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.

O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord, there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.”