#DailyDevotion We Cry To God Out Of The Depths & He Hears Us
Introit (Ps. 131; antiphon: Ps. 130:1–2)
Out of the depths I call to You, O LORD. 2O LORD, listen to me calling; let Your ears be alert to hear my plea.
O LORD, I don’t feel proud or look haughty or meddle in things too great and wonderful for me. 2No, I’ve calmed down and silenced my ambitions like a weaned child rests in its mother’s arms; my spirit in me rests like a weaned child. 3Israel, put your hope in the LORD, now and forever!
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Out of the depths I call to You, O LORD. 2O LORD, listen to me calling; let Your ears be alert to hear my plea.
The antiphon for this Sunday is from Psalm 130:1-2. The antiphon, a scripture that begins the introit and ends it helps to carry on the theme of the day. I find it matches the Gospel quite nicely. There is it blind Bartimaeus crying out, “Son of David, have mercy upon me!” The pslamist cries out, “Out of the depths I call to you O LORD.” Indeed from the depths of the soul of Bartimaeus he cries out to his LORD Jesus Christ for help.
It is likely we have called out to the LORD from the depths of our troubles at one time or another. It’s a good time to call out to him because at that point we have nothing to lose. Indeed, I think the LORD most likes to answer our prayers from that point. The problem is, if we haven’t been crying out to the LORD all this time with small thing, middling things and big things in the past, there’s a good chance we won’t call out to him in faith when we are at the depths of despair either. At least, we won’t do it with faith. It will be more like wishful thinking.
Yet when we call to him with faith, then we may certainly continue with the petition, “O LORD, listen to me calling; let Your ears be alert to hear my plea.” We have such promises we can be bold and call our God listen and have his alerts to hear our pleas. Jesus says in Matt. 6, “8Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” Again he says in ch. 7 Jesus says, “7Ask, and it will be given to you. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened for you. 8Anyone who asks receives; anyone who searches finds; and anyone who knocks, the door will be opened for him.” In John 14 Jesus says, “14If you ask Me for anything in My name, I’ll do it.” In John 16 he says, “23 I tell you the truth, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you.”
In such promises we can calm down and silence our ambitions. Our spirits can rest like a weaned child. We can know that our Father in heaven knows what we need and is sending the answer before we open our mouths. As our earthly fathers, who are evil, don’t give us a stone when we ask for bread or a scorpion when we as for an egg, our Father in heaven indeed is always listening, always attentive to our cries and does for us what is needed to enter the kingdom of heaven. Every desire of our regenerated heart is fulfilled by our Father. The desires of our flesh, not so much. We may often have a struggle distinguishing between the two bu he does not. We can rest in him so we need not meddle in things too great for us. We can be still and know he is God. He is God with us and God for us.
Heavenly Father, open our lips that we may pray rightly to you and receive from your hand all good things. Let us rest in your goodness. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.