I know this as the “de profundis” psalm from the translation of the first two words of the text— “out of the depths”. When I attended Luther Seminary in St. Paul, I often would go to the large reading room in the library. There I would see a sculpture that was done by a St. Olaf art historian. I don’t remember the specifics of the piece, but I do know it was dedicated to the husband of one of the former students who suffered death by suicide. I was moved every time I saw it.
When I reflect on the depths of human pain, I think of how Jesus knows that pain…. knows our sorrows…knows our depths. After all, in the Garden of Gethsemane he wept and prayed to His Father, “if at all possible let this cup of suffering pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” On the Cross, he cried out with the words of another lament psalm, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
One writer who gets across the meaning of reflecting on Jesus’ suffering is Walter Wangerin Jr. In his book Reliving the Passion Wangerin writes of experiencing it as a young boy with a father pastor during Lent: “When my father took the Bible on Wednesday evenings and began to read of the sorrows of Jesus—from the Last Supper to his last cry on the cross—I was there. That’s why I cried. The reading made real the story—so terribly real to a boy of eight that I was swept through the events of the Gospel not as though recalling them, but feeling them in fact. Is it in hearing that faith begins? Yes. And is faith an intimate, real relationship with Jesus? Yes. And this is the strength of our sacred story, that when we hear it we experience it; and in the experience we meet the Christ; and him whom we meet in the extremes of his love, we must likewise love. So as my father was reading the Bible…I slipped into The Story…”
De profundis—profoundly Christ feels our pain, just as Wangerin felt Christ’s pain! Thanks be to God.
“Gracious God, let us always remember the depths to which you went in your Son to save us. Let us be assured that there are no depths to which we can go that you are not there with us.
Amen.”
Daily Readings for Today: Psalm 130, Ezekiel 1:3, 2:8-3:3; Revelation 10:1-11
Pastor Roger Black
