“Out of the depths, I have cried out to You, O Lord:…” Ps. 130:1
Only desperate saints seek God with passion. And the greater the desperation, the more white-hot the passion. Potentially at least. That’s exactly why the depths are so important for our spirituality. Frustratingly important. At times, exhaustingly important. But always, purposefully important.
On the mountaintops we talk with God and enjoy His ravishing presence. And rightly so. Like Peter, most of us would settle down there permanently if we could (Mtt.17:4). But there is a difference between “talking with God” and “crying out to God.” A difference in felt need. A difference in passion of expression. And especially a difference in degree of desperation. As the psalmist put it, it was “out of the depths” that he truly “cried out” to God.
What exactly are "the depths"? I believe they are those times in life when we can’t seem to find firm footing. And it is during those times that we rediscover how impotent earth is to meet our deepest needs. Or keep its fleeting promises. It is in the depths that our need for God moves from being good theology to absolute necessity. And it is in the depths that our desperation for God is most keenly felt and heartily vocalized.
In actuality, we are no more needy and desperate in the depths than on the heights. It’s just that the depths leave us with no other options. In describing his faith struggles after the death of his wife; C.S. Lewis wrote, “You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you. It is easy to say you believe a rope to be strong and sound as long as you are merely using it to cord a box. But suppose you had to hang by that rope over a precipice. Wouldn't you then first discover how much you really trusted it?” Amen. It is in the depths that God no longer cords our box. He becomes our very life…as we hang over our God-appointed precipice.
Flashpoint: The depths are God’s way of reacquainting us with Himself and reminding us that there is only one Rock worthy of our full weight.
