Thirty-Second Day of Lent (Thursday, April 10, 2025)

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Words of Reflection

Waiting is not a theme we necessarily associate with Lent. In fact, waiting is often seen as the exclusive theme of the Advent season as we prepare to celebrate Christ’s first coming and also anticipate his second. During Advent, waiting is a theological reality tied up in God’s grand plan of salvation. It is powerful and unique and filled with the promises of God.

But the kind of waiting we think about during Lent is different. It’s tied to the wilderness, and it’s a waiting that brushes up against some darker themes and harder places. As we contemplate our sin and our need for God we are often brought to the very end of ourselves, and that can often be a very barren place, spiritually speaking. Lent strips away our masks and our coping mechanisms and asks us to be honest about where we are and what we need.

And it asks us to wait on God in the midst of our self-examination.

This is not a bad thing, but it is a difficult thing. God is patient with us, but we are not always patient with him. We often forget that spiritual formation is a lifelong journey, and that sometimes the progress seems slow. But when the way seems hard it is there that God is often doing his most important work—it is there that he is bringing to death any reliance on ourselves so that we might rely only on him. Through it all we need to remember that God is purifying us and calling us back to what is central: his love for us and his desire for us to dwell in that love. In the midst of our waiting we cling even more tightly to the promise that the work God is doing within us both necessary and good, and we trust that through this season we will be drawn closer to Jesus so we can be made more like him.

During Lent we give the Holy Spirit permission to pry our fingers away from anything to which we hold on too tightly, so that we may find ourselves being held by the one who will never let us go.

Scripture for Meditation:

The poor and needy search for water, but there is none;
their tongues are parched with thirst.
But I the Lord will answer them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
I will make rivers flow on barren heights,
and springs within the valleys.
I will turn the desert into pools of water,
and the parched ground into springs.
I will put in the desert the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive.
I will set junipers in the wasteland, the fir and the cypress together,
so that people may see and know, may consider and understand,
that the hand of the Lord has done this,
that the Holy One of Israel has created it.
—Isaiah 41:17-20 (NIV)

Song: O Love That Will Not Let Me Go (lyrics here)
Today we offer two versions of this hymn, one classic hymn arrangement and one modern tune.

Classic Hymn Arrangement

Modern Tune Arrangement

Questions for Reflection

How is your Lenten journey exposing the places in your heart and soul where God is inviting you to deeper trust and deeper surrender? Do you find that difficult? How are you waiting on God through this season?

Isaiah 41 speaks of God bringing refreshment to those who are thirsty, who find themselves in a “desert place.” How has God shown himself faithful to you in desert seasons? Spend some time in grateful prayer for those oases of spiritual nourishment.

Today’s song is a hymn rich in meaningful imagery. Spend some time prayerfully considering these lyrics and how they speak to you:

—I give thee back the life I owe
—I yield my flick’ring torch to thee
—I cannot close my heart to thee
—O Cross that liftest up my head

Thirty-First Day of Lent (Wednesday, April 9, 2025)

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Words of Reflection

One of the most striking images of humility in Scripture comes towards the end of the book of Job following God’s reply to Job’s protestations. Job, who has lost everything, has come before God with some pretty direct accusations about all of his pain and heartache.

To put it simply: Job tells God he’s doing a lousy job being the sovereign Lord of all creation. After Job lays this accusation at God’s feet, the Lord himself speaks to Job out of a whirlwind and reminds him that it’s not possible for a mortal man to fully comprehend the ways of the divine. God does this through a series of penetrating rhetorical questions, such as:

“Where were you when I Iaid the foundations of the earth?” (38:4).
“Have you ever in your days commanded the morning light?” (38:12).
“Where does light live, or where does darkness reside?” (38:19).
“Can you lead out a constellation in its season?” (38:32).

God poses seventy-seven questions like this to Job, all designed to remind the mortal man that he is just that: mortal. Temporal. Limited in his perspective. It reminds me of a great line from the movie “Rudy,” where a priest tells the main character:

“Son, in thirty-five years of religious study, I've come up with only two hard, incontrovertible facts: there is a God, and, I'm not him.”

When Job comes face-to-face with the limits of his understanding, when he accepts that there is a God and it’s not him, it’s here that we find a powerful image of humility:

“Then Job answered the Lord: ‘I am unworthy—how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer—twice, but I will say no more.’”—Job 40:3-5 (NIV)

Sometimes humility is expressed entirely in a wordless quiet. Job puts his hand over his mouth and declares that he has spoken out of turn, and will therefore speak no more. When we are granted a glimpse of who God really is, at first our lips fall silent. They will eventually turn to praise, but not before they still themselves before the One whom words can’t describe.

If you are wrestling with some big things right now as our Lenten journey approaches its end, or if you are feeling overwhelmed, or if you are struggling to put your ego and pride in check, maybe there’s some wisdom in taking a page out of Job’s story.

Maybe we all need to place our hands over our mouths.

Scripture for Meditation:

For God alone my soul waits in silence;
from him comes my salvation.

He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall never be shaken.
—Psalm 62:1-2 (NRSV)

Song: In The Silence (lyrics here)

Questions for Reflection

There are no questions for contemplation today. Today you are encouraged to sit in silence before the Lord. We do so with no agenda other than to be present to the One who knows us best and loves us most. When you feel you have spent sufficient time in silence, you might wish to journal about what you sensed about God, his love for you, and his call on your life in that time of waiting before him.

Thirtieth Day of Lent (Tuesday, April 8, 2025)

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Words of Reflection

The language of hiddenness is found throughout the words of Scripture. In the New Testament, those who have put their faith in Jesus are said to have their life now “hidden with Christ in God.” (Col. 3:3) It is an image of safety and security, of protection and care. It is an image of the very character of God.

There’s a story told about a wealthy businessman who asked two artists to illustrate peace, to depict a peaceful scene on canvas. The first artist painted a beautiful landscape of the countryside on awarm spring day. A cloudless sky, a picturesque farm house, soft sunlight on rolling hills, animals grazing in the field…everyone who looked upon the painting agreed: it was a perfect depiction of peace.

The second artist painted a majestic, rugged cliff. Gnarled trees, twisted by years of violent winds, jutted from the craggy mountainside. Dark and threatening clouds hung low and fierce, while jagged streaks of lightning slashed across the angry sky. The painting was a picture of violence, chaos, and rage.

The businessman was perplexed. But as he continued to look at this unsettling painting, he noticed something. There, in one of the crevices of the rocky mountain, tucked back just out of reach of the wind and rain-- was a nest with two tiny birds. Undisturbed by the raging storm, the little birds looked peaceful, calm, and cozy as they waited for the turbulence to pass.

We are living in chaotic, turbulent days. Storm clouds assail us from so many directions, and at times our need for refuge is great. That is not something to be ashamed of. Even Jesus needed time away from the chaos of his public ministry (though at times it eluded him). If the witness of Scripture is true, and it is, God delights in being our hiding place and our place of refuge. It is an image found all through the Bible:

“Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge.”—Psalm 16:1

“His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is pure.
He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.”—2 Samuel 22:31

“The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble;
he knows those who take refuge in him.”—Nahum 1:7

Lent is a perfect time to remember that God is our refuge and hiding place. As we lean more fully into our need for God and the truth of his promises, may this image bring us comfort and peace whatever storms we are facing.

Scripture for Meditation:

“Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
Will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
This I declare about the Lord:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
He is my God, and I trust him.
For he will rescue you from every trap
And protect you from deadly disease.
He will cover you with his feathers.
He will shelter you with his wings.
His faithful promises are your armor and protection.”
—Psalm 91:1-4 (NLT)

Song: Shadow of Your Wings (lyrics here)

Questions for Reflection

How has God revealed himself to you as a refuge and hiding place? Offer to him gratitude and praise for his protective grace, maybe praying specific phrases from our Psalm 91 passage above.

Are there things to run to in your life for shelter and refuge that are not healthy? Why do they hold that attraction? How can you bring them to God in prayer?

What storms are you facing in your life now where you can see your need for God’s protective hand? What intentional steps into his protection could you make as you echo these words from our song: “I will seek Your face, I will find a place in the shadow of Your wings?”

Twenty-Ninth Day of Lent (Monday, April 7, 2025)

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Words of Reflection

We tend to treat scars with a hint (and sometimes more than a hint) of shame. We hide them when possible, and when it isn’t possible we sometimes spend a good deal of money to have them removed. Scars are seen as blemishes, things that mar us in ways that we’d rather not think about. And truth be told, some scars tell unbelievably difficult stories of horrific abuse and pain, and their presence can be crippling to the victim. Scars are reminders of what has taken place, and they often mark the darkest moments of our lives.

During the Lenten season we spend time meditating on the way the wounds of Christ tell the story of our salvation, how his scars mark the darkest moment of human history…yet speak to its greater meaning and victory. As we spend time at the foot of the cross we are also invited to consider our own woundedness, to think about the way our scars tell a story as well. Whether physical or emotional, we all bear scars that speak to how we have been hurt in the past, and at the cross we are reminded that we are not alone in our pain. Christ knows our suffering because he has lived it himself. He is a “man of sorrows, acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:30), and he weeps with us because he knows what it is like to be one of us.

As Christ walks with us in our suffering, we find that our scars are not shameful at all. They are, like the scars that brought Thomas to his knees (John 20:28), a testament to what God has done. They give us a story to tell to others who travel similar paths, “…so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” (2 Cor. 1:4, NIV) Author Linda Hogan latched on to an important truth when she had a character in one of her novels utter these words:

“Some people see scars, and it is wounding they remember. To me they are proof of the fact that there is healing.”—Linda Hogan, Solar Storms

For some of us the wounds are too fresh to see how God is bringing about that healing. The scars have yet to tell their story. Even then, the place of woundedness is holy ground if we will let it be. One day the story will be clear, but for now we fall on our face and ask God to meet us in our pain. And we ask him to begin not only the work of healing, but the work of using our woundedness for his glory. “Even here,” we pray, “May you be known and glorified.”

That is the prayer of Calvary. And as we meditate on the cross, it becomes the prayer of our own woundedness as well. May God use our scars to tell the story of his healing power and love.

Darkest water and deepest pain
I wouldn’t trade it for anything
‘Cause my brokenness brought me to You
And these wounds are a story You’ll use

Scripture for Meditation:

“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.”
—2 Corinthians 4:8-10 (NIV)

Song: Scars (lyrics here)

Questions for Reflection

How has God used the scars of your life to tell a story of his power and grace? How has he used the scars in another person’s life to speak power and grace to you?

Are there scars in your life that still cause you to struggle with shame or regret? How might you offer these to God and acknowledge that struggle? Is there a trusted friend, family member, or another person that you can invite into that conversation?

Are you in the midst of a season of woundedness even now, with pain that is still raw and yet to find healing? How might this season of meditating on the suffering of Jesus allow even this time to become “holy ground?”

Fifth Sunday of Lent (Sunday, 6 April 2025)

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Sundays of Hope and Joy

As our Lenten journey enters its final days, we see the city of Jerusalem in the distance and we know what is coming soon. Like Peter, we may feel the impulse to avoid what lies ahead (Matthew 16:22), but we know it can’t be avoided. Jesus is resolute. He invites us to be the same.

But before we continue our journey, today is Sunday, another “mini-Easter” break in our 40 day fast of meditation, repentance, and remembrance. On Sundays we are reminded that the journey to the cross does not end at the cross, and we rejoice in that truth with all that we are.

On Sundays, as is appropriate and biblical, we are also invited to cease our laboring. It is a “Sabbath rest for the people of God” (Hebrews 4:9), a time of refreshing in the presence of the one who loves us most. But we don’t always enter into that rest, if we’re honest. We may find it hard to embrace at any time of year, but perhaps it’s even a bit harder during Lent. Our desire to be resolute and committed can be hard to switch off and put aside. In fact, if we’re not careful, Sabbath-keeping can become the very last thing it was meant to be: a burden.

In the words of writer K.C. Ireton, Sabbath is soaking ourselves—or, rather, letting ourselves be soaked—in the unmerited, unmeritable grace of God. That is a good truth to embrace during Lent, one which, if we let it sink in deep, will impact our experience of Sabbath at any season of the calendar.

It is also a good truth to embrace in light of the past few years. In the great upheavals happening in our world, many of us have found ourselves in a “forced Sabbath,” and the irony is that times of inactivity or unwanted stillness may be some of the hardest in which to find true Sabbath rest. Another unfortunate reality is that in times of hardship and despair, when we perhaps need Sabbath rest the most, we are often most likely to ignore its call and gift.

Today, wherever you may find yourself, you are invited to soak in that gift, in the Sabbath rest to which God calls you. Today you’re invited to hear spoken to you the same invitation Jesus gave to his disciples:

“Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”—Mark 6:31 (NIV)

Scripture for Meditation:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
—Matthew 11:28-30 (NRSV)

Song: Lord May Our Resting (lyrics here)

Questions for Reflection

How are you at receiving the gift and grace of Sabbath rest? Does it ever seem a burden to you? Or do you ever struggle with a resistance to entering it fully? Bring your current experience of Sabbath to God in prayer and ask the Holy Spirit to take you further into the rest God has for you in this day.

Spend some time sitting with this invitation from Jesus: “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” Break it down phrase by phrase and pay attention to the movement of your soul in each part of what he says: “Come with me.” “By yourselves.” “To a quiet place.” “And get some rest.”

Spend some time reflecting on these phrases from today’s song, letting them stir a response of worship and prayer in your spirit:

May this, your Sabbath, be worship divine,
A temple of peace, a cathedral of time;
For whether a minute, an hour or a day you
Hallow the moments we rest in your name.

Twenty-Eighth Day of Lent (Saturday, 5 April 2025)

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Saturday Reflections

On Saturdays during our Lenten Devotional time we sill simply sit with an instrumental version of a well-known hymn or worship song. Our weeks are so full, so busy, so noisy…use these Saturdays to prepare your hearts for gathered worship by reflecting on lyrics and Scripture in a space of stillness and simplicity.

The songs we’ve been sitting with on Saturdays, up until now, have been fairly old-school classic hymns. Today’s song is a bit newer—it’s not yet even 30 years old.

Chris Tomlin was serving as worship leader at a Christian conference in 1997* when he heard a speaker preach from Revelation chapter 4, where John has a vision of twenty-four elders gathered around a heavenly throne in heaven. It’s a vision of eternal worship, which includes wondrous creatures encircling the throne shouting, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God the Almighty, who was and is and is to come.” Then John records this:

“And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to the one who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall before the one who is seated on the throne and worship the one who lives forever and ever; they cast their crowns before the throne, singing,

‘You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.’”—Revelation 4:9-11 (NRSV)

This image of eternal worship stayed with Tomlin, and late at night in his hotel room he started singing what he called a “little song—just right out of the Scripture.” At three in the morning Tomlin made his way to the preacher’s room, and finally rousing him awake, shared the song with him. There was a moment of silence before the preacher looked at Tomlin directly and proclaimed, “Chris…I think the whole world’s going to be singing that song.”

It proved to be a prophetic word, as “We Fall Down” has become one of the most popular worship songs of the past few decades. As we think about both the song and the story behind it, a couple of thoughts come to mind:

  • Sometimes the best hymns and songs are simple adaptations of Scripture.

  • Sometimes the most humble posture we can assume is the posture of worship.

Let’s enter that posture as we ponder Scripture, listen to a beautiful instrumental rendition of the song, and sit prayerfully with the lyrics.

*You can hear Chris Tomlin tell the story of this song in this video: The Story of We Fall Down.

Scripture for Meditation:

“After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:

‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.’

All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying:

‘Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!’”
—Revelation 7: 9-12 (NIV)

Song: We Fall Down (lyrics after video)

Lyrics for Reflection

Read through the lyrics of this hymn slowly and prayerfully. Read them more than once, and pay attention to the movement of your soul as you pray. What words or phrases grab your attention? Why? As you finish, sit in prayerful silence before God and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you something of your need and God’s provision that emerges from these words.

We fall down
We lay our crowns
At the feet of Jesus
The greatness of mercy and love
At the feet of Jesus

And we cry holy holy holy
And we cry holy holy holy
And we cry holy holy holy is the Lamb

Chris Tomlin
© 1998 Rising Springs Music; Vamos Publishing; worshiptogether.com songs

Twenty-Seventh Day of Lent (Friday, April 4, 2025)

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Words of Reflection

Every step on a Lenten journey is a step of trust. During this season we engage with difficult themes like repentance, humility, self-examination, surrender, and many more. Giving ourselves over to this work requires complete trust: trust in the One who both walks with us and waits for us at the journey’s end. As the Spirit does deep work in us, we find that things rise to the surface that we’d just as soon ignore—places of resistance, fear, doubt, and sin that have yet to be fully brought to the cross. It is not pleasant, but it is also not optional.

And it is often difficult.

Sometimes as we wrestle with these realities, it is good to simply stop and declare that God is trustworthy and faithful. He can be trusted with the broken parts of us, because he is the only one who can take them and transform them for our good and his glory. He has done so in the past, he will do so now, and he will continue to do so all the days of our lives.

So today is all about declaring the trustworthiness and faithfulness of God. Below you’ll find a few verses about those truths. Spend some time reading each word slowly and prayerfully. Let their truth go deep in your spirit and soul. Consider it refreshment for the remainder of the journey: declarations that as hard as each step can be, it is worth it because each step draws us closer to Jesus and makes us more like him.

Jesus, I trust in your love
Oh Lord, I trust in you
Jesus, I trust in your love
Oh Lord, I trust in you

Scripture for Meditation:

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’”
—Psalm 91:1-2 (NIV)

“Surely God is my salvation;
I will trust and not be afraid.
The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense;
he has become my salvation.”
—Isaiah 12:2 (NIV)

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your
requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends
all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
—Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)

Song: Litany of Trust (lyrics here)

Questions for Reflection

As we enter the last couple of weeks of our Lenten journey, how is your “trust factor?” How has God met you in this time? What difficult things is he revealing? Spend some time declaring your trust that the work he is doing in you is good even as it is hard.

Which of the Scripture verses about trust most speaks to you today? Why? How can that passage lead you into prayer and worship today?

The song for today names several things that can get in the way of trust:

—belief that we can’t be loved
—fear that we’re not good enough
—false security in our own strength or wisdom
—fear that trusting God will cause us difficulty or even leave us destitute
—resistance to child-like dependence on God
—belief that life has no worth
—suspicion of God’s words to us
—fear of the future
—anger or guilt over the past

Do you resonate with any of these? For the ones that speak to a truth in your own life, spend some time in trusting confession and prayer, asking God to transform you, hold you, and sustain you as you are honest before him.

Twenty-Sixth Day of Lent (Thursday, April 3, 2025)

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Words of Reflection

The season of Lent provides us a special opportunity to understand the heart of God for his wandering children in a richer and deeper way. Spending an intentional 40 days thinking about the cross of Christ and the depth of his sacrifice reminds us just how loved we are, because we see what lengths God went to in order to draw us back to himself.

It’s a common misconception to think that this picture of God’s heart, with all of its tenderness and longing for a wayward people, is a uniquely New Testament image. It is not. It is the same heart that we find yearning for the return of his people Israel, prone to wander off in hopeless pursuit of idols despite all God had done for them.

Nowhere is this more powerfully demonstrated than in the story of the prophet Hosea. Called by God to speak out against the nation’s idolatry, Hosea is also called to live out a very striking image of God’s love and Israel’s unfaithfulness in his marriage to a woman named Gomer. Her adultery and Hosea’s faithful attempts to bring her out of her sin both provide a living parable of our relationship with God. Just as Gomer is prone to return to her life of prostitution, so we are also prone to sell ourselves to false idols and godless pursuits…and yet God does not give up on us. Time again, just as Hosea with Gomer, God comes to us in our sin and our unrighteousness and calls us back to himself.

In Hosea 3, Gomer has been sold into servitude, but God calls Hosea to redeem her. With 15 shekels of silver and 5 bushels of barley, Hosea pays the price of her enslavement and brings her home. This is a picture for us of God’s eventual redemption through Christ. That is how much we are loved.

The anger of God towards sin and idolatry is evident in the book of Hosea, but his anger towards sin is countered by an even more powerful love for his people. In Hosea 11, God says this to his people:

“‘Oh, how can I give you up, Israel?
How can I let you go?
How can I destroy you like Admah
or demolish you like Zeboiim?
My heart is torn within me,
and my compassion overflows.
No, I will not unleash my fierce anger.
I will not completely destroy Israel,
for I am God and not a mere mortal.
I am the Holy One living among you,
and I will not come to destroy.
For someday the people will follow me.
I, the Lord, will roar like a lion.
And when I roar,
my people will return trembling from the west.
Like a flock of birds, they will come from Egypt.
Trembling like doves, they will return from Assyria.
And I will bring them home again,’
says the Lord.”—Hosea 11:8-11 (NLT)

These are the words God would speak to your heart and mine: “How can I give you up? How can I let you go?” No matter how often we wander into sin and idolatrous behavior, God stands ready to forgive. His love his constant. He has paid the price for our redemption, and calls us back to his heart.

How will we respond?

Scripture for Meditation:

“I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
==Ephesians 3:16-19 (NRSV)

Song: Hosea (lyrics here)

Questions for Reflection

What has this Lenten journey been teaching you about the heart of God? Are there areas in your life where you’ve wandered, and where he is calling you back to himself? Spend some time in prayer confessing your sin and receiving anew the love that calls out to you even in the midst of it.

One author called the book of Hosea a glimpse into “The Incredible Scandal of God’s Perfect Love.” How do you respond to the idea that God’s love is “scandalous?” How might God be calling you to embrace that way of looking at his love?

The song for today includes these words:

The wilderness will lead you
To your heart where I will speak
Integrity and justice with tenderness
You shall know

How do our wilderness experiences lead us to a place where God speaks? How have you experienced that in your own life?


Twenty-Fifth Day of Lent (Wednesday, April 2, 2025)

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Words of Reflection

Waiting is hard.

We say this often, but usually it’s in a very low-stakes context—waiting in line at the supermarket, waiting for an important email, waiting for the weekend to start—but this kind of waiting isn’t really hard at all. That’s because there are other kinds of waiting that can put that long line at the supermarket into perspective. Waiting to hear from the doctor for test results…waiting for a decision after a job interview…waiting for news that a loved one is safe…compared to these, many of our typical experiences of delay prove to be nothing.

And then there is the very unique experience known to those who believe the promises of God: waiting for those promises to be made manifest in your specific situation. When we are waiting for God, it can be the most difficult waiting of all.

Psalm 130 is one of the “songs of ascent,” which may have been sung by Jewish pilgrims making their way to the temple in Jerusalem for one of the feast days, like the Passover which Jesus was preparing for in his final days. Biblical scholars also put it in the category of “penitential psalms” due to the powerful way it expresses sorrow for sin. It seems that as the pilgrims made their way to Jerusalem, singing their praise and declarations of God’s character and promises, they would also engage in the same kind of self-examination we are called to undertake during Lent.

As the psalmist looks into their soul, what they see tempts them to despair:

“Out of the depths I cry to you,
Lord; Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.”—Psalm 130:1-2 (NIV)

Can you hear the anguish and the pleading in these words? The psalmist is waiting for redemption. They know the depth of their sin and they recognize their need for mercy. When our waiting brings us to such painful self-realization, the temptation to despair is great. The writer of Psalm 130 compares it to the image of a weary watchman who has been holding vigil for the long, dark night and eagerly awaits the first break of dawn that will signal the end of his duties:

“I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits,
and in his word I put my hope.
I wait for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.”—Psalm 130:5-6 (NIV)

It is interesting that in verse 7 the language of Psalm 130 shifts. No longer singing about their own particular needs, the psalmist’s words become a call to all of God’s people:

“Israel, put your hope in the Lord,
for with the Lord is unfailing love
and with him is full redemption.
He himself will redeem Israel
from all their sins.”—Psalm 130:7-8 (NIV)

After making their own declaration of trust in verse 5, the psalmist now calls all of God’s children to hold tight to the promises of God. Even in the darkness of the night watch, even when those promises seem far off, do not give in to despair. The goodness of God is a certainty, the actions of God will prove faithful and true when seen in morning’s light.

These are good words for us during Lent. In these days of self-reflection and brutal honesty with ourselves, we might very well find ourselves in “the depths,” especially if we are facing situations in life where it seems that God is not moving in the ways we so desperately want to see. As we offer to God during Lent our sin and our stubborn self-will, the invitation comes to us to offer into his hands something else as well:

Our waiting.

Scripture for Meditation:

“For God alone my soul waits in silence,
for my hope is from him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my deliverance and my honor;
my mighty rock, my refuge is in God.
Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us.”
—Psalm 62:5-8 (NRSV)

Song: In the Waiting (lyrics here)
Please note—this song does not appear in our Spotify playlist as no versions of this song are available on Spotify at the present time.

Questions for Reflection

Are you in a season of waiting for God right now? What are you waiting for? How can you apply the words of Psalm 130 to your own situation?

The writer of Psalm 130 declares in verse 5: “I wait for the Lord; I wait and put my hope in his word.” What is the relationship between hope and the word of God? How has God’s word spoken to you in seasons of waiting? Spend some time in prayer giving thanks to God for his words of comfort and hope.

Read and consider this quote about waiting for God from Betsy Childs Howard. Does it ring true for you? What about these words most stands out to you?

“Waiting exposes our idols and throws a wrench into our coping mechanisms. It brings us to the end of what we can control and forces us to cry out to God. God doesn't waste our waiting. He uses it to conform us to the image of his Son.” (from “Seasons of Waiting: Walking by Faith When Dreams Are Delayed”)


Twenty-Fourth Day of Lent (Tuesday, April 1, 2025)

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Words of Reflection

Followers of Jesus live within an interesting tension when it comes to the subject of contentedness. On one hand, we live in the place of contentment that comes from knowing God and resting in that relationship, assured that he is sufficient for every need: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” (Psalm 23:1, NKJV) God has given us everything we need for our life and our spiritual growth (2 Peter 1:3), and knowing that is a place of deep peace and gladness.

But there is also a very real sense in which we are never fully content, because there is always a deeper place to go in our relationship with God. The Apostle Paul called the riches of a relationship with Christ “unfathomable,” (Ephesians 3:8), and in his second letter Peter called disciples to “…grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 3:18, NIV).

As we live in that tension, there are two simple prayers that can express both our contentment and our hunger:

“Thank you, Lord.”

and

“Take me deeper, Lord.”

We express to God the gratitude that comes from knowing we have been reconciled to him, that our sins are forgiven, and that he has called us to himself and graced us with every good and perfect gift. And we also express our desire to know him more fully, to love him more deeply, and to be shaped more and more into the image of Jesus.

As we make our way to Jerusalem with Jesus, it is a good time to be reminded that he is always calling to us, always willing to show us more and more of his love and his desires for our life. We can rest content in the knowledge that we are deeply loved, and we can open ourselves more fully to its unfathomable depths.

Thank you, Lord…take me deeper, Lord.

Scripture for Meditation:

“For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
—Colossians 1:9-14 (NIV)

Song: Deeper Water (lyrics here)

Questions for Reflection

Spend some time meditating on these verses from Scripture that speak of the sufficiency of God and the contentment that comes from knowing him. As you read and pray, offer to God words of gratitude, your “Thank you, Lord.”

“And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.”—2 Corinthians 9:8 (NRSV)

“And my God will fully satisfy every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”—Philippians 4:19 (NRSV)

Spend some time meditating on these verses from Scripture that speak of our call deeper into the heart of God. As you read and pray, offer to God words of surrender, your “Take me deeper, Lord.”

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”—Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)

“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.”—2 Peter 3:18 (NIV)

The song for today recalls three people who encountered Jesus, and how those encounters changed their lives. Imagine Jesus has come to you, and like he said to the blind man in Mark 10, he looks at you and asks, “What do you want me to do for you?” How would you respond? What is the cry of your heart as you reflect on your relationship with Christ?