It’s not far now to Jerusalem. The journey is drawing to a close.
In the days of Jesus the roads of Israel filled with pilgrims three times a year. From every village and valley, Jewish families gathered their sandals and their children and began the long climb toward Jerusalem. The city of God sat high on Mount Zion, and so all journeys to it were journeys upward. To mark the way, fifteen psalms — Psalms 120 through 134 — were sung on the road. We call them the Psalms of Ascent.
They are short. They are honest. They are some of the most beautiful poetry in all of Scripture. And they were never meant to be read quietly in a library. They were meant to be sung on a dusty road, with aching feet, in the company of the people of God, moving together toward something holy.
Of all the Psalms of Ascent, the one that seems to resonate most with our Lenten journey is probably Psalm 130. Just eight verses in our English translations, but those eight verses are dense with meaning and invitation. They take us from an awareness of our sin, to a cry for mercy, to a declaration of God’s forgiving nature, to our willingness to wait for that gift of forgiveness, to a final stanza of hope for our redemption.
Although the Psalm is written in first-person, it finishes with a promise for all of God’s people, a promise that sits at the center of our Lenten journey. What we mark in just over a week is the nothing less than fulfillment of what the Psalmist declares.
As we see Jerusalem in the distance, the invitation we’d like to offer you today is to sit prayerfully with this Psalm of Ascent. After you listen to today’s song and breathe in it’s own interpretation of Psalm 130, the text of the entire Psalm will be available below for you to read and pray through as we begin this final week before the Triumphal Entry.
In every trial and loss
My hope is in the cross
Where Your compassions never fail
Read the rest of the lyrics here.
Psalm for Reflection
Read Psalm 130 slowly and prayerfully. Break it down line by line or paragraph by paragraph. Pay attention to the movement of your heart and soul as you read—what words or lines stand out for you? Why? When something from the Psalm captures your attention, offer it to God in prayer. May he meet you as you read, reflect, and pray.
Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord;
Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.If you, Lord, kept a record of sins,
Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness,
so that we can, with reverence, serve you.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.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.