Psalm 130 — De Profundis — Out of the Depths
Psalm 130's cry from the depths of despair to God, and its patient waiting for divine response, is one of the most powerful expressions of faith in the midst of darkness in all of Scripture.
Psalm 130 — 'Min hama'amakim karatic'ha, Adonai — Out of the depths I cry to You, Lord' — is one of the seven penitential psalms and is incorporated into the Selichot prayers (penitential prayers before the High Holy Days) and into the Shacharit service on certain occasions. Its power lies in its honest acknowledgment of being in the depths — not performed suffering but genuine crisis — combined with its unshakable confidence that the cry from the depths reaches God. The middle section asks God not to mark iniquities: 'If You kept account of sins, Lord, who could stand?' — and answers with the concept of forgiveness that enables continued relationship. The end introduces one of the most powerful images in the Psalms: 'My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning — yes, more than watchmen for the morning.' The specific image of watchmen waiting for dawn — knowing the dawn will come but not knowing when — captures the specific quality of faith in the midst of darkness.
Out of the depths I cry to You, Lord. Lord, hear my voice.
Psalm 130 opens 'Mimaamakim keraticha Hashem' — 'Out of the depths I call to You, O Lord.' It is one of the fifteen Songs of Ascents (Shir HaMaalot, Psalms 120–134) and is added to the daily service during the Ten Days of Repentance between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, its force lying in naming the depth honestly before pleading to be raised from it.
Tanakh
Written about in
- What Judaism says about grief
"Out of the depths I cry to You." The psalm ends on watchmen waiting for morning — certain the dawn comes, with no idea of the hour. That is the precise shape of waiting inside grief, and the psalm does not shorten it.