Oh, the desperation in these first two verses! The psalmist seems to be shouting above the noise of the churning waters of chaos in order to be heard. The depths are places none of us signs up for when we embark on this journey of faith. None of us hopes or plans for those times when all hell breaks loose and the road plunges sharply downward without warning. None of us likes to think of ourselves in the pit of life, that place of darkness and anxiety where we struggle with situations that cover our lives with storm clouds that seem as though they could burst any minute, and then they do! I imagine it is someplace dark and desolate that the psalmist calls the “depths.” Is that where Jonah was in the belly of the fish? Is that the place St. John of the Cross “called the dark night of the soul”?

I remember a time I was there. The physical space was my bathroom floor, where I lay in a sobbing heap, in emotional and financial chaos. The bathroom floor was my throne of grace and mercy at which I pleaded, God, where are you?

The state of desperation is not a tourist attraction, especially for anyone socialized to believe in the merits of self-sufficiency and independence. Yet this distressed mindset of the psalmist plays out against the backdrop of an ever-present God who remains the psalmist’s present help in times of trouble. Oh, for such eyes of faith to see the ever-present God. Oh, for senses tuned to the realm of the spirit where God’s presence is known. Oh, for grace to know that even in the depths of life’s circumstances—tragedy, sickness, grief, and pain—God is…