Morning

James Cathcart February 23, 2018 0 0

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Psalm 130

1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.
2     Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
    to the voice of my supplications!

3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
    Lord, who could stand?
4 But there is forgiveness with you,
    so that you may be revered.

5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
    and in his word I hope;
6 my soul waits for the Lord
    more than those who watch for the morning,
    more than those who watch for the morning.

7 O Israel, hope in the Lord!
    For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
    and with him is great power to redeem.
8 It is he who will redeem Israel
    from all its iniquities.

That line, in verse 6 of today’s reading, “…my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning”… It bowls me over. In this moving poem of repentance, of crying out for redemption, is this piercing, haunting detail. 

Who amongst us doesn’t immediately know what it means to watch for the morning?

Who waits for the morning?

Those waiting for news

those on wards,

those keeping a light on,

those who have never been further from sleep,

those suffering at the hands of those who should love them.

The phrase is repeated, ‘…more than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning’ mirroring the repetition of a restless mind. 

I pray for all those who are watching for the morning.

I pray for all those who are starting on a difficult road,

of turning from one thing to another,

of breaking the silence,

of breaking the curse,

of breaking their heart

so it can be remade.

But most of all I pray for all those who are watching for the morning,

for all those who are watching for the morning.

Amen.