Daily Affirmations - Day 4 - Call to Me - From the Depths

Day 4: From the depths

From the depths of the earth You will again bring me up

I called on Your name, Lord, from the depths of the pit. You heard my plea: “Do not close Your ears to my cry for relief.” You came near when I called You, and You said, “Do not fear.” You, Lord, took up my case; You redeemed my life (Lamentations 3:55-58).

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Compassionate Father in heaven, though You are exalted, You look kindly on the lowly (Psalm 138:6). Your own words assure us of the reach of Your love:

For this is what the high and exalted One says— He who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite" (Isaiah 57:15).

Today, we think of the many in lowly places— physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, and especially spiritually. We think of those who are "in the depths"— in pits of injustice, cruelty, violence, hate; in pits of addiction, depression, hopelessness and despair. And because of this great promise we dare call to You on their behalf, for You are faithful and true.

No pit is beyond Your reach. The psalmist declared, If I make my bed in the depths You are there (Psalm 139:8). And Your enduring word reminds us that neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:39).

And so, Mighty God, we call to You for help as "the earth gives way" around us (Psalm 46:2), and the landscape is taken over by pits of every type, of every shape, of every description. We lift up our prayers for those who sink in the miry depths where there is no foothold (Psalm 69:2).

You alone are God— God who is greater than all. You are light; in You there is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5). The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it (John 1:5). And in this confidence we intercede for our families, our communities, our nations, our world. We pray especially for Your church; and we pray for our own defense against the depths and it forces:

Do not let the floodwaters engulf me or the depths swallow me up or the pit close its mouth over me (Psalm 69:15).

Deliver us, Lord, in Your grace and mercy. We pray for Your kingdom to come, and Your will to be done. Let our desperate cries give way to songs of praise, as heaven breaks through with light and hope:

I will praise You, Lord, with all my heart; before the “gods” I will sing Your praise. I will bow down toward Your holy temple and will praise Your name for Your unfailing love and Your faithfulness…When I called, you answered me… (Psalm 138:1-3).

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