Morning Watch

Out of the depths I cry to you – hear my voice! If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with you. … I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in God’s word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning. – Psalm 130:1-6 excerpts (NRSV)

The wind didn’t howl so much as crash. One continuous five-hour crash since we’d hiked into our campsite that afternoon. And that after walking against it for 8 of our 13 miles that day.

Now it was time to sleep. Supposedly.

We were plenty tired, but at a certain decibel level it doesn’t matter. More than the noise, though, was the fear: that the next branch that smashed to the ground would be one of the many creaking over our heads.

It was late. We were a day’s hike from our car. There was nothing to do but wait and watch for morning.

The writer of Psalm 130 cries out from the depths, looking up in fear, sleepless through the night. His life has become one sustained crash. The noise of his wrongdoing so loud in his ears he shouts his confession.

When he considers the ones he has hurt, the force of judgment hits him at gale force. Impossible to stand against. No way to move forward until it stills. Until he is forgiven.

And then mercifully, miraculously, he is. Day breaks. Fear subsides. The noise in his soul quiets. And he sets off for home, the wind at his back.

Prayer
Thank you for the wind that calls me toward repentance. Thank you for the calm that greets me at dawn.

About the Author
Vince Amlin is co-pastor of Bethany UCC, Chicago, and co-planter of Gilead Church Chicago, forming now.