Psalm 130 - Song of Hope in God

The  PS 130  belong to Book V  Book of Ps , which is composed of a collection of texts 150 arranged by 5 poetry books. The Book of Psalms, for its  wisdom  and  basic principles  of human action , is considered the heart of the Old Testament. Book V encompasses  Psalms 107  to  150 . Psalm 130 is divided into 8 Verses.

The Psalms are poems-prayers addressed to God, being the privileged way to address and speak to Him. These prayers represent human experiences and religious conscience . They portray the common man , with his faults, insecurities, fears and hopes and, even today, we can identify with the Psalmist and draw inspiration from these texts to pray and plead with God when we feel lost and anguished or to express our gratitude for some blessing received.

“There are enemies or friends, there is life or death, health or illness, pain or joy and, most of the time, there are no changes or gradations. Words are like stones and poetry like boulders carved by chisel”; “The Psalms are a bit like mountain paths, simple, especially when walking on snow, but they lead to the peaks; they are paths toward the peaks of meeting the Lord.” - Carlo Maria Martini, Cardinal of Milan

Psalm 130 - Song of Hope

¹  Song of Pilgrimages .

From the bottom of the abyss I cry out to you, Lord.

²  Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my supplication.

³  If You, Lord, consider sins,
O Lord, who can resist?

⁴  For with you is forgiveness;
that is why you instill fear.

⁵  I wait on the Lord. Yes, my soul awaits!
And I trust your word!

⁶  My soul turns to the Lord,
more than the watchmen to the morning.
More than the sentries wait in the morning,

^{7 May} Israel put their hope in the Lord.
For it is with the Lord that there is mercy
and with Him redemption abounds.

⁸  It is He who will redeem Israel
from all their sins.

Meaning and interpretation

The Psalm 130 is a single prayer of supplication and is part of the group of Psalms of community spirit as they really are the pilgrimage songs . The characteristic ingredients of trust and celebration are normally present in them .

However, the Psalm deals with a theme closely linked to personal experience and the meaning expressed from the beginning suggests a horizon of great anguish . Throughout history, it became a very representative text of the liturgy of the deceased, being known as the  De profundis , because of the opening words of its text in Latin. This is one of the penitential psalms.

In the Penitential Psalms we find wisdom , praise and forgiveness . Like the rest of the Psalms, they were written in a poetic way with the intention of praising and revering God, showing man how He acted and acted throughout all times.

The Penitential Psalms (6; 32; 38; 51; 102; 103; 143) are a request for forgiveness . They have a character of repentance , contrition and sacrifice , in which the rigor of Divine Justice is clearly presented to the sinner who is hardened in his faults.

The speaker / Psalmist, who repents of wrongdoing, begs God indulgence in your faults. From this attitude of contrition , another plea is born : that God may appease His holy wrath and ease the punishment for His Infinite Divine Kindness.

The Book of Psalms

• Book I - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41
• Book II - 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72
• Book III - 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89
• Book IV - 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106
• Book V - 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150

The Joy and Happiness of the Righteous in Communion with God

The Psalms are prayer-poems addressed to God, being the privileged way to address and speak to Him. Depicting the common man , with his failures, insecurities, fears and hopes, we can still identify with the Psalmist and be inspired today in Psalms to make prayers and supplications to God in times of trouble or express our gratitude for some blessing received.

The Psalms, despite being written in Antiquity, still move , sensitize , awaken feelings , inspire and enchant . In them, we can identify anguish and joy , deeply human feelings, praises, supplications, teachings of reflection on spiritual wisdom and prophetic words.

Written for different situations , some Psalms are intimate, revealing the author’s personal relationship with God; others provide guidelines and advice for life, others are compositions for specific liturgical events such as rituals and pilgrimages.

The Book of Psalms is composed of a collection of 150 poetic texts and is divided into five parts, called Psalm Books or Booklets. Each Book closes with short hymns of praise to God . The division into five parts was considered to correspond to the five books of Moses and it is assumed that each passage in the Pentateuch (first five books of the Bible, called Torah by the Jews) was read in parallel with the corresponding Psalm. Its main forms are lamentation , supplication , praise and gratitude .

• Book I  - Psalms 1 to 41
• Book II  - Psalms 42 to 72
• Book III  - Psalms 73 to 89
• Book IV  - Psalms 90 to 106
• Book V  - Psalms 107 to 150

The Power of Prayer in Dialogue with the Divine

The Psalms elevate our thoughts to the Divine and prayer is the power of the word . Prayer is the language of faith. Any thought, word or image addressed to God is called prayer . It is through it that we come into contact with our God within and, therefore, it is so powerful in transforming life . Prayer can produce miracles , turn dreams into reality, give us hope for change , harmony and peace with ourselves and the world.

Each Psalm has an intention that helps us meditate and walk with our God . For many theologians, the Book of Psalms has a prophetic or messianic tone as its verses refer to the coming of Christ into the world of men to guide them through the uncertainty and doubts of Human existence.

The prayer has the power to call the Spiritual Universe full mode, honest, sincere, conscious, for the purpose of spiritual self-protection, family protection and those who are dear to us, to have peace of mind, spiritual and physical, for prosperity and success, to protect health and relationships, to ward off negative energies and, above all, to connect us to something bigger than ourselves. From this peace , well-being, hope and goodness in front of everyone and everything result.

The faith can change our lives. It gives us tranquility and spiritual strength to face challenges. It helps us to meditate on our mission in life and to create a balanced and healthy environment for ourselves and those we love. When you pray, fill your heart with love and determination . The Psalms will guide you on a path of peace and communion with the higher energy.