October 16th, 2013 
Jessica 
One of my favorite hymns is Psalm 130, written by Martin Luther:
From depths of woe I raise to Thee
The voice of lamentation;
Lord, turn a gracious ear to me
And hear my supplication;
If Thou iniquities dost mark,
Our secret sins and misdeeds dark,
O who shall stand before Thee?
This morning as I walked, I felt discouraged at the brokenness around us: unemployment, lay-offs, betrayal, humiliation, mistreatment, poverty, abuse, debt, death, divorce, incarceration, addiction, illness, relocation, unhealthy lifestyles, abandonment, violence, and more. None of us is immune from imperfections, or unaffected by brokenness. We raise our voice of lamentation from the depths of darkness. “Who shall stand before Thee?”
Though great our sins and sore our woes,
His grace much more aboundeth;
His helping love no limit knows,
Our utmost need it soundeth.
Our Shepherd good and true is He,
Who will at last His Israel free.
From all their sin and sorrow.
God’s grace abounds in the face of our sins and woes. His love is unconditional. He knows our every need. He is good and true, and He will free us from all our sin and sorrow.
“Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning. Let Israel hope in the Lord: for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.” Psalm 130: 1-8
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