From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase

Part 3 of a series. Read part 2.

We may find ourselves "in the depths" because of sin in our lives; but God may have other reasons for placing us there.

Out of the depths I have cried to You, O LORD;
Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.
If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared.
I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in His Word I do hope.
My soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning - yes, more than those who watch for the morning.
O Israel, hope in the LORD; for with the LORD there is mercy, and with Him is abundant redemption.
And He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

We Must Keep Short Accounts With God

Often, like the writer of Psalm 130, we cry out to God with a deep consciousness of our own sin. Doubtless, our sovereign Lord sometimes places us "in the depths" for just such a purpose - that we might more fully realize our need to be conformed more and more to the image of Christ:

For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Romans 8:29)

Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. (Philippians 3:8-12)

David and the other psalmists frequently expressed the desire to be purged of sin so that they might glorify their Redeemer. Asaph in Psalm 79 verse 9 cries out, "Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for Thy name's sake."

Scripture teaches us that sin can hinder our prayers; we need to keep short accounts with God. We read in Proverbs 28:13 that "he who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have (that is, will obtain) mercy." In First Peter 3:7, the apostle exhorts husbands to live in a proper caring relationship with their wives, in order "that your prayers may not be hindered."

We Can Make Wrong Assumptions About God's Purposes

However, we also must be careful about drawing conclusions as to cause and effect. We need to be certain that we have a clear warrant for saying such a thing as this: Because I committed a particular sin, God did this or that, or He withheld this or that. Sometimes there is a clear, obvious cause-and-effect relationship between our sin and God's particular dealings with us. For example, Moses was prevented from entering the Promised Land because of a sin of presumption (Numbers 20:7-12); David lost a child because of his adultery with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah (2 Samuel 12:13-23).

But sometimes our situation will be as it was in John chapter 9, when Jesus and the disciples came upon a man who was blind from birth. The disciples asked Jesus, "Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" (9:2) Their assumption was that the man's blindness had to be for this reason.

But Jesus answered them, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned" (9:3). That is not why he is in this condition, Jesus said. There is no such direct cause-and-effect relationship in operation here. No, Jesus said, this has happened "that the works of God should be revealed in him." 

And so it is with you as a Christian. Indeed, we are all sinners. But sometimes God places us in situations for reasons we simply do not understand. In such depths, we may be tempted to think that the situation is because of sin in our lives. We do need to examine our lives carefully, and keep short accounts with God. But we may be "in the depths" not because of our own propensity to sin, but because a different cause-and-effect relationship is at work in the plan of God. We may only see this in retrospect - and perhaps we will not understand at all, this side of glory.

There are many things about God's workings with us and for us - and even many things about ourselves - that we do not know, this side of Heaven. As the Holy Spirit tells us through the Apostle Paul,

For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known (1 Corinthians 13:12).

But the Spirit also tells us through Paul that this we do know:

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:28-31)

Next: Objects of Grace Crying Out to God

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