Hope Shifts

I am heading to Mexico again. But this time the trip will be entirely different. We are going to spend 6 days praying through, learning about and investigating the ever-growing forced prostitution and child trafficking in Tijuana. We have spent about 3 months preparing for this pilgrimmage and so much of what I read speaks to the heart of this trip. This Psalm, Psalm 130 was written from a very personal perspective for the first couple verses and then it shifts in verse 7 to a plea for all of Israel. Here are my thoughts as they relate to the Mexico trip.

1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD;

2 O Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.

MY OWN SIN
-I have become ever more aware of my own need for a Savior during this journey. I have fallen on my face a lot because I am humbled by my own "cry." My daily prayer is in fact, "remove my pride from my lips, my actions and my thoughts." It is from an awareness of my own sin that I stand desperate before God.

3 If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins,
O Lord, who could stand?

4 But with you there is forgiveness;
therefore you are feared.

5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
and in his word I put my hope.

6 My soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.

It almost seems as if the Psalmist, while he was waiting for God to hear his cries was given a gentle reminder that God is a forgiving God. Did God's spirit calm him? Was the Psalmist around some others who encouraged him toward God? All I know is that when I feel at my lowest, when I am overwhelmed with my own stuff that then I recognize and claim that in "his word I put my hope." And yet, he is not completely resolved as he still "waits."

This trip has taught me that faith is believing in the truth of God's Word despite my feelings, circumstances or social pressures. Do I believe that God does not keep a record of sins...of these women?...of the johns that buy them?...of the family members or once trusted friends who may have enslaved them?

My SOUL waits for the Lord.

7 O Israel, put your hope in the LORD,
for with the LORD is unfailing love
and with him is full redemption.

8 He himself will redeem Israel
from all their sins.

I want to rewrite this today and say, "O Mexico, put your hope in the Lord. The Lord has forgiven me and is full of redemption. Your reputation does not have to be what it was. God is faithful and will redeem you from your sins...just surrender."

I love that the psalmist doesn't ask for a communal repentance, although it is implied. He just asks them to shift their hope. Because having hope in something implies a dependence...it says that that which is hoped for is most valuable. And in that, we are helpless and thus ready to receive redemption.