From Depths of Woe I Cry to Thee - Ash Wednesday - February 17, 2021 - Text, Sermon Hymn, #607 - From Depths of Woe I Cry to Thee; Scripture Readings: Psalm 130; Eph. 2:8-9; Rom. 5:20-21; 1 Tim. 1:14

As we did during the beginning of this present Church Year, during the season of Advent through to New Year’s Eve last year, so during our Lenten season through to Easter morning we have chosen to use hymns and in particular, the hymn of the day as our sermon texts. Which means, since on Wednesdays there is no hymn of the day we will use the hymn of the day for the previous Sunday. Also, please understand that this does not mean we are not preaching on a text from the Bible as all our hymns have a Biblical foundation. If you wish you can follow along in your hymnal as we look at the verses of our hymn.
 

The author of our hymn for today is Martin Luther. Because of Luther’s outrage against what the Latin Mass had become, he desired to write “as many songs as possible in the vernacular which the people could sing during Mass.” Luther sought many poets and theologians to write songs and he wrote many himself. This hymn is a paraphrase of Psalm 130. This song is important to twenty-first century Lutherans for several reasons: it was one of Luther’s favorite songs which expresses our hope and comfort in the Gospel. It is a wonderful example of the proper distinction between Law and Gospel and the doctrine of justification by grace through faith. It expresses our human sorrow for sin and thus is sung during times of mourning, funerals and the like. Because it is based on a penitential psalm it is used as an aid in catechetical teaching reinforcing the meaning of confession, which is why it is listed under the “Confession and Absolution” section of the hymnal.
 

Stanza one, “From depths of woe I cry to Thee, In trial and tribulation; Bend down Thy gracious ear to me, Lord, hear my supplication. If Thou rememb’rest ev’ry sin, Who then could heaven ever win Or stand before Thy presence?” As we remember that the season of Lent is a season of reflection and repentance, this stanza is quite fitting as it reflects that Psalmist cry “Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord,” and so is our cry from the depths of our sins. At the same time there is a word of trust that is inferred in this pleading for God’s mercy and trusting that He will be merciful. Indeed, if, as the Psalmist pleas, “you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand.” Our trust as we remember our sins and plead for mercy is that God would be merciful to us.
 

Stanza two, “Thy love and grace alone avail To blot out my transgression; The best and holiest deeds must fail To break sin’s dread oppression. Before Thee none can boasting stand, But all must fear Thy strict demand And live alone by mercy.” This stanza begins with a word of trust in God’s love and grace, that His love and grace will bring forgiveness for our sins. There is a recognition of our human failure indeed, what we perceive as our holiest of deeds are as filthy rags in God’s eyes. We cannot boast or depend on our efforts but must live by God’s mercy alone.
 

Stanza three, “Therefore my hope is in the Lord And not in mine own merit; It rests upon His faithful Word To them of contrite spirit That He is merciful and just; This is my comfort and my trust. His help I wait with patience.” Again in this verse we have an expression of our hope in the Lord not in ourselves nor our own merit. We find our rest in the faithful Word of our Lord, especially and including the Word made flesh in Jesus Himself. And so we express words of faith and trust in God’s mercy. Indeed, our hope and trust our comfort is in the Lord alone and so we wait with patience for His grace and mercy.
 

Stanza four, “And though it tarry through the night And till the morning waken, My heart shall never doubt His might Nor count itself forsaken. O Israel, trust in God your Lord. Born of the Spirit and the Word, Now wait for His appearing.” We continue in stanza four singing our expression of faith in God’s Word and Promises. We wait patiently through the night. We express our confidence that we shall never doubt His might nor believe we are forsaken. And we sing of our being a part of the true Israel, that is those who are born of the Spirit and the Word, the true Israel of faith.
 

Stanza five, “Though great our sins, yet greater still Is God’s abundant favor; His hand of mercy never will Abandon us, nor waver. Our shepherd good and true is He, Who will at last His Israel free From all their sin and sorrow.” In this last stanza we express our faith and trust, our belief that God’s grace is always greater than His Law. Perhaps Paul’s words in Romans comes to mind, “20Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 5:20-21). And again, we sing of our being a part of the true Israel, not the Israel born by flesh or DNA, but the true Israel, that is those of faith who are forgiven and comforted.
 

Today is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of our Lenten Season. Lent is the time of the Church Year that we take the time to reflect on our lives, on our sins, on our part in what we are preparing to remember and celebrate. A little less than three months ago our Church Year began with the season of Advent. During Advent we took the time to prepare ourselves to celebrate the first coming of our Savior, and to be reminded to continue keeping ourselves ready for His second coming, His return to gather us and all the saints and to take us and all the saints to be with Himself in heaven. A little less than two months ago we celebrated the birth of the one promised in the beginning in the Garden of Eden. We were reminded of the visit of the Magi, the wise men as we celebrated what has been called the Gentile Christmas on Epiphany. Last Sunday we witnessed Jesus on the mount of transfiguration with Moses and Elijah as Jesus set His face toward Jerusalem and His trek to the cross.
 

The very reason Jesus was born, God in flesh was always before Jesus, His whole life long. Thus, during this season of Lent we are reminded of the fact that it was our sin, my sin and your sin that put Jesus on the cross. We cannot point our fingers at others because even if we were the only person in the world Jesus would have come to give His life for ours, thus is His great love for us. We are also reminded that just as the promise to send a Savior was first given in the Garden of Eden, to Adam and Eve, before there was a Jew or a Gentile and that all nations were in their DNA, so when God promised to send a Savior through the family line of Abraham, the Savior promised was a Savior for all people. And we are reminded that by faith in Jesus we are a part of the family of Israel, the true Israel, the Israel of faith.
 

As we take the time to reflect on our sins and our part in the events that lie ahead, we find psalms like Psalm 130 and hymns like our sermon hymn to be quite appropriate. At the same time, because we are living in the days after these events we do know the whole history, we know the rest of the history. We know of Jesus’ perfect life. His perfect obedience. His perfect suffering and death. His joyous and perfect resurrection. We know that all He did He did because of His great love for us. We know that we have forgiveness of sins and with forgiveness is life and salvation. And so we give thanks and say, to God be the glory for Jesus’ sake. Amen.