St Luke's Church Eccleshill

Out of the depths I call

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Out of the depths

"Monotheistic Version"

Out of the depths I call:
Lord, will you hear my voice?
I go astray and fall,
caught by my own poor choice.
If you should mark our sins and hates,
then who could stand within your gates?

You are the God of grace:
with you forgiveness dwells.
I wait to see your face:
you'll save my soul from hells.
More than the watchmen wait for dawn
to your deliverance I am drawn.

Israel trust the LORD!
Mercy belongs to him.
Justice may now record
God will redeem from sin.
My hope is your eternal word
which tells me of my living Lord.

Words copyright © John Hartley 2007.
Based on Psalm 130,
keep it in its Old Testament context.

"Messianic Version"

Out of the depths I call:
Lord, will you hear my voice?
I go astray and fall,
caught by my own poor choice.
If you should mark our sins and hates,
then who could stand within your gates?

You are the God of grace:
with you forgiveness dwells.
In Christ I see your face:
you save me from all hells.
More than the sentries wait for dawn
to your great beauty I am drawn.

Join me and trust the LORD!
Mercy belongs to him.
Justice may now record
Christ who redeems from sin.
To Father, Son and Spirit, we
will raise our praise eternally.

Words copyright © John Hartley 2007.
Based on Psalm 130,
interpreting it in the light of Christ.

Story behind the song

This song came out of a request from a member of the COIN (Christians on the Internet) e-mail music discussion group, asking for suggestions of metrical psalms and canticles for the "Easter Vigil". You can find the full scheme for the vigil by clicking here, and this song is an attempt to fill the first of these gaps.

Psalm 130 is a profound call from the depths to the Lord, from the admission of sin to the one who will redeem, from the one who in realism fears and respects to the God of mercy and love. It's a privilege to paraphrase it.

When I produced the first version (roughly the one I've called "Messianic") it attracted some comments to the effect that if the psalm was to fit in its historical context, it shouldn't really name Christ. That's a fair point - Christians interpret the psalms as referring to Jesus, but the text of course doesn't name him. (Similarly the doxology at the end shouldn't really be there.) The gender-exclusive word "watchmen" was also queried (which is the opposite criticism, I suppose!), and also the non-use of the word "Israel" (since I was trying to broaden the meaning of the psalm to today's worshippers.

After thought, I've decided to produce the hymn in two versions, so that people can choose whether to set the psalm strictly in its Old Testament context or whether to interpret it through the eyes of the New Testament. (They can also mix and match, I suppose, on verse 2 lines 5 and 6)

The intended tune is "Little Cornard" to which "Hills of the north, rejoice" is usually sung. It can be found on Cyberhymnal by going to the page http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/h/i/hillsnor.htm and then choosing the tune (it's NOT the tune which plays automatically as you open the page). On the basis that this tune must be out of copyright for it to be displayed on Cyberhymnal I have linked a midi file to this page - but if I'm wrong, please tell me and I'll take it off again.

John Hartley.