I have been looking at the word ‘deep’ as mentioned in Genesis 1.
Strong’s describe it as an abyss, the main sea or a subterranean water supply. It comes from a root word that means to agitate greatly, cause an uproar, destroy, put in commotion, drive, destroy, disturb, consume, crush, discomfort.
I think we all have ‘deep’ places in our lives. Places in which we are greatly agitated, where our souls are in uproar, where we feel crushed and consumed and discomforted.
This is what the Holy Spirit is hovering and brooding over today.
Like so many things in scripture, there is a duality in the deep. It is a place of great trouble, yet it is also a place where there is a great supply of water. Proverbs 8 talks about the ‘fountains of the deep’.
Some things I have learned about the deep:
The deep causes us to cry out to God. (ps. 107:23)
We don’t stay there forever, he leads us through it. (Ps 71:20, 68:22, 106:9)
His will is done there. (Ps 135:6)
He gives us a drink from there. (Ps 78:15)
The depths is laid up in a storehouse (Ps 33:7)
I looked up the word storehouse in Ps 33, it can also be called a treasure house. Can it be that the deep, desolate, crushed areas of my life can be a treasure?
If it causes me to turn to God and find his great and merciful salvation in the midst of my troubles, then the answer is YES!
I think the depths serve a purpose. We are not destroyed by it but we find God’s salvation there. Micah 7 says he casts all our sins into the depths of the sea… I think we come out of the depths changed, and the particular thing that the Holy Spirit has been dealing with stays behind when we come out…
One of my favorite Psalms is Ps. 130: Out of the depths have I cried unto you, O Lord… It ends with: Let Israel hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him there is plenteous redemption. Another version says ‘full salvation”.
Today, I am trusting God to meet me as I cry out to him from the depths of my life. (Ps 42; deep calleth unto deep…) I know he is right here, brooding over me and ready to speak his words of life into my heart.
March 10, 2007 at 5:04 pm
I like Psalm 130 a lot too. We sing that at church during this time of year.
March 10, 2007 at 8:04 pm
I’ve always thought of you as a deep thinker:) I love that you are hungry to find out what the Lord is trying to teach you. He is always faithful.
It’s a blessing to read what God is doing in your life.
March 15, 2007 at 12:23 pm
Thank you for these words. They speak volumes!
August 6, 2007 at 12:01 pm
Thanks so much for pointing me to this post. What a God we have, Who can take the deep and difficult and use it for His glory! I dearly love the verse in Ps. 42–it speaks to my desire to totally consumed and covered and engulfed by Him!
March 5, 2008 at 10:05 am
[...] when I’d be able to sing it. I have been re-visiting some posts I wrote some time ago: The Deep and Darkness. The song was written around that time. It is the one I mentioned in this post, and [...]
May 13, 2008 at 11:41 pm
[...] made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over… Some of you may have read the post I made on ‘the deep’ about a year ago. It is one of my favorite posts ever and still speaks truth to me [...]
May 26, 2008 at 11:27 pm
[...] it is all for a wonderful purpose. I shared a bit about my study on the deep. (I wrote about it here and here…I think I almost could preach a sermon on it now. ) I left Rob’s church full [...]
October 31, 2008 at 1:31 am
[...] My pastor mentioned something totally in passing last week that hit me like a bucket of refreshing water. To understand what I am (going to be) getting at, you have to first read my post the deep. [...]