Deep Calls to Deep

My previous post, As the Deer, reflected on the power of thirst as the writer of Psalm 42 said As the deer pants for steams of water, my soul thirsts for you O God.

Just a few lines later the writer's language shifts and he imagines himself in a middle of a raging river - “Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me” Psalm 42:7. From 'parched soul' to 'deluge' in less than a minute.

Turbulent water can knock you off your feet, all right. Every year all around the world we hear tragic stories of people being swept away by the current of rivers. But what prompts the psalmist to shift so radically from thirsting to drowning?


Actually his metaphors fit with the turmoil his situation and his soul. The writer is far from home, stranded in northern Israel is where the Jordan River originates. The headwaters of the Jordan flow down from the highlands of Mount Mizar and Mount Hermon, the highest points in the region. At 9232 feet elevation (2814 meters) Hermon is twice the altitude of Banff - and the skiing is superb.

Winter rains and summer snow-melt cascade down from this mountain range. The magnificent Hatachana waterfall and the river flowing through the steep canyons below it are loud and tumultuous, especially in the spring. But the writer has no interest in skiing or sight-seeing. The crashing of the water echoes his sense of being over-whelmed.

Don’t think this is just a touch of local color. To a Hebrew writer the word ‘deep’ carried connotations of the chaos of Genesis 1:2 before creation. It echoed the flood story where the abyss broke in on the world. ‘Deep’ suggests everything chaotic and evil asserting itself against life. We might say ‘all hell is breaking loose.” The Message says ‘Chaos calls to chaos’, as if the powers of evil were conspiring to overthrow the world as the writer knew it. ‘Out of the depths’ he calls out to God. It’s a cry of desperation. He’s over-whelmed, he’s lost his footing and can’t hold on!”

Have you ever been there? Over-whelmed by the current of circumstances, feeling alone and hopeless? That’s where the psalms help us. They speak for us to God with honesty and echo the distress of our hearts. They assure us that we’re not alone and we’re not wicked to feel this way. Someone has been there ahead of us and given us words to express that we can hardly say for ourselves.

It’s fascinating how these words echo the experience of Jesus when he plunged into the raging current of human injustice and sin - “all your waves and breakers have swept over me.” There’s nothing shallow about that kind of suffering or the reassurance his resurrection gives us. In fact, it’s deeper than we’ll ever know.

Photo Sources:
River - Google Search
Waterfall - Ferrell Jenkins
Flood - The Boston Globe