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Lenten Season · Fifth Sunday in Lent · Year A

Psalm 130

Out of the Depths

March 22, 2026

The Descent of Christ into Limbo, Bartolome Bermejo
The Descent of Christ into Limbo, Bartolome Bermejo, c. 1475Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Barcelona (PD-Art)
A Spanish panel of the harrowing, with Christ pulling Adam and Eve out of a cave full of waiting figures, painted with Netherlandish precision.Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. Psalm 130 is prayed from the bottom, and this is the bottom being opened.Bartolome BermejoA Spanish painter of Cordoban origin who mastered the Netherlandish oil technique, and who may have been a converso.Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Barcelona (PD-Art)Holds the greatest collection of Romanesque wall painting anywhere, much of it removed from remote Pyrenean churches in the 1920s.Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Barcelona (PD-Art)
Revised Common Lectionary
GospelJohn 11:1-45Jn 11:1-45
EpistleRom. 8:6-11Rom 8:6-11
Old TestamentEzek. 37:1-14Ez 37:1-14
PsalterPs. 130Ps 130

Overview & Insights

“Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!” (Psalm 130:1)

In this psalm of ascent, we see both the individual (“I” in vv. 1–2, 5–6) and the corporate body represented (Israel in vv. 7–8). This duality makes best sense if we imagine a liturgist leading a congregation in worship. Here we see illustrated the educative role of liturgy: in verses 1–6, the liturgist exemplifies a humble and expectant piety, first in prayer to God (vv. 1–4) and then in testimony to the congregation (vv. 5–6). Moreover, in verses 7–8, he exhorts them to follow this model. Verse 6 indicates that a night performance of the psalm is particularly appropriate, though it may simply employ an image to convey a sense of longing.

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Take it further: Psalm 130

Commentary

Working Preacher: Commentary on Psalm 130Working Preacher: Commentary on Ps 130 Working Preacher

Lutheran lectionary commentary on the cry from the depths for mercy.

Enduring Word: Psalm 130Enduring Word: Ps 130 Enduring Word · David Guzik

David Guzik's verse-by-verse evangelical notes on the penitential psalm.

BibleHub: Commentaries on Psalm 130:1BibleHub: Commentaries on Ps 130:1 BibleHub

Parallel classic commentaries on the cry out of the depths.

Background & Word Study

Sefaria: Psalms 130 (Hebrew)Sefaria: Ps 130 (Hebrew) Sefaria

Hebrew text with English and Jewish commentary on the psalm.

BibleHub: Psalm 130 InterlinearBibleHub: Ps 130 Interlinear BibleHub

Hebrew-English interlinear for word-level study of the psalm.

The Church Fathers

Catena: Psalm 130Catena: Ps 130 Catena

Patristic comments gathered verse by verse on Psalm 130.

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