“Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.”
The Storm
David names something worth taking seriously without minimizing it, waves and billows gone over me, genuine, overwhelming force, not a minor inconvenience politely endured, but water actually, genuinely closing over him, worth holding as this whole book’s honest starting point before anything else is said.
This is worth examining against however much your own language for genuine overwhelm has softened into something smaller, stressed, a lot going on, rather than this psalm’s own direct language, waves and billows gone over me, worth naming honestly rather than minimized into more comfortable, smaller words.
Notice deep calleth unto deep, one depth summoning another, suggesting this overwhelm is not isolated but compounding, one difficulty calling forth another, worth recognizing in your own experience, when genuine overwhelm rarely arrives as a single wave but as this described, compounding, echoing depth.
Whatever waves and billows currently feel gone over you, name them honestly today, using this psalm’s own direct language, not minimized into smaller, more comfortable words. This book begins exactly where genuine overwhelm actually is, not where a tidier version of your story might prefer to start.
Find the Still
- Name honestly, without minimizing, whatever waves and billows currently feel gone over you.
- Notice any language you have used to soften genuine overwhelm into something smaller.
- Bring this honest naming to God today, the way David brought his own to this psalm.
Prayer
Lord, deep calleth unto deep, and your waves and billows have gone over me. Let me name this honestly today, not softened into something smaller than it actually is. Amen.
Carry this today
Genuine overwhelm deserves honest naming, not softened into smaller, more comfortable words.