HEBREW WORD STUDY – FROM THE DEPTH –   MAMA’MAQIM    ממעמקימ  

Ps 130:1:  “Song of degrees. “Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD.”

A song of degrees in Hebrew is hama’aloth shir which literally means Song of Ascents.  It has also been rendered as Gradual Psalms, Songs of steps or Pilgrim songs.  Most scholars believe the fifteen Psalms 120-134 were songs that were sung by those making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for one of its high holidays.  I remember years ago when I was in seminary in Denver.  A number of students got together and chartered a bus to transport themselves to Champaign, Illinois to the Urbana Missionary Conference sponsored by InterVarsity.  We were really spiritually pumped and on the way we were singing all the Gospel songs and choruses which we could think of.  We were worshipping and praising God all the way from Denver to Illinois.  It was a beautiful time and one of my most pleasant memories of my spiritual experience.  This is likely what the song of ascents was all about. This is just one of the many songs that were sung by people who were taking a journey to Jerusalem to celebrate one of the high holidays.  Like our trip to Urban, there was much joy, celebration and anticipation of the exciting spiritual times that were ahead.

So we can likely assume that the emotional mood of this Psalm was one that was upbeat and an expression of faith and anticipation of what God is going to accomplish. Thus they sing out of the depths.  Commentators vary in their opinion as to what this depth is. Practically all our modern translations render the word ma’amaq  from the depths which comes from the root word ‘amaq as depth, leaving it up to the reader to decide just what these depths are.   Some commentators say it is the depths of the sea, obviously metaphoric as a call for help like you are drowning in your problems.  Some say it is a cry from the depths of sin, Others say it is from the depths of calamity. 

eThe word ‘amaq depth means a trench, deep, and unintelligible.  In the Akkadian, it has the idea of unsearchable or the very bottom of something. In the Persian, the word has the idea of being earnest.  This would suggest the word means to look beneath the surface to find the mercy of God when you humble yourself before Him.

A couple of weeks ago I attended a prayer meeting.  Everyone gathered around holding hands and each took their turn praying.  Most were your typical I like God, help us get closer to you type of prayer.  Some were pretty prayers with beautiful words, some were attempts to sound heartfelt, but you just could not get over the feeling of business as usual.  Then one person shared from the depths of his heart a problem he was facing.  Everyone was touched and they began to pray.  I sensed an immediate difference in the prayers at that point.  The prayers were heartfelt, sincere, prayers from the ‘amaq or depths of their soul. 

The Bible tells us in  James 5:1: “Confess [your] faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”  You know once that individual confessed his fault, his heart to those around us we were drawn to the plight of our brother and our prayers suddenly became real, heartfelt or fervent.  

We are a success driven culture and it is very hard to admit to a failure.  Yet people are quite forgiving when you fail because we all fail.    

Perhaps it is time to step out of your cultural box where we must always appear successful and victorious and start sharing with others brother and sisters the ‘amaq  depths of our hearts, our agony, remorse, and sorrow and ask for prayer.  If we share with a righteous man (person) we may have a fervent prayer on our behalf.  In Semitic languages as in English we often default to man when referring to people that include both men and women, so the prayer of a righteous person male or female will have good results if the prayer comes from the very ‘amaq depths of their heart.