Aus tieffer not schrey ich zu dir
A Cry from the Depths
The psalmist cries out to God in distress, acknowledging the weight of sin and the impossibility of standing before God on one's own merits.
I cry out to you from deep distress; Lord God, hear my call. Turn your gracious ears toward me, and be open to my plea. For if you chose to look at how many sins I've committed, Lord, who could stand before you?
Hope in God's Word
The focus shifts from the burden of sin to the promise of forgiveness, encouraging the faithful to wait patiently for God's word through the darkness.
You alone have the power to forgive sins. So everyone, great and small—even those who live the best lives—will fear you. Therefore, I will hope in God and entrust my heart to him. I will wait for his word. And though it lasts through the night and on until morning, my heart will not despair of God's power or be afraid. Do the same, true Israel, born of the Spirit,1 and wait for your God.
The Abundance of Grace
The chapter concludes with the assurance that God's grace is greater than any sin, identifying Him as the Good Shepherd who redeems His people.
Though our sins are many, God's grace is greater still. His help has no limits, no matter how great the damage. He alone is the good shepherd who will redeem Israel from all its sins.2
Read the original Latin
Aus tieffer not schrey ich zu dir / herr Gott erhör mein ruffen. Dein gnedig oren ker zu mir / vnd meyner bit sye offen. Den so du wilt das sehen an / wie manche sund ich hab gethan. Wer kan herr fur dir bleiben
Es steht bey deyner macht allein / die sunden zu vergeben. Das dich forcht beide gros vnd kleyn / auch yn dem besten leben / darumb auff Got wil hoffen ich / mein hertz auff yhn sol lassen sych. Ich wil seins worts erharren.
Vnd ob es wert bys yn die nacht / vnd widder an den morgen / Doch sol mein hertz an Gottes macht vertzweyffeln nicht noch sorgen. So thu du Israel rechter art / der auß dem geyst erzeuget wart. Vnd seynes Gotts erharre
Ob bey vns ist der sunden viel / bey Gott ist vil mer gnaden. Sein hant zu helffen hat keyn ziel / wy groß auch sey der schaden. Er ist allein der gute hyrtt / der Israel erlosen wirt. Aus seynen sunden allen.
Notes
Erfurt Enchiridion (Early Lutheran Hymns) companion
Never lose the rhythm again
Chosen Portion delivers your morning, midday and night office to your phone — the Hours, without the bells.
Chosen Portion is a modern Book of Hours: it turns the fixed-hour structure this collection preserves into scheduled, tappable daily prayer on your phone.
- Three daily prayer moments scheduled around your real calendar, not a monastery's
- Psalms and historic prayers sequenced for you — no page-flipping or decision fatigue
- A visible streak of completed offices, so the rhythm compounds instead of collapsing