Psalm 130 is the De Profundis, "out of the depths", and it is one of the most beloved prayers in all of Catholic tradition. For centuries it has been prayed for the dead, sung at funerals, set to music by composers from Palestrina to Arvo Pärt. The reason is its honesty. The psalm starts in the depths. It does not begin in light. It begins exactly where most grieving people are.
"Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord; Lord, hear my voice." There is no pretense here. The speaker is not performing faith; they are appealing for help from the lowest place. The Catholic Church has often heard this voice as the voice of the souls in purgatory: those who have died in God's grace but still need purification, still wait for the full vision of God. The funeral becomes the moment when the Church on earth lends its voice to the soul on the other side of death, crying together for mercy, for redemption, for the morning that is coming.
The psalm's middle verse names the heart of Catholic anthropology: "If you, O Lord, mark iniquities, who can stand?" No one, no one at all. But the next line gives the reason for hope: "But with you is forgiveness, that you may be revered." The deceased is not being commended on the basis of perfection; no one could be. They are being commended on the basis of God's forgiveness, which is the bedrock of Christian hope.
The closing line, "with him is plenteous redemption, and he will redeem Israel from all their iniquities", is the answer to every grief. Plenteous, not measured. Plenteous, more than enough. This is the redemption being asked for, and proclaimed, at the funeral.
