There are several words that humans often use to describe the force that is the ocean. Some adjectives describe its appearance in color: blue, turquoise, aqua, or stony gray. Other adjectives indicate its size: vast, massive, endless, or deep. Certain adjectives describe the ocean’s mood: calm, furious, tranquil, or rageful. Several verbs are used to describe the ocean’s action: crushing, rolling, shifting, or tossing.
To humans just a fraction of the ocean’s size, it certainly fits descriptions such as vast, powerful, and mysterious. And from where we stand – with two feet planted firmly on dry ground – the surface of the ocean and the depths of the ocean appear as two entirely different things, described in significantly different ways.
Often as we stand at the edge of the ocean’s waters, with playful waves lapping gently over our toes, we are captivated by the beauty of its shimmering surface. The striking turquoise of the water mesmerizes us; the sights and sounds and smells of those places where the sea kisses the sandy beach move us to think of words like relaxation, paradise, and escape. We’re able to play in the shallow edges of the ocean, admiring rocks and shells, coral reefs and creatures that can be seen through the crystal-clear water. Light from the sun is still able to penetrate and illuminate the shallows where we swim, snorkel, and scuba dive. While we are still aware of the dangers of swells and different creatures that accompany the shallow ends of the ocean, these threats seem less imminent and generally avoidable if we respect them and tread the beaches with care. We can look ahead or around to see most dangers coming. These shallower waters are accessible by boat and can be studied extensively with the level of marine technology available to us today. Humans find a certain level of comfort in extensive exploration, obtainable research, and mysteries solved. The ocean’s surface, in terms of its width, is even more accessible than it once was, with reliable ships and cruise liners. Of course, these voyages are always dependent on high-tech navigational equipment complete with radar systems, GPS (global positioning systems), and other information systems that provide real-time navigational data. These allow us to experience the expanse of the ocean’s surface up close, even in deeper waters. The ship captain knows the coordinates to where exactly in the ocean his vessel is, where other vessels are, and where objects like islands, icebergs, rocks, or other obstacles might present themselves along the route. Even with all of this, there is always the undercurrent of uneasy awareness that the ocean feels and presses in upon every available inch of the ship’s surface, looking determinedly for a hole, a gap, a crack… a way in. But to an extent, we feel safe interacting with the surface waters of the ocean.
Now let’s examine the depths of the sea.
Even beginning the process of trying to comprehend how deep the Earth’s oceans are is difficult. The best we can do is compare these depths in feet or miles to the height of the earth’s tallest mountains. The deepest known point in the ocean has been named Challenger Deep, at 36,000 feet (6.8 miles) below sea level. This point is found within the Pacific Ocean’s Mariana Trench, the world’s largest and deepest oceanic trench (Riley & Rafferty, 2023). This trench measures over 1,580 miles in length with an average width of 43 miles. It is estimated to be 120 times larger than the Grand Canyon (Britannica). The tallest peak in the world is Mount Everest, which stands at 29,030 feet (5.5 miles) above sea level. So, the “depths of the world’s deepest, darkest oceanic abyss” are greater than the height of the world’s tallest mountain peak (Riley & Rafferty, 2023). The following link will show a graphic that compares Challenger Deep to different manmade structures, geographical points, and other depths of the ocean floor where known shipwrecks lie.
Submarines and submersibles provide a very limited level of access to these greater depths; even very recently in the news we’ve witnessed the limitations and faults of such vessels by the OceanGate Titan tragedy. There is a strong desire among humans to force the ocean’s waters to be seen and known, even in this limited way. Shipwrecks are tantalizing; if these victims of the ocean can be accessed, researchers find a way – even risking their own lives in the process - to return to them again and again to see and understand how the ocean floor came to claim them. The famous shipwreck of the Titanic and now the remains of the Titan submersible rest at 12,500 feet (2.4 miles) below sea level, only about a third of the Challenger Deep depth. We know that even here, the force upon the Titan submersible was about 6,000 pounds pressing down on each square inch, enough to implode the sub and obliterate the crew within a millisecond. The risk that comes with completing such a voyage has been overlooked and outweighed by a desire for obtaining research and the prestige of daring adventure.
This is just a small fraction of the data used to describe the different known depths within the ocean, though even this information has been incredibly difficult to obtain. Instruments need to be able to function at these depths to obtain accurate numbers, and therefore the most we can say is that Challenger Deep is the deepest known point of the Mariana Trench. It is quite probable that there are depths of the ocean that humans are just not able to access, even with advanced technology.
But you and I do not need to board a submersible or understand how to read such an instrument to be able to describe what we know is true about the depths of the ocean. All we need to do is simply imagine being dropped into the middle of the sea with a great weight attached to our feet. We close our eyes and imagine the plunge, the swift and unstoppable pull down…down…down. Instantly gone are the words we associate with the oceanside as the depths swallow us up. Bliss is immediately replaced by agony; relaxation is obliterated by terror. The warm shallows are no more; there is only freezing depth. The light quickly fades from view and is replaced by the deepest, darkest, most complete blackness we’ve never even known. We become utterly blind. There is no safety, no escape. Our only companions on our descent into the desolate abyss are danger, despair, and a crushing, suffocating pressure. An impossible weight that soon reduces the body to nothingness. We are quickly and completely overcome by the devastating depths. In fact, the absence of oxygen – of that sweet relief we experienced as we drew a lungful of pure ocean air on the beach above – will bring about our death incredibly swiftly. One to one and a half minutes, and death takes us…. long, long before we reach the forsaken wasteland that is the ocean floor, a freezing watery grave for so many sunken ships and crews.
This is what we know will happen to the physical body that descends on its own to the depths of the sea. Anyone can recognize that the depths of the ocean are a place unfathomable, unknown, and unseen. A place that is unreachable, uninhabitable, and will only bring about death. But there is something else our Creator wants us to know and understand about depths like these.
“Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.”
Psalm 139: 7-10
Even there.
Even in the uttermost parts of the sea, God is present. He is not limited as we are. He created the sea with His own hands. He knows every single square inch of its depths, knows every creature that lives under its surface, from the smallest plankton to the largest whale. He is not restricted by depth or darkness or temperature or lack of oxygen or pressure. He is omnipresent, everywhere at all times, even in the deepest, darkest, most forsaken abyss the ocean floor has to offer.
You might ask, “What is the point of these verses though? It’s not as if I will ever actually descend to the bottom of the ocean or take wings to ascend to the greatest known heights.” I believe the psalmist David knows that we easily equate the depths of the ocean to the similarly devastating depths of mind and heart we too often experience in this lifetime.
Though we may have never physically descended far below sea level, we often experience similar agonies in day-to-day life. The deep, dark, complete blackness of grief. The crushing, suffocating pressure of depression. The way anxiety sometimes chills us to the bone and restricts our airways, robbing our lungs of oxygen, of being able to draw in the pure and sweet relief of peace. That fear of the unknown, of an unfathomable future that we can’t see ahead of us. The depths of despair we can experience in our bodies and minds and hearts on this earthly walk are just as formidable as the depths of the sea. In fact, they are even deeper, filled with more agony and terror. As difficult as it is to wrap our minds around the physical depths of the ocean, which do have a physical ending point, it is far more difficult to comprehend the endless depths within the mind and heart. That utter despair that comes from constant pain that never leaves the body, not even for a moment of respite within the day or night. Test after test that confirms there is no child in an empty womb. The diagnosis of cancer that seems to swallow up the light, the warmth, and everything good in our lives. The sudden loss of a child that feels equivalent to the weight of a thousand oceans pressing down, obliterating mind and heart and body.
All these low places that we reach are like the uttermost parts of the sea. Deepest. Darkest. Blackest. Despairing. Crushing. Suffocating. Freezing. Unreachable. Unknown. Uninhabitable. Unbearable.
Even there.
Even when you reach a depth you never thought you would reach. Even at the deepest, darkest, blackest, most despairing, crushing, suffocating, unthinkable place, God is there. God is there with you. He is not limited as we are. He does not need a vessel of any kind to reach you in the depths. He knows where you are, sees you clearly in the darkness, without a weak little spotlight to illuminate the place where you sit. He knows every single square inch of that place of despair you are in, knows how every moment of it feels to you. And He is present there with you. And not only is He present with you, He is also leading you. He is holding you.
“If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.”
You might very well be sitting in the forsaken depths of the sea right now. It feels like you are alone, miles below the surface, while God is higher than the Heavens, far away. But He is not. Even there, in those gloomy depths, He remains present. His loving and gracious hand gently guides through the desolation and despair. His right hand holds you tightly in safety and love. Words that we would never use to describe the depth of the ocean can still be applied even there, because He is able. Safety. Peace. Love. Patience. Warmth. Light. Hope. Trust. Faith. Joy.
I used to think that being a joyful person meant being happy all the time, just bubbling over with light and life. And yes, there are days when joy does look just like that. But when I encountered depression and anxiety, and happiness vanished from my heart, I became frustrated and so very sad about it. I kept thinking things like, “I’ve thought my whole life that I am a joyful person, and that joy has always defined me. What’s wrong with me now? Why do I feel so much despair? Was I wrong about myself if my joy can so easily be taken away?”
I was wrong to equate joy with only happiness. It is a reality I needed to be made to understand with the happiness departing. Recently I heard joy defined in a sermon as ‘a settled disposition of the heart that comes from living in Christ and finding our pleasure in Him’. Joy is finding rest and peace and pleasure for the soul only in God. If we can only have joy when our lives are happy, then joy could not be present in difficult times. But if joy is more than happiness, if it is a settled disposition within our hearts, and a pleasure in belonging to God, then we can have joy even in the depths of the ocean. Even there. I realized this when I made the connection between these two Psalms:
“Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.”
Psalm 139: 7-10
“Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”
Psalm 16:11
Even there, in the uttermost parts of the sea… in the darkness, the despair, the crushing agony… God’s right hand holds us. And where is fullness of joy (pleasure in God) found? At God’s right hand. In His presence! If the ocean deep were just the ocean deep and the depths of despair in life just the depths of despair, then no joy would be found there. Of course not. That’s actually what the Devil wants you to believe, isn’t it? That there is only darkness, despair, and death. But because God Almighty extends His right hand and His loving presence to the bottom of the ocean, to His children sitting in the depths of desolation, even there will joy be also. Because joy in God is able to inhabit what would otherwise be a place of certain death, the Devil loses his foothold even in the darkness. Joy in an environment like that becomes significantly more authentic, sound, and extraordinary too. I found that joy still defines me even during this difficult season; it is just a changed joy, one that has grown deeper and fuller.
No, it is not a happy thing to sit beneath crushing waters of despair and grief and pain and loneliness. There may not be happiness there in the blackness either. But God promises that He will be there. And that He will bring with Him joy. He gave that assurance to David when He inspired him to write Psalm 139, and He gives that assurance to us today by including that in His infallible Scriptures. If you’re sitting on the ocean floor right now and feel you can’t take even one more second of it, cling to this Psalm and this promise with all your might. Know that God brings you joy, not your circumstances. Know that it is okay to not be happy during this time. The absence of happiness is not the absence of God. The absence of happiness is not even the absence of joy or the absence of hope. Our hope and joy do not depend upon our own abilities to keep up a good mood at all times. Our hope is that no matter how deep we sink, our God will not misunderstand or abandon us there. No matter how deep we sink, His grace goes deeper still. You may not have happiness in your heart, but you do have joy, which is something far more substantial, valuable, and lasting. It is a fruit of the Spirit, a treasure from Heaven. It is the warmth and peace and settled assurance of knowing you are saved and not forsaken of God. There will be many days when you won’t be able to feel that joy, but it is always there in the heart of a believer. It is locked away in the deep places of your soul, for God puts it there.
If you know of someone who has been plunged into the depths of despair by way of loss, pain, depression, or sickness, try to avoid the phrase, “you’re so strong”. I think we say this as a compliment, meaning well. But the reality is that no one can adapt to an environment that is deep, dark, black, freezing, crushing, suffocating, and void of light, warmth and oxygen. No one can be strong with the weight of an ocean pressing down on them. God knows exactly what He is doing for that person by way of such a trial, but it is incredibly difficult all the same. It may look like that person is being strong through it, but very likely they are just managing to survive. Instead of telling them they are so strong in that environment, find out what God has been bringing to them in the depths lately that has helped them survive another day. Maybe it is a few moments of laughter, or a little glimmer of hope. Maybe they heard a song or a Bible verse that lifted just a little bit of the crushing pressure away for a moment. Maybe instead of being told they are so strong, they need to hear how strong their God is. How present He is. How loving and merciful and saving He is. And that He will bring joy to them in the darkness. Maybe they know all those things, but the darkness and pressure and pain and fear are all they can feel, and they need someone to tell them it’s okay to feel that way. After all, these things generally do come with being at the bottom of the ocean. Maybe they just need someone to sit alongside them there for awhile.
If you lay shivering and suffocating, drifting along in the dark of the ocean’s depths, I pray that God gives you days when you rise a little closer to the surface. Maybe you’ll have days where you even see light extending down through the waters above you. Maybe you’ll feel the warmth of the sun in those waters near the surface. Maybe you’ll even break through the waves and inhale the most relieving lungful of air you have ever experienced in your life. I pray you feel the joy of floating along on the surface. But if that doesn’t happen today, or tomorrow, or even in the next year… if you remain far from the surface, I pray that you know and believe and truly cling with all your might to God’s promise about the depths: that He is with you, leading you, protecting your joy, and holding you. Even there.
"Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps."
Psalm 88:6
"The mind can descend far lower than the body, for in it there are bottomless pits. The flesh can bear only a certain number of wounds and no more, but the soul can bleed in ten thousand ways, and die over and over again each hour." - Charles Spurgeon
“In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also. The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.”
Psalm 95: 4-5
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Mariana Trench". Encyclopedia Britannica, 13 Oct. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/place/Mariana-Trench. Accessed 27 October 2023.
Charles Spurgeon, "Psalm 88" in The Treasury of David, The Spurgeon Archive (http://www.spurgeon.org/treasury/ps088.thm), accessed 12/13/13.
Riley, Patrick and Rafferty, John P.. "How deep is the ocean?". Encyclopedia Britannica, 18 Sep. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Understanding-the-depth-of-Earths-oceans-2231362. Accessed 27 October 2023.
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