Hope in the Lord’s Forgiving Love.
A Song of Ascents.
130 Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord.
2 Lord, hear my voice!
Let Your ears be attentive
To the voice of my supplications.
3 If You, [a]Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
4 But there is forgiveness with You,
That You may be feared.5 I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait,
And [b]in His word do I hope.
6 My soul waits for the Lord
More than the watchmen for the morning;
Indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning.
7 O Israel, hope in the Lord;
For with the Lord there is lovingkindness,
And with Him is abundant redemption.
8 And He will redeem Israel
From all his iniquities.
As the psalmist calls out to God, he asks a bit of a rhetorical question in v. 3. If God should keep track of our sins, who could stand before Him? But Paul answered the question anyway when he wrote to the church in Rome, “There is none righteous, no not one…” and also “All have sinned, all fall short…” I’m not sure the question is 100% clear though, as God does keep an account of our deeds.
However, it is as if he is writing in pencil instead of pen. Because God knows we make mistakes, He is ever ready with his special eraser to blot them out, to remove them from the record. None of us could stand before Him, none could even “approach the throne of grace”, never mind “boldly” doing so (Hebrews 3).
The psalmist gives his own answer in v. 4, “But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared.” Similar to Paul’s own response, we are “justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.” or “the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
So we wait for the Lord, just like the psalmist, we call upon Him, and hope in Him, “for with the Lord there is lovingkindness and abundant redemption.” Just as God redeemed Israel from all their iniquities, He also is ready and willing to cleanse and purify our hearts, to blot out the stain of rebellion. Not just that, He helps us to overcome the desires of our flesh, He puts in us a new heart, reborn of the Spirit.
That is plenty of reason to “fear the Lord”: to respect Him, be in awe of Him, to serve and love Him with all our heart. Whatever this week brings, start fresh, right now, and serve Him with your whole heart. There is no other hope so great, nor love so amazing, nor peace so all-encompassing. Let Him “transform you by the renewing of your mind,” each and every day.