January 15
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PSALM 130- WITH GOD THERE IS FORGIVENESS
Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD! 2 O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy! 3 If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 4 But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared. 5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; 6 my soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. 7 O Israel, hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. 8 And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities – Psalm 130:1-8
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According to Enduring.com, this psalm is another in the series titled A Song of Ascents. Psalm 130 begins with a personal testimony of God’s rescue from the depths of guilt. From there, the author ascends step by step to a place where he can give confidence to others in their trust in God. Because Psalm 130 is marked by an awareness of sin and a powerful assurance of forgiveness, tradition numbers it among the seven penitential psalms (6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143).
In this psalm, the writer cries out to God and recognizes his sinfulness. How often do we plead God to forgive us? Do we do it regularly when we pray? Often times, we only resort to pleas of mercy when we have been suffering from the consequences of our sins. I love how David always acknowledges how God’s mercy is so undeserving for sinners like us. In verse 3, he is thankful that God doesn’t keep a score of one’s sins, or if He did, then no one can even come to ask for his mercy. We will be so fearful that a fair and just God will bring down his wrath and punishment for what we deserve. God continually forgives us if we acknowledge our sins and come to his Son to be cleansed from it.
John Trapp comments on this psalm as a “treasury of great comfort to all in distress.” In verse 5-6, David chooses to wait patiently for God’s answer to his plea for forgiveness. In our world today, many of us are impatient and wants to be forgiven right away. David compares himself as more persistent and enduring than a watchman. We hear hope in the act of waiting. Many of us do not even have that faith to hope for God to fulfill his promises. In verse 7, David encourages the Israelites to put their hopes up and always look up to God’s promises in Scripture. I think that the more we read the bible, the more we discover how much promises there are to focus on. There’s no reason to feel despair when we reflect on them and on God’s attributes. David surely knows his Master.
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REFLECTION
• Is forgiveness possible to those who do not know God? Why or why not?