Devo 11: Psalm 130
My Soul Waits for the Lord
A Song of Ascents.
130 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.
Devotional Thought:
Verse 4 here always gives me pause when I read it. Verse 3 is basically saying, who on their own merits, can stand upright with two feet in front of God? If we only knew how sinful we are AND how holy God is, who could stand? You think the fear here would come from the fact that at any moment holy fire could come from heaven and obliterate us because we are those less than perfect standing in front of One who is holy and all those who approach Him must be holy if they are to live.
In Luke 5:9, once Peter realizes he’s not standing in front of a mere rabbi, but the Divine, he fells to his knees and cries out “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” That’s what we think v.4 should read, a fear that comes from the fact that God is holy and we are not but that’s not what v.4 says. Somehow, someway, God is to be feared even more that as a righteous and holy God, He can wipe us out, yet chooses to forgive us, those who are not holy. Yet Jesus was struck with God’s holy wrath on the Cross so we might know this kind of forgiveness. In Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, we get to see a God that’s even more awesome than we previously thought.
When’s the last time you truly considered the gospel and let it fill you with awe? Instead of taking God’s forgiveness for granted, when’s the last time the love and forgiveness of this Holy God, inspired you to fear, reverence, and gratefulness? How would we too be able to wait upon Him and call others to hope in Him (like the psalmist does in v.5-7), if we saw the gospel this way?
Prayer:
Lord, I look at the faith of the person who wrote this psalm and wish I had his faith. The kind that knows You and knows You hear him. The kind that is so aware of who he is and who you are. The kind that clings to you closer to anything else. And the kind with such confidence to tell others to hope in the same God who loves him. And yet I have the same access to such a God and such faith in the gospel today. Father, this Thanksgiving help me to reflect on the gospel, on what it meant for you to look upon your crucified Son and forgive me, until it gives fresh faith to take hold of your this way. And fresh faith to confidently commend You to others who need your love and redemption. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
