APART FROM
GOD’S MERCY, MAN HAS NO HOPE
Psalm 130
Out of the
depths I cry to you, O LORD!
O Lord,
hear my voice!
Let your
ears be attentive
to the
voice of my pleas for mercy!
If you, O
LORD, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who
could stand?
But with
you there is forgiveness,
that you
may be feared.
I wait for
the LORD, my soul waits,
and in his
word I hope;
my soul
waits for the Lord
more than
watchmen for the morning.
O Israel,
hope in the LORD!
For with the
LORD there is steadfast love,
and with
him is plentiful redemption.
And he will
redeem Israel
from all
his iniquities.
What an
uplifting song for the pilgrims to sing, as they returned to Jerusalem! The grace of God is so sure and clear in the
progression of these words.
In deep
distress over sin, the cry goes out to the LORD: Jehovah, the One before whom man
must bow. Here, the holiness of God is magnified and the sinfulness of man is
utterly exposed.
There is no
other way to approach God than by pleading for mercy. Sinful man has absolutely
nothing to offer by way of appeal. (Every man acts according to his fallen,
sinful nature, which causes even his best intentions and deeds to be ‘as filthy
rags’ before the holy, righteous perfection of the LORD.)
The author knows that if God’s justice were
applied to the sin of man, there would be no hope. If the Holy God of the
universe were to immediately punish every failure to keep His commands, no one
could escape His righteous wrath. Apart
from God’s mercy, man has no hope, for all of us have sinned. Only when a
repentant man asks for forgiveness, and God reveals His mercy, can he truly begin
to appreciate and fear God. The path of total trust in the mercy of God begins.
The writer
has one place to base his hope, and that is in the word of God. He knows that
He is trustworthy and that what is written is true and reliable. On the basis
of God’s revelations of Himself and His will, he hopes.
The hope he
waits for absorbs all of his attention! Like those who wait for the night to be
over as they are protecting their flock or a city, those who wait upon the Lord
are eagerly, wholeheartedly awaiting the relief of their salvation.
The writer
invites Israel to trust in the mercy of God: mercy that springs out of God’s sure,
steadfast love. What a wonderful statement he makes, when he reminds the
readers that with Him, redemption is plentiful! As the pilgrims returned to
Israel, aware of their sin, they knew that their request for forgiveness was
based on God’s inexhaustible love and desire to forgive.
There was
hope for Israel
As we read
this psalm, we can view our own lives mirrored in the journey of the Jews. We
worship a holy God to Whom we cannot bring any redeeming asset. His love and
forgiveness toward us are based only upon His grace and mercy. We come to Him, trusting
in the promises of the Scriptures, where we find the reality of our utter
dependence upon God’s love and mercy. And we rest on His promise to forgive
those who come to Him in total dependence and trust in His Word.
Like Israel,
we are completely incapable of paying for our iniquities, and we cry out to God
in our broken desperation.
God has
never changed. He is faithful to His promises and His love is steadfast!
Reading this
psalm, I am not only reminded of God’s faithfulness in forgiving me, but also
of my own need to forgive others. I have a responsibility to show mercy and
grace to those around me who sin against me. Reading and meditating upon these
verses can only humble me and cause deep gratitude toward to God, that He
revealed Himself to me and provided the way for me to find redemption.
May we live
this day in grateful submission to God, and may we extend grace and forgiveness
to those around us because of His mercy to us!
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