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Ring of Truth provides 366 daily ‘proofs’ that the Bible is consistent throughout from Genesis to Revelation, and relevant for our lives today!
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Psalm 130:3-4
If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with You there is forgiveness; therefore You are feared.
The Psalm begins, “Out of the depths, I cry to you, O Lord; O Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy” (v 1).
This Psalm is almost a theological treatise. It gives us glimpses into the ways of God and His redemption. I will never fully experience all that God wants me to until I reach the end of myself. “Out of the depths, I cry to you.” From there, there is only one way out and that is up.
But I can’t make it on my own. Every ounce of self-assurance and self-reliance has to be exhausted. Then I can come totally dependent upon the unmerited grace of God. And the Good News is that God always hears those prayers.
It’s like the difference Jesus made between the Pharisee and the publican/sinner. The sinner prayed and asked for mercy and received it. The Pharisee listed all his good qualities but Jesus said he “prayed… with himself” (R.S.V. Luke 18:11); it never reached God’s ears. But God never misses a desperate cry for help from the depths of our heart.
Verse 3 reminds us that we need to accept that we are sinners in the sight of a Holy, Almighty, and Awesome God. We have no merit to stand before Him. All our human arrogance needs to crumble before His Righteousness. (See also Isaiah 64:6.) We are nothing before Him. He cannot abide sin – it cannot enter His Presence. Sin involves not just the breaking of the 10 Commandments, of which we are all guilty, but also a spirit of independence – “I can make it on my own, thank You.” It’s a ‘Ring of Truth’!
Our sins have separated us from God and we need to accept that, confess them and repent, being determined to avoid them at all costs in the future. Then we need to ask forgiveness from God and receive His love in return. None of us can stand before God because He sees not only our sins, which are open for all to see, but also our selfish rebellion and our heart’s motives (which are often hidden).
But the Psalm reminds us that with God there is forgiveness. God hates sin but longs for us, sinners, to have an intimate, clean and open relationship with Him.
He forgives – but how does He forgive? Originally through animal sacrifice and finally through the sacrifice of His One and Only Son, Jesus Christ.
When the Psalm says, “therefore You are ‘feared’” – it means that God is held in the highest honour. Not only because of who He is, but also because, although He is totally Holy, He has made a plan and a ‘way’ to bring sinners back into relationship with Himself.
That is totally unnatural – only a Righteous, Loving and Saving God would do that – and only the God of the Bible has done that. Thus, He is greatly to be ‘feared’.
That alone should cause us to overflow with thanks, praise and worship.
Spend a few minutes just doing that right now.
Download the above Ring of Truth devotion as a PDF.
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