Episode 36: Psalm 130:7-8
Transcription
Today’s verse is Psalm 130:7-8
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.
Let’s pray together.
Jesus, hear the collective cry of Your people, all of humanity created and molded by You, tainted and twisted by sin’s rebellion. We kneel before You, covered in the shadow of our evil, the evil we chose over You. We feel it corrupting us, numbing us, turning us from Your truth. It creeps into our families, our churches, our schools, our everything. Our very bodies are struck down with the infirmity of our own tragic choice.
As Paul says, who will save us from this wretched state? Thank You, God, that You do. We may deserve to have been left in the state You found us, lost, alone, sick, and hateful. But Your justice and Your mercy wouldn’t allow it, melding together into a redeeming plan of self-sacrifice that doesn’t make any earthly sense but is stamped with heaven’s approval and is executed with humility and grace and wisdom.
Jesus, I can’t comprehend how much You love us. But I yearn to feel it towards me, a blanket of steadfast affection wrapped over my insecurity, joyous mirth drowning my sorrows, doubtless wisdom guiding my steps, patient endurance watching my faulty progress. Let Your love wash over us in a tide of ardent fervor, sweeping away the desire for selfishness and self-protection. Help us to see ourselves in the light of Your love, truly needy individuals but found worthy, made good, healed of infirmity, and crowned sons and daughters of the King.
Let us embrace Your redemption. Don’t let our pride or our scorn or our unbelief dictate our reactions to the Cross. We all need to kneel in humble repentance, acceptance, and adoration of a love so wide and deep and high and true and full of an understanding we can never hope to achieve. Whatever lie would say within us that there is no way we can be forgiven, that we are too far gone down an evil path, let that lie be destroyed, dissipated in the overwhelming truth of Your love. There is enough, an abundance, an overflowing forgiveness coming from You, Jesus. You will never turn away a soul in need of You. You can come back, you can come back, you can come back. We are all prodigals and the Father is running to meet us.
We all need this redemption. We cannot say that we are good people and that we can earn our own way. Redemption is needed only because there is iniquity and bondage. We are slaves of our own sin, kept captive by an enemy who wants to see us in torment, delighting in our willful ignorance, dulling our senses to the bright light and fresh air urging us to step forward into freedom. Enable us to hear Your voice calling, enable us to exercise the agency given to us to choose, and enable us to choose You.
Your promises are sure and everlasting. There is plenty and joy and goodness to be found. Why do we wallow in the shallows, content to gnaw on the old bones of our sins? There is a feast to be had! There is delight unknown and stretching beyond our sight. God is able and capable and sure and promised to deliver us, to take away the stain of our guilt. Jesus did that for us. Let us accept it and be free in the hope we have.
Today if you feel like you are not worthy, do not let that hold you back. None of us is worthy. If you feel like you can do it on your own, do not continue striving needlessly. None of us can do it on our own. Today if you feel like you are too far gone, do not give up and fall back into darkness. None of us are out of His reach. Today if you feel like grace has run out before it got to you, do not cease asking for it. God has enough for everyone and more. His grace is generous, lavish, and complete.
Jesus, give us hope today, to wait for the fulfillment of Your promises, to enjoy the blessings of those already given, the courage to keep walking forward, with the wisdom to see who You are. You will not fail us, but prove it to us again and again. We are weary and we need the reminder. Our memories are too short and we forget often the tenderness of Your actions to us. We want to walk forward into our new year with a refreshing, so come and splash us with the water of Your mercy and love, waking us to the potential of a life spent in union with You.
I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
