If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins,
O Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness;
Therefore you are feared.
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
And in his word I put my hope.
My soul waits for the Lord
More than watchmen wait for the morning,
More than watchmen wait for the morning.
O Israel, put your hope in the Lord,
For with the Lord is unfailing love
And with him is full redemption.
He himself will redeem Israel
From all their sins.
Our times don’t like to talk about ‘sin’ or ‘sins’. We talk more about being ‘broken’ or ‘wounded’ or ‘hurt’. If we ever did do something wrong, who could blame us? Look at what was done to us first! People don’t apologize, they explain. Few say: “I’m sorry.” Usually, it’s: “I’ve had a long day” or “I’ve been stretched thin.” We’re the victim here!
The Bible offers no such safe haven for our bad behaviour. God calls it sin. We have missed the mark. Soiled the sheets. We were designed for perfection and every day we make a mess of it.
The hope isn’t in making light or little of our sin; that does us no good and leaves our hearts weak and miserable. The hope isn’t in blaming other people for our failures. The hope is in forgiveness. Forgiveness is God’s safe haven, not for our sin, but for us. He frees us from sin, its handcuffs of guilt, and its cage of shame. He shows unfailing love.
“He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins”: that sure sounds like Jesus! As we pray today, let’s include asking our Lord if there’s some sin in our life that keeps us captive. If he makes you aware of something, repent! And believe the gospel: “with him, there is full redemption!”
Thanks be to God.
Praying (and repenting) with you this day.
Andrew
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