Today, I continue in my thoughts on Psalm 130, talking about verses 5 & 6:
I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits,
and in His Word, I put my hope.
I wait for the Lord,
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.
I love how these verses talk about waiting for the Lord expectantly. A waiting that is looking for something to come, not just sitting back. A watchman's job was to keep watch for any possible attacks on the city during the night. That's a watching that speaks of being ready to do something and being expectant of something. That's definitely not a passive waiting.
It challenges me on the concept of waiting in my own life. Am I passively waiting? Or am I expectantly waiting, ready to act?
The psalmist speaks of waiting for the Lord. There weren't just waiting for something - they were waiting for God to come. The knew Who they were waiting for. And that Who they were waiting for was worth waiting expectantly for.
What about the waiting in your own life?
What are you waiting for?
Are you waiting expectantly? Or passively?
Is what you're waiting for really worth waiting for?
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Friday, October 12, 2012
Psalm 130:3-4
A couple of days ago, I started writing some thoughts about Psalm 130. Today's post and a couple of more posts after this will continue to talk about it. Today, I want to spend some time on verses 3 & 4 of Psalm 130:
If you, LORD, kept a record of sins,
Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness,
so that we can, with reverence, serve you.
When I read those words, I'm so thankful to be reminded that not only does God offer forgiveness for my sins, but He also doesn't keep a record of them. I don't think I would ever want to see how large a record of my sins would be. That would be overwhelming and more than a little bit depressing. But, thankfully, God doesn't keep that kind of record of our sins.
God offers us forgiveness of our sins. How great is that? To me, that's a pretty amazing thing when I stop to think about it.
The last part of verse 4 really stuck with me as I reflected on this psalm ". . . so that we can, with reverence, serve you." God's forgiveness isn't conditional - all we have to do is come to Him and ask for it and then turn from our sin. But, God's forgiveness should show something in our lives. According to the psalmist, God's forgiveness is so that we can serve Him.
As followers of Christ, our lives should be lived in service to God. And we are freed to serve Him because of the forgiveness He gives us when we ask. God's forgiveness is something truly amazing to live in because it frees us to do exactly what the psalmist says - to serve God.
If you, LORD, kept a record of sins,
Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness,
so that we can, with reverence, serve you.
When I read those words, I'm so thankful to be reminded that not only does God offer forgiveness for my sins, but He also doesn't keep a record of them. I don't think I would ever want to see how large a record of my sins would be. That would be overwhelming and more than a little bit depressing. But, thankfully, God doesn't keep that kind of record of our sins.
God offers us forgiveness of our sins. How great is that? To me, that's a pretty amazing thing when I stop to think about it.
The last part of verse 4 really stuck with me as I reflected on this psalm ". . . so that we can, with reverence, serve you." God's forgiveness isn't conditional - all we have to do is come to Him and ask for it and then turn from our sin. But, God's forgiveness should show something in our lives. According to the psalmist, God's forgiveness is so that we can serve Him.
As followers of Christ, our lives should be lived in service to God. And we are freed to serve Him because of the forgiveness He gives us when we ask. God's forgiveness is something truly amazing to live in because it frees us to do exactly what the psalmist says - to serve God.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Psalm 130:1-2
I've been working on a study of the Psalms of Ascent (Psalm 120-134) recently. It has been a great study. The other day, we got to what is probably one of my favourite psalms out of this particular collection - possibly one of my favourite psalms overall.
Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD,
Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.
If you, LORD, kept a record of sins,
Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness,
so that we can, with reverence, serve you.
I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits,
and in His Word I put my hope.
I wait for the Lord,
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.
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.
(Psalm 130, NIV)
I love the psalmists honesty with God and declaration of truth about God in this Psalm.
I want to focus mostly on what the first couple of verses in this Psalm have to say today.
Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD,
Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.
God hears our prayers when we cry to Him. He hears our cries for mercy. God listen attentively to us. No matter what the depths we may in when we call to Him, He is there and He listening and He answers our cries for mercy.
I don't know about you, but sometimes I need the reminder that I can call to God from anywhere and He will hear and answer my call. It seems like it's something I far too easily forget, but the Psalms give us an examples of exactly this over and over. It's an example we would do well to learn from. But, it is also only the beginning of it. The psalmists never stop at this cry, but always go on to praise God for who He is.
Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD,
Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.
If you, LORD, kept a record of sins,
Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness,
so that we can, with reverence, serve you.
I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits,
and in His Word I put my hope.
I wait for the Lord,
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.
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.
(Psalm 130, NIV)
I love the psalmists honesty with God and declaration of truth about God in this Psalm.
I want to focus mostly on what the first couple of verses in this Psalm have to say today.
Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD,
Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.
God hears our prayers when we cry to Him. He hears our cries for mercy. God listen attentively to us. No matter what the depths we may in when we call to Him, He is there and He listening and He answers our cries for mercy.
I don't know about you, but sometimes I need the reminder that I can call to God from anywhere and He will hear and answer my call. It seems like it's something I far too easily forget, but the Psalms give us an examples of exactly this over and over. It's an example we would do well to learn from. But, it is also only the beginning of it. The psalmists never stop at this cry, but always go on to praise God for who He is.
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