Psalm 130

Thank You, Father, for the reading of Your Word.

Waiting for the Redemption of the LORD

A Song of Ascents.

1 Out of the depths I have cried to You, O LORD;

2 Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive To the voice of my supplications.

3 If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?

4 But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared.

There’s that other side to grace, huh?

We ought to realize everything we have, and everything we DON’T have because of His grace. We ought to be thankful for the redemption and the reconciliation, and the revival and the rescue – But we also should be thankful that we didn’t get what we deserved… and what we deserved was: All our iniquities marked, all our sin accounted for, resulting in absolute separation from all that is good, all that is life and light, leaving us in corruption, death, and darkness.

We’ve talked in length regarding grace being our getting what we didn’t deserve… The other side to grace is our not getting what we deserved. Having a humble, level assessment of this grace has the potential to leave us twice thankful.

We would be brought to realize, as the Psalmist realized: The fear of the Lord may be the beginning of wisdom, but the forgiveness of the Lord precedes the fear of the Lord.

5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, And in His word I do hope.

6 My soul waits for the Lord More than those who watch for the morning— Yes, more than those who watch for the morning.

Funny that I’ve been waking up earlier recently. I have Ephraim and Jen to thank for pushing me. Just thought I’d put that in there.

Also, note to self: Definitely no more screens before bed if you don’t want to wake up with a headache. If you absolutely must have an alarm, bring the backup phone and put it far away from you.

But going back – I suppose I ought to go deeper into the great grace of our Father, that I would also naturally wait and hope on Him. I’m reminded of the great value there is in meditation – and I’m pretty sure I mentioned meditation in the recent days and weeks, in line with dwelling on the Word and waiting on the Spirit.

And there it is – Was it in front of me all this time? Dwell on the Word, and naturally wait on the Spirit?

7 O Israel, hope in the LORD; For with the LORD there is mercy, And with Him is abundant redemption.

8 And He shall redeem Israel From all his iniquities.

We’ve been saved from all that matters, for all that matters. Appreciation is naturally expressed in the dwelling of the Word. In our dwelling on the Word, I believe we would be brought to witness more and more facets and perspectives of said salvation, mercy and redemption in this reality.

I’m reminded also, as of late, that I’ve been brought into a slump due to bad habits. I’m reminded that we replace the bad with the good. I replace the bad with the Word.

Amen.

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