1 Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord;
2     Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
    to my cry for mercy.

3 If you, Lord, kept a record of sins,
    Lord, who could stand?
4 But with you there is forgiveness,
    so that we can, with reverence, serve you.

5 I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits,
    and in his word I put my hope.
6 I wait for the Lord
    more than watchmen wait for the morning,
    more than watchmen wait for the morning.

7 Israel, put your hope in the Lord,
    for with the Lord is unfailing love
    and with him is full redemption.
8 He himself will redeem Israel
    from all their sins.

You offer forgiveness – Psalm 130: 4

Mark’s hand shook as he maneuvered his touchpad, scrolling through his online history. The page seemed endless. It contained several years’ worth of every date and time he’d logged in to an online gambling site.

“God already helped me overcome my addiction,” Mark said, “and I know He’s forgiven me. But when I stumbled upon my computer history that day, the enormity of my past sin distressed me. There it was, all my deceit and recklessness, recorded.”

“That day helped me appreciate anew God’s forgiveness,” Mark said. “Where would I be if He’d held that online record against me?”

Mark echoed what David said in Psalm 130:3: “Lord if you kept a record of our sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive?” God knows the depths of our sinfulness. This is why He sent His Son, Jesus, to die and be raised to life on our behalf. With Christ, we have “redemption” (V. 7). The word redemption here comes from the Hebrew word padah, which means “to ransom”—to pay the necessary prices that someone can be freed from punishment. This is what Jesus’ death accomplished for us.  And as we walk with Him today in newness of life, He promises us forgiveness for the sins we still commit whenever we turn to Him in repentance. (Psalm 130:4; 1 John 1:9).

Mark deleted his online history that day. In a similar way, God’s forgiveness has forever erased the record of our sins.

-KAREN HUANG

How might doubts regarding God’s forgiveness be holding you back in your relationship with Him? How can Psalm 130 reassure you?

Dear God, where would I be without Your love and mercy? Thank You for the indescribable gift of Your forgiveness through Your Son’s death and resurrection.