Forgiveness and Grace
“If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.” Psalm 130:3-4
When I was in high school I played the alto saxophone and every year I went to Columbia, SC for a band competition. The competition had two main parts: playing a piece you had prepared and then taking a sight-reading test. Both parts were nerve wracking because you entered a quiet room by yourself and in front of you were 3 adult judges.
They listened to you play, filled out some paperwork, and then they proceeded to tell you everything you did wrong. It was humiliating because as they went through all of the ways you messed up, you could only nod your head in agreement because you knew they were right. It’s awful to hear a list of the ways you fell short.
Now, imagine having to hear a list of everything wrong you have ever done against God and those around you. This psalm opens with that very thought.
Another way to read it would be, “Lord, if you were to read off my sins, I would be too ashamed to stand in front of you.” It’s a devastating picture of just how messed up we are. But, the very next line gives us the very picture of God’s grace towards us. It reads, “But with you there is forgiveness…” What an amazing picture of God’s grace! He takes my endless list of wrongdoings and forgives them all because of Jesus!
The final phrase “that you may be feared” can be a little tricky. That word means “worshipped” or “served with reverence” instead of hiding in fear. When you think about all the ways you have messed up before God, and then you think about how much you have been freely forgiven, how could your heart not respond with worship for such a loving and gracious God?
This is what makes the Gospel such good news: God seeks out, rescues, and forgives messed up people freely through the work of His Son Jesus.