Psalm 130:1-4 - Out of the depths I cry to You, O LORD! O Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy! If You, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with You there is forgiveness, that You may be feared.
The depths from which we cry to God may feel very deep, perhaps the nearness of death, our own or that of a loved one, or the depths of serious illness. Other depths may seem, to all outward appearances, almost shallow, such as regret for a careless word or a thoughtless action. Still, deep is deep, and God hears our plea and grants to us His peace. There are other depths from which we cannot escape, the deep from which the psalmist cries. There is no earthly help or escape from the depths of sin.
We may admit the great depth of some sins, but others we view as shallow and less serious—a bit of gossip that harms another's reputation, a "small" lie or sins of which we are not aware. We often fail to walk in the footsteps of our Lord or follow His will for our lives. We sometimes try to get out of the deep on our own by ignoring our sins, making excuses or blaming others, yet true repentance involves admitting the depths of our sin. Repentance is the humble acknowledgement that we are in a place we cannot escape on our own. With the psalmist we plead for mercy, asking, "If You, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?" If God kept a record of our sins, what would happen to us?
There was once a record of our sins, but now that deep and deadly record is gone. Through the death and resurrection of His Son, God lifted us out of the depths. He has forgiven our sins "by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross" (Colossians 2:14). Jesus carried our guilt, our sins—deep or shallow, great or small—in His own body to the cross. The terrible record of our sins was nailed to His cross and canceled out.
The sins over which we mourn, sins with depths we cannot escape, are removed forever from the sight of God. He has thrown all of our sins "into the depths of the sea" (Micah 7:19b). Our forgiveness through Jesus is so complete that God says, "I will remember their sin no more" (Jeremiah 31:34b). The psalmist prays with astonished joy, "But with You there is forgiveness, that You may be feared." Standing on the firm ground beneath the cross, with holy fear and awe we rejoice in the forgiveness that raised us out the of depths.
WE PRAY: Jesus, thank You for lifting me from the depths of sin to stand, forgiven, in Your presence. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Carol Geisler.
Reflection Questions:
1. Do you have a nagging regret or two that you need to take to God? Please do so today.
2. How has God taken our sins—no matter how big they may be—and set us free from them?
3. Is there someone you know who would do well to hear about God's grace and forgiveness?
Today's Bible Readings: Psalms 61-62, 65 John 13:21-38
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