August, 17, 2018 Friday

“1 ¶  « A Song of Ascents. » 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. 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. 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.” (Psalm 130:1-8 NKJV)

            The Psalms of ascent would be sung as people gathered at the Temple to worship God and offer their sacrifices. They would unite at the Temple brought together by their common burden and need. Together they would sing out their cry of need through hope God could and would free them from their guilt and bless them!

            It is hard to admit publicly our need to be cleansed from sin and freed from our chains. It also is hard to say we look for a “hope beyond hope”.  We think we can take care of our need for forgiveness our self so we work hard trying to be good enough for God.

            By trying to be good enough we either try to be a little better than others or become like the mouse running on the exercise wheel only finding rest and forgiveness when we stop and confess our need for forgiveness from God.

            The psalmist believes God actively is listening for the prayer of confession. We need God’s forgiveness and the psalmist reminds us God wants to forgive us! In the face of God’s holiness and righteousness even more we recognize our sin and shame. In awe and fear we realize our need for the forgiveness we do not deserve!

            God’s forgiveness opens our eyes and soul to see God in our daily life and to know God’s will for our lives. By the hope we have through God we come to see the reality of God is deeper than what we see in this world!

            This world demands we work hard for more when at the same time defining us as less than God one. One problem is no one can really define what more means. Is it more than I now have or more than others have? The other problem is we cannot become who we are meant to be until we seek forgiveness and discover how God sees us! Only then can God’s power work in us and through us!

            Seeing who we can be through God enables us to celebrate and continuously seek God’s grace (undeserved love) to live the great adventure our lives become with the love of the Father, the sacrifice of Jesus and the guidance of the Holy Spirit!

            Are you seeking to rise above your sin through God’s forgiveness? Have you discovered the glory and wonder of God’s love? By the guidance of the Holy Spirit have you discovered the great adventure of life with God?