Forgiveness

We can wait expectantly for God to hear our cries and have hope for Help for He is faithful to forgive. But if we do not confess our sins to God he will keep a record of our wrongs and not answer our prayers.

The point of the passage is not to remind us how sinful we are, that we know all to well, but rather that the darkness of sin is not life as God intended it.

Intro

Once upon a time, there was a farmer who owned an old horse. One day, the horse fell into a deep, dry well. The farmer tried everything he could to get the horse out, but the well was too deep, and it seemed hopeless. After much thought, the farmer sadly decided that the horse was too old, and since the well was dry and no longer useful, it would be better to just cover it up.

So, the farmer called his neighbors to help him fill in the well. They each grabbed a shovel and began to throw dirt into the well, intending to bury the horse. As the dirt fell on the horse's back, it seemed like the end was near.

What if the horse started to be fine in the hole and the farmer started to feed it down there. Maybe the horse would start to prefer the nice quiet hole to the life of pain and toil on the surface. How about when the farmer started to throw dirt the horse started to freak out because He thought He was going to die.

But rather, something remarkable happened. Instead of letting the dirt bury him, the horse shook it off and took a step up. With every shovel of dirt that came down, the horse would shake it off and step up again.

Shovel after shovel, dirt continued to fall, and the horse kept shaking it off and stepping higher and higher. Eventually, to everyone’s surprise, the horse stepped up over the edge of the well and trotted away, free once again.

Out of the depths we cry out to the Lord, from the depths of the well like the trapped horse. But we have some problems. We sometimes like the well a little to much, we become used to the deep dark and the light is to much for us. But when we cry out to God to rescue us he hears us. Sometimes though it feels like The horse and the well and God is throwing dirt down on us when really all we need to do is trust in Him to lead us out of the depths we have gotten ourselves into.

We have been going through a lot of who God is and what He has done for us. You see this needs to shape our prayer life, put the focus on God and His glory. Then we are in the right frame of mind to ask God for what we are going through. We come to God seeking forgiveness for our sin and the Lord is faithful to forgive our sin and erase the record of wrongs.

But the problem is if we cry out to God without remembering our our sins, not wanting to seek forgiveness for our sins then the Lord may not answer us. If our sins we want to keep then the Lord may not answer what we need.

So we wait with hope, we wait expectantly because God is faithful to forgive when we come to him and keeps no record of wrongs. The point is not that we are lot in sin, but rather the darkness of sin is not life as God intended it.

Out of the depths

Psalm 130:1–2 CSB

1 Out of the depths I call to you, Lord! 2 Lord, listen to my voice; let your ears be attentive to my cry for help.

Though the main theme of the passage is not the focus of our sin, but rather the forgiveness of God. But nevertheless we start out with our sin. Out of the depths we cry out to God.

As usual it is when we are in the depths that we feel we need to cry out to God, we always seem to wait till it is to late, or we are to lost. Cry out But out of the depths we are encouraged to cry out to God This reminds me of the story of Jonah.

Jonah 2:1–2 CSB

1 Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish: 2 I called to the Lord in my distress, and he answered me. I cried out for help from deep inside Sheol; you heard my voice.

Jonah was one that ran away from God in the opposite direction that He was supposed to Go. He ended up literally in the depths, in the belly of a fish. He was in the depths of despair because of the situation he had got himself into.

Imagine being Jonah, running from what God is calling you to do till the point where you are at your lowest because you realize you are wrong. You see God sent the great fish to swallow Jonah because God had mercy on Him. sometimes it is hard to see God at work in our lives. But like God heard Jonahs cries for help so he hears our cries in the depths of what we get ourselves into.

Psalm 130:2 CSB

2 Lord, listen to my voice; let your ears be attentive to my cry for help.

We ask the Lord to hear our cries for help and He does, he knows us and listens to our cries. But this is dependent on the next few verses.

Psalm 130:3–4 CSB

3 Lord, if you kept an account of iniquities, Lord, who could stand? 4 But with you there is forgiveness, so that you may be revered.

We get into trouble because of our sin- it is what gets us into the depths but it does not need to stop there, Forgiveness is offered.

In these verse we are reminded that the Lord offers forgiveness to all those that are lost in sin. Even those that are followers of Jesus and have gotten themselves back into sin. The Lord freely forgives the penitent sinner who comes to Him on their knees. When we do this we are also told that the Lord keeps no record of our wrongs. They are forgotten!

God is not up there holding a record of sins over our head when we become His child.

Psalm 103:10–12 CSB

10 He has not dealt with us as our sins deserve or repaid us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his faithful love toward those who fear him. 12 As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

I make mistakes, shocker I know. Sorry if you thought I was perfect. I had someone who I thought was a friend hold a record of wrong against me. I did something wrong, a few things I think and she never told me what I did hurt her till 4 years later when it all came to a head and she stormed out of the church never really to talk to me again. We keep a reord of wrongs sometimes, it is hard not to do. But God forgives and forgets our iniquities when we truly come to Him on our knees.

But what about when we do not seek forgiveness? Vers 3 and 4 tell us this.

Psalm 130:3–4 CSB

3 Lord, if you kept an account of iniquities, Lord, who could stand? 4 But with you there is forgiveness, so that you may be revered.

No one can stand when the Lord will one day hold your iniquities against you.

For one the Bible is clear that if we cry out of the depths of despair but not to deal with the sin in our heart the Lord hears us but may not answer.

Psalm 66:18 CSB

18 If I had been aware of malice in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

Isaiah 59:2 CSB

2 But your iniquities are separating you from your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not listen.

If there is malice and sin in our lives the Lord may not listen to our pleas for help/ Unless we want to first deal with the sin in our lives.

God keeps no record of sin, if we cry out to Him in forgiveness. We have to think with an eternal perspective. What we are saved for is to one day be with Him in heaven and be found having strives to lead people to God.

So what do we do?

Wait on the Lord.

We wait for forgiveness in the Lord God knowing that it is not in vain.

Psalm 130:5–6 CSB

5 I wait for the Lord; I wait and put my hope in his word. 6 I wait for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning— more than watchmen for the morning.

We must wait in the Lord and put our Hope in the Lord, knowing that we are forgiven when we come to Him.

You see Though we may be forgiven that does not mean we will always right away have a perfect life. There may still be some of the consequences for a life of sin. Take the son of Sam for example, a notorious serial Killer who is spending life in prison. This is what He said in an interview with someone.

David: Well, the past, the scars of the past are always going to remain and haunt me. But I've given my life to Jesus Christ. And he has let me know in his Word that he has forgiven me completely. All my sins are washed away.

SCOTT: It is hard for a lot of people to accept. I've talked to a lot of people on the streets in New York. And said, "What would you say to this man?" It's amazing to me, but honestly two-thirds of them said they would forgive you. Yeah. People are very compassionate, but there are other people that would still hold that against you, for those heinous crimes.

People didn't believe that such a man could be forgiven, didn't want to believe it. He was still in prison after becoming a follower of Jesus, people still hated him for wht he did. Life just didnt suddenly get better. Berkowitz is still serving his life sentence but has been actively involved in prison ministry, sharing his story of redemption and writing about how his faith has transformed him. He has expressed remorse for his crimes and has used his testimony to speak about the power of God’s forgiveness.

With Patience we wait upon the Lord and put our hope in Him.

We must learn to submit to the Lord. We my be in the dark but we patiently wait for the trans-formative light of Jesus to change our lives. We wait in the grace of God knowing that in our desperate state we must submit to the sovereign Lord waiting for the grace of God.

We struggle with this idea, waiting patiently on the Lord God for His timing, and for His will. We are forgiven if we ask with a contrite heart but we wait patiently for the Lord to work in our lives and accomplish His will for our lives.

Psalm 130:7–8 CSB

7 Israel, put your hope in the Lord. For there is faithful love with the Lord, and with him is redemption in abundance. 8 And he will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.

Wait expectantly on the Lord for He will deliver you now from your sin and deliver you from the toil of this life eternally one day. Put your hope in the Lord.

There is a great divide between the sin and iniquity of man and the goodness of God. We believe that God is a good God but our sin makes us far from Him. But we are also reminded with God we are offered forgiveness, a love that never fails and deliverance in part now and soon for eternity.

So What?

Psalm 130 confronts us with the reality that we are or maybe once where lost in the depths of sin and despair not knowing how to get out. We are confronted with our sin. But We can wait expectantly for God to hear our cries and have hope for Help for He is faithful to forgive.

The Lord is Faithful to forgive when we call on Him.

The first thing that we remember is that the Lord is faithful to forgive when we call on His name. The Lord will hear our prayers when we call on Him to forgive us from what we have done. But the problem is that the Lord will keep a record of wrongs if we refuse to come to Him on our knees.

Is the Lord seem to be ignoring you and what is going on in your life? Maybe there is sin not dealt with in your life. Go deal with your sin with God and with others or the Lord may not listen to you.

We must learn to wait on God.

The point of Psalm 130 is not to remind people of their sinfulness—my hunch is that most if not all of us are keenly aware of our brokenness and sinfulness. The point of Psalm 130, rather, is to remind people that the darkness of the depths is not life as God intended it—that such darkness is not the end of our story.

Psalms, Volume 2 Contemporary Significance

To be forgiven by God, to be initiated in the life of God’s kingdom, is to be transferred from one narrative—the narrative of death-dealing sin—to the narrative of God’s reconciliation in Christ. And in the latter narrative, we are forgiven of our sin so that we can learn to become holy through lifelong repentance and forgiveness

Wait on the Lord, sometimes life doesn't get better like we would think it should right away, but our record of wrongs has been erased, for heaven we are destined so for now we live for the glory of the Lord.

Heavenly Father, Out of the depths of our hearts, we cry to You, O Lord. We call upon You, knowing that You hear our voice even in the darkest moments. Lord, we ask You to be attentive to our cries for mercy, for we know that without Your grace, we are lost.

If You, O Lord, kept a record of our sins, who among us could stand? But we are grateful that with You, there is forgiveness—mercy that flows abundantly to those who seek You. You wipe away our guilt and shame, not because of our worthiness, but because of Your boundless love and grace.

We wait on You, Lord, more than the watchmen wait for the morning. Our souls long for Your presence, for Your Word gives us hope. We trust in Your unfailing love, knowing that You will redeem us from all our iniquities.

Teach us to walk in the light of Your mercy, to live with reverence and humility before You. Help us to trust in Your forgiveness and to extend that same grace to others. May we find hope in Your redemption and peace in the assurance that You are always near.

In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.