-Devotion by Tom Siderius (MI)
Read today together the song from Psalm 130 where the pilgrims going up from Jericho to Jerusalem for celebrations there sing as they walk and climb up the hills.
Psalms 130(ESV) A SONG OF ASCENTS.
1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD!
2 O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleas for mercy!
3 If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
4 But with you there is forgiveness,
that you may be feared.
5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
6 my soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning,
more than watchmen for the morning.
7 O Israel, hope in the LORD!
For with the LORD there is steadfast love,
and with him is plentiful redemption.
8 And he will redeem Israel
from all his iniquities.
Out of the depth of our despairs we cry out to You our God. Please Yahweh hear my voice as I call to You for the mercy that I need. There are no other ears that hear my heart.
I see my own heart in this cry of despair as I read. If God would mark down my iniquities I would be immediately condemned to death. The word in the Hebrew for iniquity here is the word “avon” or “aon”. This word is not just a sin against God where we make a mistake but goes to our bent nature or the perversity of our hearts. We have a rebellious nature that is at the root of our lives that can only be addressed by the ministration of our God by the application of a new heart that we receive when we accept Jesus as Lord.
In God’s Word do I hope. I have only a future and a hope of life to come if I trust in the Word of God which He has spoken. I may not remember all that I have learned immediately, but I am confident every day that God has forgiven me and given me life today and in the future.
What is the sin that we cannot atone for ourselves?
I look for Your help O LORD as the watchman of the night looks for the dawn to come. It is repeated for emphasis, give me hope for my heart, my God, who sees me as I am. Let me see the details of the world around me so that I can walk with Your guidance.
What is the spiritual nature of all that I see at the dawning of understanding?
Only in Yahweh is there lovingkindness (hesed) where God loves us unconditionally if we turn our hearts to Him. Only in our God is there any chance of forgiveness, which is only from His desire to save us and bless us. God is the only source of redemption which is the purchase of us back from the life of perversity we cannot root out ourselves.
How do we come to complete dependence on God for our lives?
Jeremiah 31:3-6(NLT) Long ago the LORD said to Israel:
“I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love.
With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.
4 I will rebuild you, my virgin Israel.
You will again be happy
and dance merrily with your tambourines.
5 Again you will plant your vineyards on the mountains of Samaria
and eat from your own gardens there.
6 The day will come when watchmen will shout
from the hill country of Ephraim,
‘Come, let us go up to Jerusalem
to worship the LORD our God.’”
Prayer
Our Father God, give us the lovingkindness of Your nature to comfort our bent lives. Bring us into Your presence by the intervention of Your Son and give us the intercession that we need to forgive us. Thank you Father for the life You have given us and the hope of a future to come. Help us O LORD as we call out to You the Father of us all. We pray for Your help in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ our Savior.
