Saturday, August 8, 2015

August 8, 2015: Psalm 130


Psalm 130
Waiting for Divine Redemption
A Song of Ascents.
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.
    Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
    to the voice of my supplications!
If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
    Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with you,
    so that you may be revered.
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
    and in his word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
    more than those who watch for the morning,
    more than those who watch for the morning.
O Israel, hope in the Lord!
    For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
    and with him is great power to redeem.
It is he who will redeem Israel
    from all its iniquities.

Reflection:
Allow me to share with you the first 4 verses of the paraphrase in the Message
1-2 Help, God—the bottom has fallen out of my life!
    Master, hear my cry for help!
Listen hard! Open your ears!
    Listen to my cries for mercy.
3-4 If you, God, kept records on wrongdoings,
    who would stand a chance?
As it turns out, forgiveness is your habit,
    and that’s why you’re worshiped.

I love the first line because I think we have all been there. We have all cried out for help because the bottom has fallen out of our lives. It seems so hopeless and we feel so helpless. The stress is welling inside us, we may cry or at the least we feel the weight and sadness. I can reflect back on those times and the events never seem as bad as they felt in that moment. I cry out, and with God’s help I have made it through them all. I also love the way Patterson paraphrases verse 3 and 4 because I am truly thankful God does not keep record. Most of the times I cried out for help it was because I had messed something up. Even if I may not have directly caused it, I had something to do with it or in the case of my unexpected financial crisis’s I should have done a better job of saving and being prepared. God doesn’t shake his head, God helped me through each time and continues. God is worthy of praise and worship. God is good, all the time


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