#DailyDevotion The LORD Doesn’t Want To Remember Our Sins
Psalm 130 Out of the depths I call to You, O LORD. 2O LORD, listen to me calling; let Your ears be alert to hear my plea. 3If You remembered sins, O LORD, who could survive? 4But You forgive us to have us fear You. 5I wait for the LORD; I wait and look for Him to do what He said. 6I turn to the LORD more than those who watch for the morning, yes, more than those who watch for the morning. 7Israel, put your hope in the LORD; the LORD is gracious and there is unlimited forgiveness with Him. 8He will rescue Israel from all their sins.
I don’t know if the Psalms of ascent were sung in the order listed in the Psalter. But if they were, I could see this Psalm placement here. When they have sung this psalm they have drawn much closer to the Temple. Drawing closer to the Temple they may be feeling in themselves the pinch of guilt’s tug on their conscience since the last time they’ve been to the Temple and offered up the sacrifice for their sins. They may feel the weight of their sins just as many do when they first come to Church knowing the presence of the LORD is there. So we and they cry out at the beginning of the service, “Out of the depths I call to You, O LORD. 2O LORD, listen to me calling; let Your ears be alert to hear my plea.”
The LORD God is omniscient. He knows everything. Yet, He does not want to remember our sins. If He did remember our sins, how could we survive? This is not the sort of God the devil would have us believe in. Satan would have us believe God is remembering every little peccadillo we engage in and can’t wait to punish us for them. But no, the LORD lets a lot of stuff slide, even for His own name’s sake. So He forgets our many sins so He can be kind to us, which is what He wants to do.
The LORD forgives us so we may fear him, that is so we may revere Him. When we revere Him, we hold Him and awe and worship Him. We trust Him but we dare not take His graciousness toward us for granted. That we may know the goodness, kindness, the mercy and forgiveness of the LORD, He prepared a sacrifice for us, the LORD Jesus Christ, who was sacrificed for our sins. If we are in doubt the LORD has forgiven our sins, we need only look to the cross. But if that is not enough, He has given us pastors with the words of absolution on their lips. If we still need something more, we have the LORD’s Supper, which has the blood of the New Testament in which the LORD has promised He forgives our sins and remembers them no more. (Jer. 31:31ff)
So we look to the LORD continuously and wait for Him to fulfill all His promises to us. Back in the day, there were watch men who looked out over the city walls, looking for those who may want to harm the city. They would desire to see the morning because they could see clearly for a distance that they and the city were safe. We wait for the LORD in similar fashion, desiring He would fulfill all His promises to us.
Finally, there is a call to put our hope in the LORD. This hope is based on His name (Ex. 34:6) which the psalmist recalls in part here. His name is gracious and unlimited forgiveness. He indeed will rescue His Israel, His Church from all their sins. He wants us to be mindful of this so He gives us multiple means of grace, the preached word, baptism, absolution, the LORD’s Supper, and the mutual forgiveness shared by fellow Christians. Through these means, the LORD Jesus Christ continually hammers into our hearts, eyes, hands, and mouths the His name which is mercy, kindness, steadfast love, grace and forgiveness. We can then rejoice in it and fear Him with a proper fear of His name.
Merciful and gracious Father, always forget and forgive all our sins in Christ Jesus so we may always with good and honest heart fear and worship for all Your goodness. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.