Focus

Stop and thank God for being present with you today. Ask for God’s guidance as you hear God’s voice through scripture and the writer.

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Read

Psalm 130 (NRSV)

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.

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Reflect

When I was in school, I remember constantly hearing about something called a Permanent Record. This Permanent Record was said to contain not only my grades, but also an account of every time I got into trouble at school. I assume that the fear of having something unfavorable in one’s Permanent Record was intended to encourage better behavior. If this mysterious Permanent Record actually existed, in my case, it did not work very well. I am sure that mine was full of, shall I say, unflattering entries.

In Psalm 130, the writer indicates that if God kept a Permanent Record of all our sins we would all be in deep despair. “If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand?” (verse 3). The answer to this rhetorical question is that no one can stand before a holy God, for “…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). I am glad that the psalmist does not leave us wallowing in our despair, standing in fear of our Permanent Record. We are assured that when we cry out to the Lord from the depths of our despair, seeking help and forgiveness, God offers us the forgiveness and redemption we seek and need. Indeed, God’s love for us is steadfast, never wavering.

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Pray

Triune God, we praise you for your steadfast love. We praise you that you hear our cries, even when they come out of the depths of our despair. We praise you that you offer us redemption through Jesus Christ our Lord, in whose name we pray. Amen.

Go with God.