Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD! O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy! If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.
Psalm 130:1-4
How are you feeling this morning?
The ‘depths’ and the difficulties that the Psalmist faced caused him to cry out to the Lord and we can do the same. You may be facing all sorts of problems – health worries, financial difficulties, anxieties over loved ones, uncertainties about the future due to the virus – we can bring them all to God. But what is your biggest problem?
We shouldn’t be taking the current situation lightly, but covid-19 is not the biggest problem you nor I are facing. The situation is serious, and we need to heed the warnings and follow the instructions of the government carefully, but this Psalm reminds us that there is a bigger danger and problem that we’re in.
We are sinners.
And this puts us in the terrible situation of being enemies of God, the one who made heaven and earth and is perfectly holy in every way. If the Lord were to mark iniquities who could stand? Not you nor I, we would all surely be rightly condemned for our evil hearts and living our lives in direct contradiction to how God created us to be. We would have no hope and face an eternity in hell without our creator and every good thing he has created.
But with God there is forgiveness.
God loved you and I so much that He sent his only Son to do what we couldn’t do and live the perfect life of obedience that God rightly demanded. He then died on the cross, taking the punishment we deserve as the Father turned his face away from him. He endured God’s wrath on Calvary and then came back to life again three days later, breaking the power of death and offering new life to all who believe in Him.
My dear friend. Have you been saved? Have you turned to Christ in faith and asked him for forgiveness? He will never turn you away. If you are a child of God your biggest problem is no more!
You may be feeling worried this morning as the severity of the covid-19 situation and the unprecedented changes to our lives hit home, but this Psalm gives perspective.
As a child of God, you are safe and free! The biggest problem and danger you ever faced has been dealt with and you have a glorious future as you travel home safely to your Father’s arms.
As Paul said in Romans 8…
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Written by Steffan Job (Capel y Ffynnon, Bangor)