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Monday 9 January 2012

Forgiveness

PSALM 25

A Plea for Deliverance and Forgiveness
A Psalm of David.

1 To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

2 O my God, I trust in You;
Let me not be ashamed;
Let not my enemies triumph over me.

3 Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed;
Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause.

4 Show me Your ways, O Lord;
Teach me Your paths.

5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
On You I wait all the day.

6 Remember, O Lord, Your tender mercies and Your lovingkindnesses,
For they are from of old.

7 Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions;
According to Your mercy remember me,
For Your goodness’ sake, O Lord.

8 Good and upright is the Lord;
Therefore He teaches sinners in the way.

9 The humble He guides in justice,
And the humble He teaches His way.

10 All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth,
To such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.

11 For Your name's sake, O Lord,
Pardon my iniquity, for it is great.

12 Who is the man that fears the Lord?
Him shall He teach in the way He chooses.

13 He himself shall dwell in prosperity,
And his descendants shall inherit the earth.

14 The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him,
And He will show them His covenant.

15 My eyes are ever toward the Lord,
For He shall pluck my feet out of the net.

16 Turn Yourself to me, and have mercy on me,
For I am desolate and afflicted.

17 The troubles of my heart have enlarged;
Bring me out of my distresses!

18 Look on my affliction and my pain,
And forgive all my sins.

19 Consider my enemies, for they are many;
And they hate me with cruel hatred.

20 Keep my soul, and deliver me;
Let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in You.

21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,
For I wait for You.

22 Redeem Israel, O God,
Out of all their troubles!
(NKJV)

I was just going to put verse 18, but in reading the whole Psalm I felt it needed the context.  This is King David who is at the point of desperation and is acknowledging his need for deliverance and salvation, not just for himself, but for his people, the nation of Israel.

In verse 1 the Hebrew word for "lift up" and in verse 18 the word for "forgive" is the same root נשׂא (nasa’). It is a primitive root and is used both literally and figuratively. It means to "bear" "hold" "carry" "forgive" "lift up". The same root is used in Isaiah 53:4:-

Surely H
e has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows...

As Christians, we have
been forgiven because Jesus, the perfect Son of God, was lifted up on the cross in our place and bore our sins in his body. It is an amazing thing when we realise that in this act, our sin is not just overlooked, but we ourselves are lifted from where we are here on earth in the quagmire of sin up to the realms of glory in heaven with Him. This is done by faith now, but in reality when Jesus returns.

John 3:14-17

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so (in this manner) loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

2 comments:

Simon said...

Amen. Some lovely thoughts there and so true.
Bruv. x

GRAÇA said...

Eu sou uma gata que teve a sorte de ser adoptada com 2 meses por uma mami que me adora e me pôs o nome de Kika ,adoro ter amigos e tenho os todo no meu pequenino coração e quando tenho o asas de ficar sem algum que virou anjinho fico muito triste
Queres pertencer aos grupo dos meus amiguinhos??
Temos alguns em comum
Fico esperando tua visita
Turrinhas e miaus carinhosos da
Kika