Blot out my iniquities

Psalms 51:9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out my iniquities.

I saw an interesting article in the “your letters” section of the Idaho State Journal. It was about an elderly person who, thou deserving of a ticket, instead was let go. Undeserved grace occasionally happens from unexpected places.

Imagine a life where you were not sure if you were forgiven. Imagine an existence where you are constantly living under the threat of an eternity in hell because you were not reconciled with God the Father. It would be a miserable existence. To not have the assurance that your past was in the past would make for a difficult future. To have the life where all that is in the past is still there, and all that is in the future just keeps piling up would indeed be miserable. It would lend itself to a feeling of hopelessness.  That would be the life of an unbeliever.  A life without promise of a future beyond what is here on earth. Or worse, it could be a life where the end is thought to be eternity in hell.

But thanks be to God through Jesus Christ.  In Psalms 51:9 we ask for our Father in Heaven to “Hide your face from my sins, and blot out my iniquities.”  And He does just that. He placed all the sins of man on the cross with Jesus. And those sins died right there on the cross.  Jesus paid for the sins of all, and gave all the future that we as believers enjoy today. It is a future filled with hope, and with the promise of heaven.  We can find comfort from the unwarranted grace that was poured out for us on that cross on Golgotha.

Psalms 103:10-12 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor replay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him, as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove the transgressions from us. This is the hope we hold onto. It’s a hope that unbelievers can scarcely fathom. Sadly, some will even reject this as folly.

PRAYER: Most merciful God, we are underserving of the grace that you show us. Your steadfast love gives comfort to those who are believers. For this grace, we are eternally grateful. The love expressed by Your Son, on the cross humbles us. We give You thanks, Amen.