Psalm 130

One of the misunderstandings rampant in traditional Christianity is the idea that the obstacle to our salvation is forgiveness. We have, therefore, constructed an entire theology around the life and death (especially the death) of Jesus that advances the idea that before His death, God the Father wouldn’t forgive us, but after His death, God the Father acquiesced, and we can now be forgiven for our sins.

As if God the Father needed to see someone die in order to be willing to forgive.

And, by the way, if God the Father received “payment” for our sin—even from a third party—then He cannot be said to have forgiven us. Forgiveness implies letting go of a debt owed—perceived or real. It means giving up the “right” to settle the score. If God the Father settled the score through Jesus, then our sins weren’t forgiven, they were settled. It seems to me you can’t have it both ways.

But, thankfully, the idea that God is not a forgiver is contrary to the whole message of Scripture. God is a forgiver! And He is an immediate forgiver! He doesn’t wait for us to ask Him for forgiveness. When we finally get ’round to asking Him for forgiveness, we find that it was already there to begin with.

The psalmist describes that in today’s psalm: “If you, LORD, kept a record of sins, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you.” (vs 3-4)

Didn’t that make you think of Paul’s description of love in his letter to the Corinthians? “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged” (1 Cor 13:4-5).

God doesn’t keep a record of sins. He doesn’t count up our mistakes or keep a heavenly score card. More importantly, God doesn’t hold grudges. When He has been hurt by our thoughts, words, and actions—and He most certainly has!—He doesn’t look for a way to “settle the score.” He doesn’t wait for a chance to get revenge. He lets go of the hurt and redoubles His efforts to be kind to us. He turns the other cheek. He says, “I forgive you.”

No matter what you’ve done in your past, no matter what you may do today, no matter what you will do in the future, God forgives you. Trying to get Him to forgive us is not the goal of salvation. God is an immediate forgiver, and His forgiveness is immense, everlasting; it never runs out.

Our problem is with sin, not with Him!