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Listen to the devotional here: https://bit.ly/3zSswcW
1 A Song of Ascents. Out of the depths I cry to thee, O LORD! 2 Lord, hear my voice! Let thy ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications! 3 If thou, O LORD, shouldst mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand? 4 But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. 5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; 6 my soul waits for the LORD more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. 7 O Israel, hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plenteous redemption. 8 And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities. (Psalm 130 RSV) 1 Help, God - the bottom has fallen out of my life! Master, hear my cry for help! 2 Listen hard! Open your ears! Listen to my cries for mercy. 3 If you, God, kept records on wrongdoings, who would stand a chance? 4 As it turns out, forgiveness is your habit, and that's why you're worshiped. 5 I pray to God - my life a prayer - and wait for what he'll say and do. 6 My life's on the line before God, my Lord, waiting and watching till morning, waiting and watching till morning. 7 O Israel, wait and watch for God - with God's arrival comes love, with God's arrival comes generous redemption. 8 No doubt about it - he'll redeem Israel, buy back Israel from captivity to sin. (Psalm 130 The Message)
I love to swim in places where I can touch the bottom. That way if i get tired, I just stand up! And at the time of this writing, my sister-in-law Blanca and her family just visited a state park called Bottomless Lake State Park. And she sent pictures of them standing in the beach part of the lake. And since Nellie shares the same attitude about swimming we shared our fear for our family members being where they were.
In life, we sometimes hit rock bottom, or worse, the bottom falls out and we do all we can just to stay afloat. The psalmist had just had one of those days, but he knew just what to do, as should we. He turned to God and asked for mercy, well aware that God does not keep records of our wrongdoings. That's great news for any who know how we stand before the Lord. We need to be honest and admit we stand before God with our own record of wrongdoings; but God forgets when He forgives; it's us who do a way better job of remembering and judging ourselves. The key is to wait, that is, to be patient with the Lord while being patient also with ourselves. If forgiveness can be God's habit, why can't it be ours as well? And the best way to have this peace and patience comes from a regular prayer life; a truly conversational form of worship, talking and listening to God, just as He talks and listens to us. And such a life can be an example and a model for others. God welcomes and forgives all who approach Him; and God depends on us to guide people to Him and His grace and love.
PRAYER: Loving God, when we sink to the lowest, we know there is still many more levels below where we find ourselves; guide us upward and then onward. Thank You for the words of David who knew Your love and forgivness; we seek to grow to the point where we become easier on ourselves as we seek Your guidance away from evil and all temptation. This we pray in Christ Jesus, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Blessings of calm and peace,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
