And When You Hear, Forgive...

And may You hear the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Hear in heaven Your dwelling place; and when You hear, forgive.—1Kings 8:30

And when You hear, forgive... That word, forgive, is like a balm to my soul. For His name's sake, God pardoned my iniquity. In My God I find mercy and grace to help in my time of need. 

3 If You, LORD, should mark iniquities,

O Lord, who could stand?

4 But there is forgiveness with You,

That You may be feared.

7b For with the LORD there is mercy,

And with Him is abundant redemption.

8 And He shall redeem Israel

From all his iniquities.—Ps 130:3-4;7b-8

I am so glad our God is a forgiving God!  There is, therefore, now no condemnation to those who are in Christ. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.  Truly, as it says in Romans, it is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance.  

When The Lord came into my heart and forgave all my sins, utter gratitude filled me. I didn’t even know all that it meant, but what I did know was that Jesus, by His death on the cross, had provided me entrance into heaven and that my sins, past, present and future were forgiven.  He made Him who knew no sin, sin for me, and paid for them on the cross at Calvary. The reality of that even today, almost 30 years later, overwhelms me.  Jesus Christ, the Righteous, is my Advocate.  The One who died for me, lives in me!  He who is faithful and just is on my side.  I am accepted in the Beloved. 

My thinking prior to salvation when I did wrong was to keep doing wrong because I had already gone past the point of no return. There WAS NO going back.  There were no new mercies. I was alone...helpless and hopeless and careening down a self-destructive path.

But God...

Who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved me,

even when I was dead in trespasses, by His grace, made me alive together with His Son, Jesus.  

That day, these words from Psalm 40 became mine...

1 I waited patiently for the LORD;

And He inclined to me,

And heard my cry.

2 He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,

Out of the miry clay,

And set my feet upon a rock,

And established my steps.

3 He has put a new song in my mouth—

Praise to our God;

Many will see it and fear,

And will trust in the LORD.