Verses: Psalm 130Sample

Psalm 130:7-8
[7] O Israel, hope in the LORD!
For with the LORD, there is steadfast love,
and with him is plentiful redemption.
[8] And he will redeem Israel
from all his iniquities.

Welcome to our last day in Psalm 130! Thank you for joining us and prioritizing God’s Word in your life… We hope this psalm lingers on in your life way past these four days and shapes you in powerful ways for weeks and years to come! Here in verse 7, the psalmist suddenly transitions from personal prayers and invites others around to join in too: to journey from the depths of despair to the heights of hope. That’s the truth, is it not? We can only invite others to find hope where we find it. In this case, we point people to hope in Yahweh, the covenant-keeping God! What kind of God is it that we’re hoping in? We’re given two reasons for this hope: He’s the God of steadfast love and plentiful redemption.

First, with God there is steadfast love. 1 John 4:16 tells us God is love. In all likelihood, all of us have experienced someone claiming to love us but whose actions reveal otherwise. Was it “love” or was it “like”? The truth is humanity can only imperfectly image God’s love to one another, and while we get closer sometimes than others, the hard reality is we’ll fail time and time again. The good news that Psalm 130 reminds us of is that God’s love toward us isn’t a summer fling sort of love that burns with passionate fire but flickers out as quickly as it started… It’s not determined by the way He feels when He wakes up in the morning or how stressed He feels on that particular day. His love is steadfast, immovable, and unchanging. In the words of author Sally Lloyd Jones, His love is a “Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love.” This is the kind of love we can bank on, rest our heads on at night, and trust to carry us through the darkest of times. God’s love teaches us to hope in Him.

Second, with Him is plentiful redemption. Over the last few years, the pandemic and various wars exposed the weaknesses in our global supply chain. Some of the most random items in the world were back ordered for months because of something happening around the world. Shortage was a common thing, but not with our God! With Him is plentiful redemption. The word for “redemption” in Hebrew is generally tied to some sort of payment made to regain possession. To redeem something is to buy a lost item or person back; it’s ransom money. Notice the adjective listed before redemption: it’s “plentiful.” Not to be confused with partial redemption or hesitant redemption. It’s our kind Redeemer’s joy to plentifully redeem. Verse 8 carries on with the same gusto and confidence! It doesn’t say, “God might redeem…” It says, “God will redeem.” If our redemption were up to you or me, we’d be in quite a dire situation. However, we’re not just talking about any average person here, but the LORD Himself. It’s Yahweh, the covenant-keeping God. He does what He says, and He completes what He starts (Philippians 1:6). We are told He (God) will redeem His people “from all his iniquities.” No sin is too great or beyond redemption. It’s hard to not think of this verse from the famous hymn by Horatio Spafford “It Is Well”:

My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!—
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

As we close out Psalm 130, consider two realities: your real sins that led to Jesus dying on the cross for them, and God’s real grace that didn’t run from your sins but rather ran toward them to cover them! Allow this complete and plentiful redemption driven by steadfast love, leaving no iniquity left untouched or uncleansed, to spark deep worship in your heart toward God today… As you hope in Him, may these words never leave your lips: “Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!”

Meditate

• Read - Read verses 3-4 a few times out loud. Then read the whole Psalm through!
• Pray - In your journal, write out verses 5-6. The intention here is to slow down with the passage and linger in it. What words or phrases jump out at you? Turn those observations into a prayer for your day. Try writing these verses in your own words.
• Sing - Listen to and/or sing Psalm 130:7-8 by Hannah Glavor below. As you’re able to throughout your day, try to listen to the song a few times on our Verses app or your digital streaming platform of choice. Listen through all 4 songs throughout the day! As we said yesterday, try to allow these verses to be the first and last things on your tongue and mind as you wake up and as you go to sleep, and the anchor for your meditation during the day.