The forgiveness that changes everything

"If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you."Psalm 130:3-4

Here the psalmist says the most honest thing in the whole Psalm: if God kept a record of our sins, no one could stand. No one. Not the pastor, not your grandmother, not the kindest person you know. He doesn't leave himself out of the count. And he doesn't leave you out either.

Think about that for a second, without defending yourself. If everything you have ever said, thought, and hidden were written on a sheet of paper, right in front of God. We spend our lives running from that sheet: justifying ourselves, comparing, saying "but so-and-so is worse." Verse 3 stops running. It looks at the sheet and admits: I could not stand.

And then comes the word that turns the whole Psalm upside down. Three letters: "But." But with you there is forgiveness. Not "with you there's a chance if you do better." Not "with you there's a deadline." There is. It was already there before you arrived, like a porch light someone left on.

And look at the strange ending of verse 4: forgiveness exists so that we can serve God "with reverence." Older translations read "that you may be feared," but this fear isn't dread. It's reverence, the wonder of someone who expected the bill and got a hug instead. We don't respect God because he keeps score. We bow because he forgives. It's forgiveness that makes us want to stay close, not run away.