Psalm 130:7-8 Now Available feat. Hannah Glavor

Dec 27

Psalm 130:7-8 is now available on all streaming platforms!

THE VERSE

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.

The psalmist who penned Psalm 130 concludes this lovely song poem with an exhortation for the people of God to hope in Him. As we talked about in the last devotional on verses 5-6 of Psalm 130, Christian hope isn’t the same as us saying, “I hope it’s sunny tomorrow…” Rather, it’s hope embedded in a person instead of an outcome. We’re told that we find two things with God that should teach us to full put our hope in Him:

First, with the LORD there is steadfast love.

God is love (1 John 4:16). 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.

The pandemic and various wars have exposed the weaknesses in our global supply chain. Some of the most random items in the world are backordered for months because of something happening around the world. Everywhere we look there’s a shortage, but not with our God. The second thing about God we’re told about that urges us to hope in Him is that with Him is plentiful redemption. The word for “redemption” in Hebrew is generally tied to some sort of payment made to regain possession. Basically, to redeem something is to buy a lost item or person back; it’s ransom money. We’re told it’s plentiful redemption, not to be confused with partial redemption, hesitant redemption, or even delayed redemption. In the words of Horatio Spafford in the famous hymn “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!

There’s no amount of cost too large that the God of plentiful redemption cannot pay… No sin too great, no distance too far, no iniquity too bent or far gone! Like the miracle of the fish and the loaves in Jesus’ ministry, there are always leftovers when it comes to His redemption. The Redeemer forever does just that: He redeems! Just like His steadfast love does, His plentiful redemption also teaches us to hope in Him.

With God there is steadfast love. With him there is plentiful redemption.

With God there is steadfast love. With him there is plentiful redemption. Let these two realities lead you to a deeper, more profound hope than you’ve ever had before as we await His return!

The Song & The Artist

Written by Hannah Glavor, Aaron Strumpel, and Joel Limpic. Sung by Hannah Glavor as the fourth and final installment for our Advent 2022 release where we’ll be memorizing the entirety of Psalm 130.

What was the writing process like?

The songwriting process for these Verses songs is such a fun challenge as a songwriter, and collaborating with a team of creatives on this project made it even more fun.

I think it embodies how we all bring different perspectives and all voices are valuable and together we create something wholly new and unexpected.

Anything else you’d want to share?

After the past several years, longing for hope and waiting look and feel different. In the midst of and in the wake of real loss, this passage wasn’t just a cute memory verse to write music to.

To honestly proclaim trust and hope in waiting, amidst loss is this liturgical practice; a created a rhythm of repetition (maybe in song, or season) to wake up to, engage with, and remember what we actually believe - or maybe transform false belief, for the better.

One thing I appreciate about songs in general - as I sing them, I have to check myself. Do I actually want to say these words? Do I mean them? Do I want to mean them? In this case, it’s an opportunity to connect my heart, head, voice, spirit into a woven expression of process and trust.

Music like this forces your hand to wrestle with a choice. In my depths and darkness, in my harsh realities, in the mundane - do I believe my cry is attentively heard? Does my soul wait? When you don’t get an answer or the answer you want, is there still hope? I think in shared voices, no matter the strength of your stance, we can carry each other in faith; reminding each other who we are and whose we are.