Day Fourteen: Psalm 130:3-4
Read
If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness,
that you may be feared.
Listen/Sing
Meditate
We’re lingering on this topic of fear for another day before moving on! One of the most frequent commands in the Bible is, “Do not be afraid…” And yet we’re also told that as humans experience God’s forgiveness, it leads not to more folly and rampant sin but rather more fear and joyful obedience. How do we reconcile the fact that 1 John 4:18 tells us that perfect love casts out fear and Psalm 130:3 that merciful forgiveness produces it? Which one is it? The reality is there are two kinds of fear: one is the unhealthy kind that God wants to banish eternally from our hearts, and the other is one that He is seeking to cultivate and nurture in us… Let perfect love cast out all unhealthy fear from your heart, while also allowing forgiveness to grow the healthiest and most biblical fear in the garden of your heart this season of Advent!