Deliverance and Forgiveness
How can the deliverance of God’s compassion meet us here?
Psalm 79:8-9, The Inclusive Bible
Don’t hold our former sins against us.
In your tenderness, quickly intervene,
for we can hardly be crushed lower.
Help us, O God of our salvation,
for the sake of your glorious Name!
Deliver us! Atone for our sins
and rescue us for your Name’s sake!
This is a Psalm of Asaph, a Levite singer, prophet, and poet who served in King David's and King Solomon's courts.
His plea is that God not hold the wrongs of generations past against the current generation. He longs for God’s compassion to meet the people where they are: at a low point. Pleading for deliverance and forgiveness, Asaph desperately wants to move beyond the devastation wreaked upon the city and people of God. Bewilderment and desire for retribution are laced throughout this prayer. The raw shock of assault and oppression. Asaph knows that if God’s compassion can meet their desperation, a way forward can be forged.
What low point is the generation of 2024 in? What is it defined by? How can the deliverance of God’s compassion meet us here?
Forgiveness of wrongs is core to the belief and practice of faith. Knowing where we’ve strayed from God’s intentions helps us to realign with God’s intention that we flourish. Do you need to ask forgiveness for any wrongs tonight?