Psalm 130:4, "But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.”
This verse points our attention to the wonderful truth of the forgiveness of sins. What mercy and grace there is in the Gospel message that we who were once lost in the darkness of sin can now experience a full forgiveness. The Bible tells us that the only way we can have this forgiveness is through the precious shed blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. In God’s act of justification, He takes all of our sins away from us and imputes them to Christ, and He takes all of the righteousness that Christ earned and imputes that righteousness to us. As a believer, you stand before a Holy God clothed in the perfect and complete righteousness of Jesus Christ. O believer, what a glorious forgiveness we have in Christ.
But the verse we are considering says that “there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.” I am afraid that the fear of the Lord is a biblical truth that is largely ignored in our day. The best definition of the fear of the Lord that I have ever heard is this: To fear the Lord is to live in the awareness of God. At your job, you always try to do your best when the boss is around. I remember one summer I worked as a bricklayer’s helper. Some of the other helpers were so lazy that they only worked when the boss was looking. Well, as Christians, we are supposed to be working in the Kingdom of God, and we must remember that the Lord sees everything that we do. If you are really living in the fear of the Lord, it will stop you from sinning because you realize that the Lord is always watching.
But why are we supposed to fear the Lord? Is it because we are afraid that the Lord is going to punish us if we don’t? Do you view God as a heavenly policeman who is just waiting for you to mess up so that He can get you? I have to tell you that God does not act like that. Remember the words of the verse we are considering. There is forgiveness with God. If you are saved and washed in the blood of Christ, all of your sins – past, present, and future have been forgiven. You stand clothed in the perfect righteousness of Christ. That means that you and I are to fear the Lord, not out of a fear of punishment, but instead out of a heart full of thanksgiving for the forgiveness of sins that we have in Christ.
My friend, let me ask you: Do you know the forgiveness of sins in your own heart today? Do you know for sure that if you stood before the Lord today, you would stand before Him completely forgiven? You know there is a way you can know that for sure. The Bible says that “him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out.” If you are not saved, come to Christ today. You don’t have to wait to be in a church building, and you don’t even need to talk to a preacher. Just come to Christ in simple faith. You can be confident that if you come to Christ in repentance and faith that He will take you in and forgive you of all your sins. If you are not saved, won’t you come to Him today? “There is forgiveness with God that He may be feared.”
