1 Out of the depths I have cried to you, Yahweh.
2 Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my petitions.
3 If you, Yah, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand?
4 But there is forgiveness with you, therefore you are feared.
Free Grace note
God offers forgiveness rather than a record of sins, and that is what draws reverent trust. From the depths the psalmist reasons honestly: if you, Lord, kept a record of sins, who could stand? The answer is no one. If God tallied our failures, every person would be condemned on the spot. But verse 4 turns the corner: there is forgiveness with you, therefore you are feared. Notice it is the forgiveness, not the record keeping, that produces reverent awe. Some assume grace makes people careless, that only fear of punishment keeps us in line. This psalm says the opposite. A God who forgives is a God worth revering with our whole heart. The psalm then sweeps to its promise: with him is abundant redemption, and he will redeem Israel from all their sins. All of them, not the smaller ones only. Under the new covenant this is secured in Christ, who paid for sins in full (Ephesians 1:7). The one in the depths does not climb out by producing a clean record; he waits, and receives forgiveness freely.
5 I wait for Yahweh. My soul waits. I hope in his word.
6 My soul longs for the Lord more than watchmen long for the morning; more than watchmen for the morning.
7 Israel, hope in Yahweh, for with Yahweh there is loving kindness. With him is abundant redemption.
8 He will redeem Israel from all their sins.
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