Psalm 130:7,8 –

O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with him is plenteous redemption.

And he will redeem Israel

from all his iniquities.

If Psalm 130 begins with the author "in the pits", it ends with a call to hope.

There are two grounds for this hope. One is God's "steadfast love," God's loyalty to his promises, God's absolute commitment to keep his side of the covenant even when we often default on ours.

The second is God's promise of redemption to his people. Notice how the psalm begins with the author's own personal problems and personal distress, but how in verses 7 and 8 these problems are seen in the light of God's love and care for his people. When the Israelites were in slavery in Egypt, God promised them, "I will deliver you from bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm" (Exodus 6:6). God kept his promise. In Titus 2:14 we are reminded that Christ "gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and to purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds." Through faith we belong to the People of God, the people whom God loves with a steadfast love, the people whom God has set free to serve him.

Prayer: Lord, how often things look hopeless – in our personal lives, in the life of the church, in the world in which we live. Give us a new awareness of your redeeming love so that we may indeed hope in the Lord. Amen.

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