Calling to God

Psalm 86:5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. (ESV)

Have you ever done something so bad, so wrong, so hurtful to someone you love, that you can’t imagine ever coming back from that? You can’t imagine that this relationship would ever survive? And then … then that person forgives you.

When someone forgives you for something that you know is and should be unforgiveable, that feeling of release, of restoration, of freedom is one that’s difficult – no, it’s impossible – adequately to put into words. There are no words. But you are forgiven.

I heard well known Hollywood actor Denzel Washington recently pay tribute to his wife of many years, Pauletta. Choked up and with tears welling in his eyes, one of the things he said about her was this, “Forty years of her forgiveness, despite myself.”

Forgiveness is where love comes up to its highest level. Forgiveness is love’s most exquisite form, prompting the psalmist to pen these words:

Psalm 86:5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. (ESV)

As 19^th Century American pastor, Horace Bushnell, put it, “Forgiveness is our deepest need and God’s highest achievement.”

And that achievement came to pass on a blood-drenched Cross on a hill outside Jerusalem, as the Son of God was nailed to it to pay for my sin and yours, satisfying God’s justice so that by believing in this Jesus, you and I could be forgiven.

No matter what you’ve done, when you put your trust in Jesus and what He’s done for you, God will meet your greatest need through His highest achievement. You are forgiven.

For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.

That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.