Waiting for Sunrise - Advent Devotional Day 12

Scripture
"Israel, wait for the LORD! Because faithful love is with the LORD; because great redemption is with our God!" - Psalm 130:7

Reflection
Psalm 130 isn’t necessarily a feel-good passage of scripture, but it’s an honest one. The writer reflects upon their need for God’s forgiveness, acknowledging that if God kept track of all of the different ways they had screwed up along the way, everybody would be in big trouble.

When I read that verse (130:3), I feel the rightness of it. If God kept track of all of my sins over the years, what hope would there be for me, and for any of us? Because of this, I’m really grateful that the psalm doesn’t stop there. Instead, the writer continues.

Forgiveness is with God, they say! Mercy is with God! God isn’t honored because of the threat of their anger and judgment, despite what some of us may have been taught in the past. Instead, God is honored because they are forgiving (130:4), and that forgiveness should lead us to hope.

And not just any kind of hope! It should be focused and stubborn hope that we feel, the kind of hope that someone experiences when they, during the long hours of night, are the one who stays awake for the sunrise. “Israel,” cries the psalmist, “wait for the LORD! Because faithful love is with the LORD; because great redemption is with our God!” Get ready, we’re told! God’s love is coming, like bright fire, and they are bringing love and forgiveness like you can’t even imagine!

Some of us have had a fear of God’s judgment drilled into us, but have we ever been taught to excitedly expect God’s forgiving love? Some of us have been taught to turn our eyes inward, rooting out our sins and failures, but have we ever been encouraged to look to the horizon, to wait for the sunrise?

Yes, we need forgiveness, and it’s no doubt easy to identify why. But, forgiveness is coming, and in fact, it’s already here, breaking over mountains and hills, spilling down into valleys, rolling like a wave of light across riverbeds and plains toward where we stand. The love of God is like a sunrise ever rising on our world, and if we turn our eyes outward, answering the psalmist’s invitation to look up, we will see that the wait is worth it. Faithful love is with the Lord, friends, and if we pay attention, its warmth already lights our faces.

Prayer
Most holy and loving God,
Help us to be honest about our need for you. You know that we need your forgiveness. But, help us to also actually expect you to offer us that forgiveness!
Help us to see how much you do love us, and in ways that we can’t possibly stop or disrupt. Your mercy and your love are like the sunrise, insistent after the darkness of night. Thank you for your faithfulness.
In Christ’s name we pray and give you glory,
Amen.