“I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning. Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.” Psalm 130:5-8
Believers place their hope and trust in the promises of God’s Word and eagerly await the fulfillment of all that the LORD God has promised. The true Israel, those who share in the faith of Abraham, place their hope and confidence in the LORD and His now-fulfilled promise to send a Savior from sin and eternal death and damnation. We place our hope and confidence in the mercy of God for the sake of the plenteous redemption accomplished by Jesus Christ, God’s own dear Son, when He suffered and died on the cross to redeem us from all our sins.
We look to You, O LORD, for mercy and forgiveness in the shed blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And we await the fulfillment of all You have promised to those who trust in Jesus, Your Son, and our Savior. Amen.
[Scripture is quoted from the Revised Webster revision (RWebs) of the King James Bible.]
“Out of the depths have I cried to thee, O LORD. Lord, hear my voice: let thy ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.” Psalm 130:1-4
None of us measures up to the requirements of God’s law. We all stand condemned and guilty. We cry out to Him from the depths of our hopeless condition. If the LORD God were to record all our sins and shortcomings and hold them against us, not one of us could stand in His judgment. But our God forgives sins! When we honor Him and look to Him with faith in the promises of His Word to show us mercy for the sake of the perfect sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, in our stead, He pardons and forgives our sins and counts us righteous in His sight.
Out of the depths of our sinfulness, we cry unto You, O LORD. We have sinned in our thoughts, desires, words, and actions and are guilty. Have mercy upon us, O LORD, and forgive our sins for the sake of Jesus and His atoning sacrifice on the cross in our stead. In His name, we pray. Amen.
[Scripture is quoted from the Revised Webster revision (RWebs) of the King James Bible.]
“For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” Romans 8:29
It is the gracious will of God that those whom He foreknew as His own would be conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. The goal of God the Father in sending His own Son into the world to redeem us from sin and the just condemnation of God’s law is not that we would continue in our old sinful ways but that we would repent of our sins, trust in Christ Jesus our Savior, and become like Him!
Grant us true repentance and faith in the Son, O God, so that we might become more and more like Him and be changed into His image at His coming. Amen.
[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]
“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” Romans 8:18
All of us suffer under the curse brought upon the world by sin, and, as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we suffer the hatred of unbelievers and may be persecuted for clinging to Christ and His Word. Yet, the sufferings we endure in this world are nothing compared to the glory that awaits us as believers when Christ returns and takes us to be with Him in His eternal, heavenly kingdom.
Keep our eyes focused on You, O Lord, and on the glory that awaits us in heaven for the sake of Your innocent sufferings and death in our stead. Amen.
[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]
“Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” 2 Corinthians 5:9-10
As believers in Christ Jesus, whether yet living in this world or absent from our mortal bodies, our desire, our goal, is to be acceptable and pleasing to Christ Jesus, our Savior, knowing that we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ and be judged according to what we have done while still in our earthly bodies, whether that be good or bad. The only way to be acceptable in God’s eyes is to turn from our sinful ways and look to Christ and His cross for pardon and forgiveness and then seek His help and strength to live for Him according to His perfect will.
Forgive me, O God, for my sins through the shed blood of Christ Jesus, my Savior, and cleanse my heart so that I might seek to live for You according to Your Word and please You in all I think, say, and do. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]
