Psalm 36:5 Your love, LORD, reaches to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the skies.
God is faithful, but people can be incredibly fickle. We can be rude or mean, can make other’s lives harder out of spite, meanness, or misunderstanding. And as I think of my own transgressions and those of people close to me on this Good Friday, I can’t help but remember the words of Christ on the cross, as He was dying and His murders were casting lots for His clothing. “Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do’” (Luke 23:34).
Psalm 36:6 Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, Your justice like the great deep. You, LORD, preserve both people and animals.
I have a hard time holding these seemingly incompatible truths in my hands—I am a sinner—petty, mean, rude, angry—saved by undeserved grace. I am the one blithely casting lots for Christ’s garments while He hangs on the cross where I put Him. I am also desperately trying to become more like Christ—wronged and persecuted yet so focused on my Father and His mission that I ask for forgiveness for them while they are in the middle of transgression, utterly unaware of and unconcerned with their sin. I am both the sinner in chains and the one with the key to open them with the power of undeserved forgiveness. That’s a difficult truth for me to reconcile.
Psalm 36:7 How priceless is Your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.
Precious Savior, Forgive me for my sins—large and small, committed knowingly and unintentionally. Help me to have the heart of Jesus when it comes to those who have sinned against me, knowingly and unintentionally. You are my treasure, Lord, my very great reward. My sin and my anger separate me from You. Forgive me. Forgive them. Help me to forgive and let go. Draw me closer to You, Lord. Amen.
Psalm 37:8-9 They feast on the abundance of Your house; You give them drink from Your river of delights. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light.
Have a blessed day.