With the Lord there is mercy, and fullness of redemption.
October 19, 2023 - Thursday, 28th Week in Ordinary Time
Psalm 130:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6ab
Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD;
LORD, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to my voice in supplication.
If you, O LORD, mark iniquities,
Lord, who can stand?
But with you is forgiveness,
that you may be revered.
I trust in the LORD;
my soul trusts in his word.
My soul waits for the LORD
more than sentinels wait for the dawn.
We are familiar with the story of Saul, the Pharisee who became the apostle to the Gentiles. He is introduced in the Acts of the Apostles with a statement that he approved the execution of Saint Stephen (Acts 8:1). Then, Luke tells us that Saul breathed murderous threats against the disciples of Jesus and went to Damascus to arrest men and women and bring them to Jerusalem (Acts 9:1-2). However, while on the way, the risen Christ knocked him down and made him blind, disrupting all his plans (Acts 9:3-9).
The psalmist “out of the depths” of personal crisis begins his cry to the Lord asking for forgiveness. We are told that Saul neither ate nor drank but he prayed (see Acts 9:9-11). The psalmist asks: “If you, O LORD, mark iniquities, Lord, who can stand” (Ps 130:3)? What would happen to Saul, if the risen Christ kept track of his wrongdoing and refused to forgive him? What would happen to each one of us if the Lord marked our iniquities?
In his confession, Paul called himself “a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent” (1 Timothy 1:13). In another place, he wrote that he was “unworthy to be called an apostle, because [he] persecuted the church of God” (1 Cor 15:9) and “tried to destroy it” (Gal 1:13). And yet, the Lord Jesus did not mark his iniquities. The psalmist says that with the Lord “is forgiveness” (Ps 130:4). As we read in the Acts of the Apostles, the Lord Jesus sent a Christian brother, Ananias, who brought healing to Paul’s life. Saul was baptised, received the Holy Spirit and immediately began his evangelising work that brought him a crown of martyrdom.
The psalmist says “with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption” (Ps 130:7). Saint Paul fully agrees with this statement. In one of his letters, we read: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost” (1 Timothy 1:15). Saint Paul experienced mercy and fulness of redemption and drew a conclusion that this mercy and redemption is for everyone. If he, “the foremost of sinners”, could be forgiven then there is hope for everyone. If he, who at first was “a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent” (1 Timothy 1:13), could become one of the greatest apostles of Jesus Christ, then we do not need to despair.
The psalmist says: “I trust for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word, I hope” (Ps 130:6). One of the greatest Fathers of the Church, Saint Augustine, after many years of struggles with his sinfulness, was converted by a passage from the writings of Saint Paul. And there are many more examples of people throughout generations who by the power of God’s grace had their lives turned around.
“With the Lord there is mercy and fulness of redemption” (Ps 130:7). Let us then turn to the Lord with trust and hope, and experience the power of God’s forgiveness.