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Psalm 130:4
But there is forgiveness with you, therefore you are feared.
2Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my petitions.
3If you, LORD, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand?
4But there is forgiveness with you, therefore you are feared.
5I wait for the LORD. My soul waits. I hope in his word.
6My soul longs for the Lord more than watchmen long for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.
Notice
The word “therefore” links forgiveness with fear of God, a connection that can unsettle the thought that pardon makes him less worthy of reverence.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
How does the word “therefore” challenge your understanding of what it means to fear God?
Write on thisWhat changes in your confession when forgiveness belongs to the God you are addressing?
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Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Jeremiah 33:8–9I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against me. I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned against me and …Both passages locate forgiveness with God, and Jeremiah makes that pardon explicit for sins committed against him.
Isaiah 55:7Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, to our God, for he will freely …The psalm declares that forgiveness is with God, while Isaiah promises pardon to the person who returns to him.
Psalm 86:5For you, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, abundant in loving kindness to all those who call on you.Both psalms address the Lord as one who forgives, grounding prayer in what is true of him.
Matthew 6:12Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.The psalm affirms that forgiveness is with God, and Matthew records a prayer asking him for that forgiveness.
Daniel 9:9To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him.Both passages speak of forgiveness as belonging to the Lord, even in the presence of human sin.
1 Kings 8:39–40then hear in heaven, your dwelling place, and forgive, and act, and give to every man according to all his ways, whose heart you know (for you, even you only, …Both texts turn toward God for forgiveness; the prayer in Kings also acknowledges his knowledge of every human heart.
2 Corinthians 5:19namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses, and having committed to us the word of reconciliation.God's forgiveness is the shared thread, with Corinthians describing God in Christ reconciling people without counting their trespasses against them.
Colossians 1:14in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins.Forgiveness is central in both texts, and Colossians names it alongside redemption.
Micah 7:18–20Who is a God like you, who pardons iniquity, and passes over the disobedience of the remnant of his heritage? He doesn’t retain his anger forever, because he …Both passages identify God as the one who pardons sin, with Micah connecting that pardon to his loving kindness.
Exodus 34:7keeping loving kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and disobedience and sin; and who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the …Both passages affirm God's forgiveness while retaining the gravity of sin: the psalm speaks of fear, and Exodus also names judgment.
Isaiah 1:18“Come now, and let’s reason together,” says the LORD: “Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they …Both passages speak of God's pardon for sin, which Isaiah pictures through scarlet becoming white as snow.
Hosea 3:5Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the LORD their God, and David their king, and shall come with trembling to the LORD and to his blessings …Both passages connect God's goodness toward his people with fear or trembling: forgiveness in the psalm, blessings in Hosea.
Where this verse fits
Guilt and confession. praise and worship.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
Forgiveness is with the Lord you approach in prayer. His pardon gives you reason to draw near with reverence; he remains the God to be feared.
Now put it in your words.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).