Day 89 with David: The Lord is ready to forgive.

“For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭86:5‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Have you ever known someone, been in a relationship with someone, who seemed to be always poised to jump on any mistake or offense in the relationship? Many times, these same people will—while berating concerning the current offense—spell out every past supposed offense in the relationship. Now, I’m not sure that any relationship can survive long wherein one or both of the people are always looking for a reason to berate the other.

Some people are always ready to jump on someone else’s offense because it keeps them in a position of power, of having something to hold over the other’s head. That way, the other is always trying to “earn” their forgiveness.

Sometimes, the predisposition toward jumping on an offense is to manipulate. For example: to provide a ready reason to not do something they didn’t want to do anyway.

Sadly, I have actually known situations where one person in a marital relationship would punish the other—making them really grovel—over some indiscretion, all the while knowing that they (although their spouse did not know) had done something similar or even worse.

Aren’t you glad that the Lord doesn’t treat us the way we often treat one another?

Now, some people have a very distorted view of the Lord. They see Him as being that person who is looking for a reason to zap you. Think about it, if that were the case, all He would’ve had to do is to leave things the way they were; we were under the penalty of sin with no way to redeem ourselves. Yet, while we were still in our sin, through Jesus Christ, He did for us what we could not do for ourselves. And, if He was still keeping a record of all that we have ever done, how could we stand before Him in judgment without already being condemned?

“If You, Lord, should keep an account of our sins and treat us accordingly, O Lord, who could stand [before you in judgment and claim innocence]?”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭130:3‬ ‭AMP‬‬

In our portion from Psalms today we see David declaring that the Lord is “ready to forgive.” In other words, it is His desire to forgive us; and He doesn’t make us jump through all kinds of hoops to receive the forgiveness. Additionally, having been forgiven, He definitely doesn’t hold our sin over our heads! It only takes a penitent heart to trigger the forgiveness God is already predisposed to give.

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities…”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭103:2-4a NKJV‬‬

For today let us know and understand what David knew:

The Lord is ready to forgive.

#100dayswithdavid