Year 5, Day 273: Psalm 129-130

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Forgiveness

• Forgiveness: Forgiveness is when our sins are absolved by God.  We do not deserve this forgiveness, but God grants it to us anyway.  We cannot earn forgiveness, but God gives it to us anyway.  As we are forgiven by God, He also asks us to forgive others.  In fact, Jesus Himself teaches us to pray for our forgiveness in the Lord’s Prayer when He says, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

This is a very interesting pair of psalms. In fact, I think a better description of these psalms is that they are dichotomous.  Don’t get me wrong.  I think both parts are worth listening to.  But they are very distinct parts.

Psalm 129 is a psalm of vengeance.  The psalmist feels as though they have been oppressed.  They’ve been kicked while they are down.  But the psalmist goes one step further.  The psalmist asks the Lord to repay the evil that’s been done.  He also asks that all those who reject God and His holy city be put to shame as well.  Of course this is a natural human feeling.  Who doesn’t want to see the downfall of the people who persecute them?

On the other hand, we jump straight from this call of vengeance into a plea for mercy and grace and forgiveness.  The psalmist looks to God and asks for their transgressions to be forgotten.  The psalmist readily understands that nobody can stand under God’s judgment without His grace.

The reason I find these psalms interesting is their position beside each other.  One psalm is a call for vindication upon others while the very next psalm is a cry for grace for the self.  I don’t know that two ideas could be contrasted much more clearly in scripture.

Again, though, don’t hear me saying that either one doesn’t have its place.  God will judge and give out recompense – although it is never our place to determine who is guilty and how much recompense they deserve.  God will also give out mercy and grace – and again it is never our place to determine who gets grace and how much they receive.  That is the realm of God.

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