WHO’S COUNTING?

If You, LORD, were to keep account of guilty deeds, Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, So that You may be revered. (Psalm 130:3-4 NASB)

The saying is true: “To err is human; to forgive is divine.” Ever since the Fall of mankind into sin, there is NO ONE who is free from that curse. Everyone sins. And one of our ugliest sins is that of keeping strict account of other people’s sins and not our own! It’s that sin that brought Jesus’ denunciation: “You hypocrite!” (Matthew 7:5)

The Psalmist takes comfort in the fact that God is not concerned with keeping account of our sins. He is concerned about our hearts. “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.” (Matthew 15:19) And only God can see the heart! “God does not see as man sees, since man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7) (cf. 1 Corinthians 4:5)

We can’t even see or know our own hearts unless God shines His light on it! That’s why David prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24 ESV) David knew well how deceitful our own hearts can be! (cf. Jeremiah 17:9)

Our inability to see the heart is one reason we are warned against judging:

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” (Matthew 7:1-2 ESV)

“Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.” (1 Corinthians 4:5 ESV)

“There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?” (James 4:12 ESV)

“Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.” (Romans 2:1)

“Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.” (Romans14:4 ESV)

And so on.

Psalm 130:4 tells us that the only One who has the right and ability to judge is the same One with whom there is forgiveness! “But there is forgiveness with You, So that You may be revered.” (NASB) Other translations read, “be feared,” which is also a valid translation. Our ideas of fear and reverence may seem contradictory, but they unite in this thought: “My deepest desire is to honor and obey the one I revere, and my fear is that I might dishonor that one and bring his displeasure."

Our text says that God is to be feared and revered not because He has the right and ability to judge, but because there is forgiveness with Him! He is eager to forgive when we show even our feeblest expressions of remorse and repentance. (Note, for example, 1 Kings 21:29) Humans are prone to question the sincerity of a confession or statement of remorse. On the other hand, God, who knows the heart, is quick to forgive. “But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them." (Nehemiah 9:17 ESV)

God promised Israel, “For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:34) Can God forget? When it comes to sin, God is the only one who can forget! Only God can cast our sins into the depths of forgiveness (Micah 7:19) and never again hold them against us. That is what merits our reverence. That is the divine attribute we humans need to cultivate by God’s grace.

God is not counting iniquities. He is seeking our heart.

THE FINAL DAY OF ATONEMENT

 ‘For behold, the stone that I have put before Joshua; on one stone are seven eyes. Behold, I am going to engrave an inscription on it,’ declares the LORD of armies, ‘and I will remove the guilt of that land in one day. (Zechariah 3:9)

The Day of Atonement in the autumn of each year was when the high priest offered sacrifice for the sins of all the people. The fact that it had to be repeated every year proves that it was not a complete and permanent "removal" of sin and guilt. It did not make the worshiper perfect in the sight of God. (See Hebrews 10:1) 

But Zechariah prophesied of "one day" when God would remove the guilt of His people by means of the "Branch," the "Stone" which has "seven eyes," symbolizing omniscience. Can there be any doubt who that Person is or what day guilt was removed?  Sadly, medieval Jewish commentator Rashi can only say: 

“One day; I know not what that day is.”

Albert Barnes follows up with this comment:

 "Ask any Christian child, 'On what day was iniquity removed, not from the land only, but from all lands?' he would say, 'On the day when Jesus died.'”

The great and final Day of Atonement, as well as the final Passover, was that day when Jesus died to "take away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). He bore the sin of the world, all the defilement since Adam's first disobedience, and opened the way of salvation for all who will believe. (John 1:12-13; 3:16)  Jesus's death on the cross fulfilled all sacrifices in "one day."