Psalms 130:4
But with You there is forgiveness, so that You may be feared.
BSB
ASV
But there is forgiveness with thee, That thou mayest be feared.
KJV
But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.
forgiveness is what makes God fearable rather than merely feared — mercy grounds reverence
But there is forgiveness with thee,.... And with God only; not with angels, nor any of the sons of men; and which flows from his grace and mercy, through the blood of his Son. It appears to be with him by his promise of it in covenant; by appointing his Son to shed his blood for it, and exalting him as a Saviour to give it; by proclaiming it in the Gospel; and by the numerous instances of it, both under the Old and under the New Testament.
Forgiveness - Thou art able and ready to forgive repenting sinners. Feared - Not with a slavish, but with a childlike fear. This mercy of thine is the foundation of all religion, without which men would desperately proceed in their impious courses.
God's grace discovered, and pleaded with him, by a penitent sinner: But there is forgiveness with thee. It is our unspeakable comfort, in all our approaches to God, that there is forgiveness with him, for that is what we need. He has put himself into a capacity to pardon sin; he has declared himself gracious and merciful, and ready to forgive, Exod. xxxiv.
But there is forgiveness with thee. Blessed but. Free, full, sovereign pardon is in the hand of the great King: it is his prerogative to forgive, and he delights to exercise it. Because his nature is mercy, and because he has provided a sacrifice for sin, therefore forgiveness is with him for all that come to him confessing their sins. The power of pardon is permanently resident with God: he has forgiveness ready to his hand at this instant. "That thou mayest be feared." This is the fruitful root of piety.
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
The walk8
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
Isaiah 55:7Let the wicked man forsake his own way and the unrighteous man his own thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely…
leads to
He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.
Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
But if the wicked man turns from all the sins he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die.
In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.”
I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.
Through
Psalms 86:5For You, O Lord, are kind and forgiving, rich in loving devotion to all who call on You.
leads to
The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion.
Through
Daniel 9:9To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, even though we have rebelled against Him
leads to
to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the Beloved One.
To You, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but this day we are covered with shame—the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, and all Israel near and far, in all the countries to which You…
