Ps. 65, There will be silence before You, and praise in Zion, O God, And to You the vow will be performed. 2 O You who hear prayer, To You all men come. 3 Iniquities prevail against me; As for our transgressions, You forgive them. 4 How blessed is the one whom You choose and bring near to You To dwell in Your courts. We will be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, Your holy temple.
Ps.130, Out of the depths I have cried to You, O LORD. 2 Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive To the voice of my supplications. 3 If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 4 But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared.
Notice in Ps.65 that keeping vows before before God is what the people who live in His “nearness” do. Yet, if you look at that last verse in Ps. 30 you see that it’s God’s willingness to forgive us that creates Holy fear, or awe; the kind of fear that cultivates obedient, therefore vow keeping hearts. The people that God brings near; that is, those who long for nearness, are people who often need forgiveness. I believe that God’s greatness and goodness is most displayed in His ability, His desire, and His willingness to forgive. Rom. 15:13 says that God is the “God of hope,” and nothing releases more hope into the hearts of people made of dust than forgiveness. Only Christianity declares that the way God changes us is through grace and mercy, instead of the threat of condemnation. It is true that righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne, but the throne He sits on is a throne of grace from which He dispenses grace and mercy. In other words, grace and mercy are expressions of our great God’s righteousness and justice. This is a word for those who long for nearness and transformation, therefore if you are one of those, who aren’t perfect yet, keep pressing in, praising Him who doesn’t mark our iniquities.