What is God Like?

Psalm 130 contains two very interesting verses. “If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, therefore you are feared.” NIV What could this passage mean? Doesn’t God know that I am a sinner? Is all history a blur to him since it is pretty much filled up with men and women sinning? No, the psalmist is saying something else about God.

Most people see God as the great sin “record keeper.” He is jotting each one down and he is going to make us pay for each one. I have had that thought many times myself. “Oh no, I sinned again, now I’m going to get sick or lose some money or have something terrible happen to me.” In hockey terms, I am headed for the penalty box. God’s going to get me back. Many have promoted the “fear of God” based on this idea.

But this passage says something quite different. It says that with God there is forgiveness. He knows when we sin but his purpose is not to punish us every time we screw up. God is a gracious God, desiring for us to come to him and receive forgiveness. That is why he is feared, (honored or respected, held in awe.) He is feared not because he is mean but because he is loving.

Because God is loving and forgiving, the psalmist is anxious to come before him. “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord, more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.” Nothing will improve our desire to come to God more than getting a right perspective on who he is. The psalmist has helped us do this. Sometimes God does need to discipline us to keep us from destructive behaviors. But his loving purpose is to draw us to himself. He is not the sin record keeper but the sin forgiver and that makes all the difference.