Psalm 130:4 NKJV
But there is forgiveness with You,
That You may be feared.
The Assurance of God’s Forgiveness
My Notes
“But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared.” — Psalm 130:4 (NKJV)
Psalm 130 rises from the depths—a cry of a soul painfully aware of its own sin and absolute inability to stand before a holy God. Yet right in the middle of this desperate plea comes one of the most hope‑soaked declarations in all of Scripture:
“But there is forgiveness with You.”
The psalmist does not say, “There might be forgiveness,” or “If God is in a good mood, He may forgive.”
He declares forgiveness is something God possesses, something He delights to give, something that is always present with Him because it flows from His very character.
God has placed Himself—through covenant, promise, and the sacrifice of His Son—in a position to forgive.
He revealed Himself to Moses as “merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth” (Exodus 34:6–7).
He promised forgiveness to the repentant (Joel 2:13).
He provided the perfect propitiation in Jesus Christ (1 John 2:2).
Where others may withhold forgiveness…
where spouses, family, or coworkers may not release us…
where we cannot even forgive ourselves…
God forgives.
Not reluctantly.
Not sparingly.
Not conditionally.
He forgives fully, freely, and joyfully.
Martin Luther found comfort in simply remembering what he already confessed in the Creed: “I believe in the forgiveness of sins.” When Satan whispered condemnation, when his own conscience roared, the truth remained:
There is forgiveness.
Even if you have sinned repeatedly…
Even if you have backslidden grievously…
Even if guilt seems unbearable…
There is forgiveness.
And this forgiveness leads not to fear in the sense of terror, but to a holy reverence—a glad surrender, a renewed desire to worship, and a tender awe of God’s goodness. As Hosea prophesied, “They shall fear the Lord and His goodness” (Hosea 3:5).
Forgiveness ushers us back into the presence of the One who loves us and makes us lovers of Him in return.
PRAYER
Abba, I come to You as one who needs forgiveness—not excuses, not self‑justification, not defense. Thank You that forgiveness is with You. Thank You that because of Jesus, mercy stands ready even before I ask. Teach me to fear You—not with terror, but with awe, wonder, and love. Restore my joy in Your salvation. Help me trust Your heart more than my guilt and Your promises more than my past. May the reality of Your forgiveness transform how I live, worship, and treat others. I ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Forgiveness belongs to God—it is rooted in His very nature.
- God always forgives the repentant, without hesitation or reluctance.
- Human forgiveness may fail; God’s never does.
- True reverence for God grows out of experiencing His mercy.
- Jesus is the propitiation—the full and final sacrifice securing our forgiveness.
- Forgiveness restores the relationship, not just the record.
CROSS‑REFERENCES (NKJV)
Exodus 34:6–7
And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”
Joel 2:13
So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm.
Hosea 3:5
Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days.
1 John 2:2
And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
Meditation Questions
- Where do I most struggle to receive God’s forgiveness? Why?
- Who in my life has withheld forgiveness—and how has that shaped my view of God?
- What would it look like today to live as someone truly forgiven?
- Write down this sentence and meditate on it:
“Our God is a forgiving God.” - How does God’s kindness lead me to reverent awe?
Proverb for Today
Through wisdom a house is built, And by understanding it is established; By knowledge the rooms are filled With all precious and pleasant riches. A wise man is strong, Yes, a man of knowledge increases strength; Proverbs 24:3-5 NKJV
Daily Scripture
“Who among you fears the Lord? Who obeys the voice of His Servant? Who walks in darkness And has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord And rely upon his God. Isaiah 50:10 NKJV
Bill
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Summary of Commentaries:
God’s forgiveness is always available because it flows from His merciful nature and the sacrifice of Christ. While people may withhold forgiveness—including ourselves—God never does. His pardon invites us to confess honestly, return to Him, and live in reverent awe of His goodness. Forgiveness restores a relationship, not just removes guilt. No matter how far we’ve fallen, Scripture assures us: there is forgiveness with God, and this truth strengthens repentance, hope, and worship.
Commentaries:
Charles Spurgeon
“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. None fear the Lord like those who have experienced his forgiving love. Gratitude for pardon produces far more fear and reverence of God than all the dread which is inspired by punishment. If the Lord were to execute justice upon all, there would be none left to fear him; if all were under apprehension of his deserved wrath, despair would harden them against fearing him: it is grace which leads the way to a holy regard of God, and a fear of grieving him.
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Enduring Word
But there is forgiveness with You: Years of previous relationship with God had taught the psalmist that there is, in fact, forgiveness with God. When we are hit hard with our awareness of sin, it can be hard to believe, but it is true: there is forgiveness with God. (Guzik)
i. There is forgiveness with You: “You may not find forgiveness with other people. Your husband or your wife may not forgive you if you have wronged him or her. Your children may not forgive you. Your coworkers may not forgive you. You may not even be able to forgive yourself. There is one who will, and that one is God. Write down where you can see and reflect on it often: Our God is a forgiving God.” (Boice)
ii. There is forgiveness with You: “And when God once speaks forgiveness, it can never be unspoken. Fear and doubt and misgiving may question, but cannot revoke it.” (Meyer)
iii. “The word rendered ‘forgiveness’…. literally means cutting off, and so suggests the merciful surgery by which the cancerous tumor is taken out of the soul.” (Maclaren)
iv. “When Luther was in great trouble of soul, he was comforted by one who said to him, ‘Dost thou not believe thy Creed?’ ‘Yes,’ replied Luther, ‘I believe the Creed.’ ‘Well, then,’ rejoined the other, ‘one article in it is, “I believe in the forgiveness of sins.’” Luther’s heart was lightened at once by the remembrance of the words in this psalm, ‘there is forgiveness.’ It may be that you have sinned many times and grievously, but ‘there is forgiveness.’ Though a child of God, you have gone far astray from him; but ‘there is forgiveness.’ You have backslidden sadly and horribly, but ‘there is forgiveness.’ The devil comes and howls at you, and tells you that your doom is sealed, and your damnation is sure; but ‘there is forgiveness.’ Oh, blessed sentence!” (Spurgeon)
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Albert Barnes
But there is forgiveness with thee – The Septuagint renders this ἱλασμός hilasmos, propitiation, reconciliation; the Latin Vulgate “propitiatio,” propitiation. The Hebrew word means “pardon.” The idea is that sin may be forgiven, or that God is a Being who does pardon sin, and that this is the only ground of hope. When we come before God, the ground of our hope is not that we can justify ourselves; not that we can prove we have not sinned; not that we can explain our sins away; not that we can offer an apology for them; it is only in a frank and full confession, and in a hope that God will forgive them. He who does not come in this manner can have no hope of acceptance with God.
That thou mayest be feared – That thou mayest be reverenced; or, that men may be brought to serve and worship thee – may be brought to a proper reverence for thy name. The idea is, not that pardon produces fear or terror – for the very reverse is true – but that God, by forgiving the sinner, brings him to reverence him, to worship him, to serve him: that is, the sinner is truly reconciled to God, and becomes a sincere worshipper. The offender is so pardoned that he is disposed to worship and honor God, for God has revealed himself as one who forgives sin, in order that the sinner may be encouraged to come to him, and be his true worshipper.
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John Gill
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 Savior 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. Or, there is “a propitiation with thee”; as the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions render it: God had found out Christ to be the propitiatory sacrifice for sin, and the ransom of his people; and set him forth in his purposes and decrees for that end; and which was made known by the sacrifices of the law, typical of it; and in the fulness of time he sent him to be the propitiation for it, and he is become so; and has made reconciliation for sin, and reconciled his people to God by the sufferings of death; and reconciled all the divine perfections of justice and holiness, grace and mercy, together, in the salvation of men; and is now an advocate the Father for them, pleading the propitiatory sacrifice of himself before him;
that thou mayest be feared; were it not for pardon, and the hope of it, men would be desperate; and, having no hope, would resolve upon taking their swing of sin, and be entirely negligent of the worship and service of God: was there no forgiveness of sin, there would be no more fear of God among men than there is among devils, for whom there is no forgiveness; there might be dread and trembling, as among them, but no godly fear: yea, if God was strictly to mark iniquity, and not pardon it, there would be none to fear him, all must be condemned and cut off by him; but, in order to secure and preserve his fear among men, he has taken the step he has to pardon sin through the propitiatory sacrifice of his Son; and a discovery, and an application of his grace, teaches men to fear to offend him; influences them to serve him acceptably with reverence and godly fear, and engages them to fear him and his goodness, and him for his goodness’s sake, Titus 2:11 Hosea 3:5.
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Matthew Henry
We are taught to cast ourselves upon the pardoning mercy of God, and to comfort ourselves with that when we see ourselves obnoxious to his justice, v. 4. Here is,
1. 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, Ex. 34:6, 7. He has promised to forgive the sins of those that do repent. Never any that dealt with him found him implacable, but easy to be entreated, and swift to show mercy. With us there is iniquity, and therefore it is well for us that with him there is forgiveness. There is a propitiation with thee, so some read it. Jesus Christ is the great propitiation, the ransom which God has found; he is ever with him, as advocate for us, and through him we hope to obtain forgiveness.
2. Our duty designed in that discovery, and inferred from it: “There is forgiveness with thee, not that thou mayest be made bold with and presumed upon, but that thou mayest be feared-in general, that thou mayest be worshipped and served by the children of men, who, being sinners, could have no dealings with God, if he were not a Master that could pass by a great many faults.” But this encourages us to come into his service that we shall not be turned off for every misdemeanor; no, nor for any, if we truly repent. This does in a special manner invite those who have sinned to repent, and return to the fear of God, that he is gracious and merciful, and will receive them upon their repentance, Joel 2:13; Mt. 3:2. And, particularly, we are to have a holy awe and reverence of God’s pardoning mercy (Hos. 3:5, They shall fear the Lord, and his goodness); and then we may expect the benefit of the forgiveness that is with God when we make it the object of our holy fear.
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