If thou, Jehovah, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?
If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand. If Jah, the all seeing, should in strict justice call every man to account for every want of conformity to righteousness, where would any one of us be? Truly, he does record all our transgressions; but as yet he does not act upon the record, but lays it aside till another day.
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...
The depths are not mere spiritual distress but deep outward affliction where the poet sinks as in waters. He cries importunately for God's hearing, though God hears all things by nature; faith requires the prayer itself. If God preserved iniquities and kept them in remembrance, nothing could stand against His punitive justice, yet He does not act with such legal stringency.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 130:2-4