Psalm 130

 

Psalm 130 – paraphrased by Jim Taylor

A Gift of New Life

God, hear me! Please listen to my pleas.

I am a helpless blob of misery.

I have dissolved in self-pity.

If you’re keeping score, I’m a loser.

I’m counting on your mercy.

You have the power to punish me or to pardon me.

My life depends on your decision;

Not daring to say a word in my own defence,

I wait for your verdict.

Like a hungry child waiting for dinner,

like a job applicant waiting for a phone call,

like a grandmother waiting for the birth of a grandchild,

I wait.

If God’s overflowing love cannot forgive me,

I have no hope.

No one else can free me from my guilt,

from the prison of my repeated failures.

Only God can save me from myself.

God is my only hope.

                          From: Everyday Psalms