Calling Out for Clemency

“Some sat in darkness and the deepest gloom, prisoners suffering in iron chains, for they had rebelled against the words of God and despised the counsel of the Most High. So he subjected them to bitter labor; they stumbled and there was no one to help. Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble and he saved them from their distress.” Psalm 107: 10-14.

Let’s face it – we all have sin in our lives. Even the mere mention of the word brings some aspect of our life to most of our minds. Even if we are not presently walking in sin we have all experienced the consequences due to our sinful choices in the past. We look at this passage with detachment since we know that we would never fall into the category of “despising” God. The original translation for “despise” was not to hate which was my first impression of its meaning. The translation for this word in its original context “contains the idea of disdain for one who formerly received favorable attention and then rebelled.” That would encompass both you and me and every person on this earth.

Our sin imprisons us and places chains around our lives that keep us burdened down and oppressed in our spirit. Oppression is the manner in which God pursues us to return to Him. He sits by our prisons patiently and faithfully waiting for us to cry out for clemency. He provides the only escape and allows us to sit in our darkness until we realize that He is the only way out and will always be faithful in pardoning our sins and flinging open the doors of our prisons. Many times He allows us to sit in wait until we have appealed to every means for deliverance in place of Him. He desires for us to know without doubt who is saving us. We need to see those hero moments wherein God sweeps in at the last minute once we cry out to Him and brands upon our heart who rescues, who saves and who delivers.

The key to our prison will always be repentance.