A Bible Study in EasyEnglish (2800 word vocabulary) on Psalms 120 to 134
Keith Simons
EasyEnglish is a system of simple English designed by Wycliffe Associates (UK). This commentary has not yet received Advanced Theological Checking.
A word list at the end explains words with a *star by them.
Last part: Prisoners because of our own wrong deeds
God knows everything (Psalm 139:1-6). And he knows that we are guilty. As our judge, he must punish us for our evil deeds. But he is the God who loves us. He does not want to punish us; he wants to forgive us (Exodus 34:6-7). That is why God himself suffered the punishment for our evil deeds. When Jesus died, he himself took that punishment instead of us (Isaiah 53:4-6). And that makes it possible for God to forgive us.
So we must be like the poet who wrote Psalm 130. We must confess our evil deeds to God. We declare that God is right. And we declare that we are wrong. He alone can forgive us; he alone can save us. He alone can rescue us from our terrible situation. There is no other way to be free from the evil forces that control us. There is no other way to have a right relationship with God. Only God can save us.
And God wants to forgive us. He loves to forgive us (John 3:16). This fact astonishes us. He is such a great God, and still he cares about us. Because of this, we respect him even more. We even feel fear, because God is so kind to guilty people.
Peter felt that kind of fear in Luke 5:8-10. He felt fear after God showed great kindness to him. Peter had needed help, so Jesus had done a miracle. That is, a wonderful deed that only God can do. It astonished Peter to realise that God was his friend. Peter knew that he had done many wrong things. Peter knew that he did not deserve God’s kindness. And Peter felt so afraid that he asked Jesus to leave him. But Jesus told Peter to be confident. God was working for Peter, and soon God would work through Peter. God had done that wonderful thing so that Peter could have confidence to obey God completely.
Next part: Hope
Index: Psalms 120 to 134: Bible Study and Commentary
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© 2010, Keith Simons.