Facing Tenacity

Albert Bogle October 06, 2026 6 0

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2 Kings 7: 3–11 (NIVUK)

1 Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord;
2     Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
    to my cry for mercy.

3 If you, Lord, kept a record of sins,
    Lord, who could stand?
4 But with you there is forgiveness,
    so that we can, with reverence, serve you.

5 I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits,
    and in his word I put my hope.
6 I wait for the Lord
    more than watchmen wait for the morning,
    more than watchmen wait for the morning.

7 Israel, put your hope in the Lord,
    for with the Lord is unfailing love
    and with him is full redemption.
8 He himself will redeem Israel
    from all their sins.

When I reflect on this psalm, I can’t help recalling my visit to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela spent 27 years of his life imprisoned in a small cell. He endured harsh treatment, but he would not allow himself to be overwhelmed by the evil of the apartheid regime, even when facing personal injustice, such as being barred from attending his mother's and his eldest son’s funerals. He could have given up, but like a watchman, he lived in expectancy, looking for the evidence of his hope to be fulfilled. The power of his story is that he led his nation to freedom without exacting revenge. Instead, he taught his captors the meaning of forgiveness and reconciliation and saved his nation from imploding into a racist war.

This psalm speaks to us of the hope of good overcoming evil—the hope that the dawn will come as sure as the morning. It speaks to us of the compassion of God, showing how God refuses to keep a record of our wrongs. In waiting, we encounter repentance, and from repentance, we journey with the hope that our sins are remembered no more. Perhaps we all need to be reminded of the unspoken influence the Bible has had on countless people, giving hope and meaning and a philosophy of life by which to live and change a nation.

Personal Reflection: Why is repentance for the past necessary to encounter hope for the future?

Prayer:

Lord,

Give me the courage to face my past,

To seek forgiveness for the things I can’t undo,

To wade into the water of repentance,

To endure the darkness of the waiting days,

To look with expectancy for the hope of forgiveness,

And the courage to live in the cycle of forgiving grace.

And give me the confidence to believe and receive

The dawning of the new morning on my life.