Merciful Mornings

Claire Black: Welcome to True Girl, a podcast for girls and their moms. I’m Claire Black. Together, we’ll explore God’s truth for us one step at a time. It’s time to lace up, True Girl.You’re about to grow closer to each other and closer to Jesus!

Imagine a dry, dusty, uphill road just outside Jerusalem. It’s dawn, which means the sun is almost up for the day. That’s where we’ll find Dannah Gresh and Staci Rudolph. They’re on an early morning tour of the gates of Jerusalem to show us one of the world’s biggest object lessons about forgiveness.

In season 20, “Songs for the Climb,” we’re learning that our sin is no match for God’s forgiveness. One of the songs the ancient Israelites sang to remind them of that was Psalm 130. 

I hope you’re walking and memorizing Psalm 130 with your mom this month. That’s our Scripture challenge to you right now. You can tackle the whole psalm or just memorize the verses you find most meaningful, but all of them will help you experience God’s mercy, which is what we’ll learn about today. 

Okay, True Girl. Here’s episode 2 of season 20. We’re calling it, “Morning Mercies.” This is Staci Rudolph.

[Yawn. Brochure rustling.]

Staci Rudolph: “Start your day with the rising sun as you focus on the third gate, the Gate of Mercy, which is also called the Golden Gate. This gate is located in the eastern mount wall and is one of the most famous gates. It is also the oldest gate to the city. These have contributed to making the Golden Gate one of the most iconic places to visit in Jerusalem. ”

Dannah this tour brochure is so helpful!

Dannah Gresh: It sure is.

Staci: Now, if we could just see the gate! Dannah, we’re gonna need that sunlight if we’re gonna be sure that’s the gate up there. It doesn’t look like you can see through it. Looks like a wall to me. I don’t want to walk all the way up that hill and find it’s not there! 

Dannah: Don’t worry! The birds are starting to chirp; that means they’re sensing sunrise. 

Staci: Oh, listen to this. The brochure says: “Many times Christians wonder why the Gate of Mercy was sealed and why it’s so essential to pilgrims.”

That’s why it doesn’t look like a gateway. It’s sealed up!

Dannah: Does it say why? Keep reading.

Staci: “The answer is that this location is sacred. Biblical accounts suggest Jesus entered Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives through the Mercy Gate. On Palm Sunday, the multitude spread branches and called out ‘Hosanna,’ fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 and signifying the Messiah's arrival.”

Oh, I can’t wait for the sun to rise so we can see it, Dannah. That’s where Jesus walked!

Dannah: Yeah, I’m getting excited too. Oh, waiting is not so much fun. You know, I brought you some hot tea to help with the wait. 

Staci: What!? You’re the best! 

Hmmm, what flavor is that?

Dannah: It’s called Galilee Blend. I bought it in Jerusalem. Green tea infused with mint, lemongrass, and spearmint.

Staci: I’m a fan! 

Hey, got anything to eat.

Dannah: I knew that was coming. I got pita bread, some hummus, and pickled sardines.

Staci: You said what?!

Dannah: Pita bread, some hummus . . .

Staci: Yeah, yeah, it was the pickled fish that made me wonder about you!

Dannah: Well, it’s a common Israeli breakfast, apparently.

Staci: Well . . . when in Israel . . . hey, not bad. A little tangy and kinda just slipsdown your throat.

Just what time is sunrise?

Dannah: Patience, friend. We’ve got another, probably, five minutes or so to wait.

Staci: I am not good at waiting!

Dannah: Ya think? How about I read some of Psalm 130 to you.

Staci: Hey, how’s the memorization coming along?

Dannah: Oh, I’ve got this one. It’s been a treasured friend for some time. Last time we looked at the main point of the psalm, but let’s start at the beginning today.

Psalm 130 starting in verse 1. 

“Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord;

Lord, hear my voice.

Let your ears be attentive

to my cry for mercy.”

Staci: Hey, mercy . . . just like the gate. 

Dannah: Yep. Did you think I wasn’t on to that when I chose this morning’s tour?

Staci: Of course you were! So, mercy means “showing kindness or forgiveness to someone even when they don’t deserve it.”

Dannah: Yes. It’s like when you disobey your parents and end up breaking your mom’s favorite lamp. You’re gonna expect to get in trouble, but instead, your mom hugs you and says, “It’s okay. I forgive you.” She may talk to you about obedience, but you end the night eating hot fudge sundaes and growing closer than ever.

That’s not your mom letting you off the hook. With her time—and love—and the money it takes to replace the lamp, it’s kind of paying the price of your sin for you. That’s mercy. Choosing love instead of punishment.

Staci: And that’s what we get when we confess our sins to God.

Dannah: The writer of Psalm 130 was pleading with God not to get what he deserves, punishment. He had no excuses. He just cried out for mercy.

And Staci, I just think this is such an honest look at sin. But it makes me wonder, Do I take my sin that seriously? Do I pause long enough to feel the weight of it? Or do I rush to let myself off the hook with easy excuses?
I mean, just like we can be too weighed down by sin, we can also be tempted not to even acknowledge it as sin!

Staci: It’s really common to make excuses about sin. I think things like:

“My sin’s not as bad as hers.”

“At least I don’t do what he does.”

Or, “Everyone else does this.”

“All my friends say that is not so bad.”

Dannah: Exactly. But this Bible verse invites us not to do that. Instead, it calls our sin what it is: something that offends God and separates us from Him. But then, to ask for mercy!

Can I keep reciting Psalm 130?

Staci: You might as well. No sun yet.

Dannah:

“If you, LORD, kept a record of sins, 

Lord, who could stand? 

But with you there is forgiveness, 

so that we can, with reverence, serve you.” (vv. 3–4)

Staci: Hey, those are the verses we talked about last week.

Dannah: Yep. Now here’s verse 5 and 6. 

“I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits,

and in his word I put my hope.

I wait for the LORD

more than watchmen wait for the morning.”

Staci: Waiting. I’m not a fan! Like right now, I’d like that sun to rise!

But what’s that even mean? I mean when we confess our sins, we don’t have to wait for forgiveness.

Dannah: True. But sometimes we have to wait for God to repair a friendship that was hurt by our sin, or for trust to be restored with our parents if we did something sneaky.

Staci: Ah, gotcha! I see that. That’s even harder to wait for than the sun!

Dannah: Let me tell you something cool I learned about the word “wait.” In Psalm 130, the original Hebrew word for wait is qavah. It basically means “to bind together.” Like two strands of a rope twisted together to make an even stronger string.

Staci: Okay . . . the point being?

Dannah: Well, when we wait for something, we usually try to occupy ourselves somehow. Like . . . tea and pickled sardines. They’re making our waiting easier, right?

Staci: True that. Hand me some more pita, will ya?

Dannah: So, when we do something while we wait, it’s like we bind to it.

If it’s something like tea and pickled sardines, well, okay. But we can also bind ourselves to things like grumbling or scrolling on screens instead of being really waiting. We avoid the pain of waiting by doing not-such-good things sometimes.

Staci: Yeah, I have surely done some grumbling and some scrolling to make time pass faster. It wasn’t always the best choice.

Dannah: Me, too! This verse encourages us to wait on the Lord. And to put our hope in His Word or the Bible.

To me that’s an invitation. When you’re waiting, think about God and spend time reading His Word. 

Staci: Not scrolling. Not grumbling.

Hey, we’re doin’ that now. We’re reading . . . well, you're reciting words from the Bible while we wait.

Dannah: Yup! That’s the invitation of Psalm 130. While you’re waiting on God to heal your heart of sin and shame, or to heal a friendship hurt by frenemy moments, read your Bible. Wait on God. Hope in His Word.

Staci: Hey! Hey! Here it comes. The big show! 

Dannah: Oh yes! 

Staci: Wow! Will ya look at that? An Eastern sunrise shining on the ancient city of Jerusalem.

Hey! I can see the Gate of Mercy, and it sure is closed. 

Dannah: Yeah, but is it? 

Staci: I can see it with my own eyes, Dannah. They took brick and mortar and just turned that big, old open gate into a wall. You can see the line where the open space used to be!

Dannah: But, Staci, we don’t need it. 

Staci: What do you mean we don’t need it? How are we gettin’ back into Jerusalem.

Dannah: Oh, for that, we’ll have to find another way in.

But our Gate of Mercy, yours and mine, every True Girl’s Gate of Mercy is a person. Jesus!

Staci: So true. I love that!

Dannah: Me too. And anytime we sin, we can just talk to Jesus, and He is our gate to real mercy and forgiveness.

Staci: That’s profound!

Hey, Dannah, thanks for bringing me here today. I needed that reminder.

And wow, Jesus walked right through that Gate of Mercy. And just look at it. The golden sunlight sprinkled all across it. I can see why it is also called the Golden Gate, too!

Staci: It’s one magnificent view.

Dannah: And it happens every single day.

Staci: Well, of course it does Dannah, because the sun rises every day.

Dannah: Yes. Precisely.

Staci: You’re saying that I should understand something that I don’t.

Dannah: “I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning.”

Verse 6 of Psalm 130 compares the way someone waits for mercy to a watchman or night guard waiting for the sun to rise.

In other words, the words in our Bible are as dependable as the sun.

Staci: The hope rises every day when we wait by reading our Bibles!

Dannah: That’s it.We’re in trouble if that sun doesn’t rise tomorrow . . . but it will. And so will God’s mercy for our sin. 

Staci: That reminds me of a verse I have memorized. Lamentations 3:22–23: 

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning.”

Dannah: Boom. There it is. Just like the sun rises, so do God’s mercies. We need His mercy every day because we sin every day.

Staci: Well, speaking of mercy. Where are we going to take our Holy Girl Walk today if we can’t get into the city?

Dannah: We could just walk up this hill a bit.

Staci: Okay, let’s go! But then what?

Dannah: Think they have Uber here?

Claire: Wow! I’m glad Staci and Dannah got to see the Gate of Mercy. It was a great reminder that sinful people can count on God’s mercy to rise every morning, just like the sun rises on that beautiful gate.

Maybe you and your mom can look up “The Mercy Gate of Jerusalem.” You’ll be able to see photos of the gate as it’s all sealed shut in honor of our Messiah, Jesus! When you see it, remember that it’s Jesus who makes mercy possible in our lives. He is our Mercy Gate. Any time you sin, you can cry out to God, just like the writer of Psalm 130 did. It will help you realize that you’re forgiven.

Another thing that helps you experience God’s forgiveness is memorizing God’s Word. Are you joining us for the Psalm 130 Holy Girl Walk? You just walk with your mom and memorize Scripture. If memorizing all of Psalm 130 sounds like too much, try at least a part of it. Learn more about the Holy Girl Walk Bible memory challenge at MyTrueGirl.com.

When you visit the website, check out the True Girl subscription box. Right now, we’re shipping the Gratitude Box. It has everything you need to be grateful—rather than grumbling—through seasons of waiting or other hard times. Again, that website is MyTrueGirl.com.

That’s it for this short but sweet season of the True Girl podcast, called “Songs for the Climb.” Join us next season, when we stir up some gratitude.

The True Girl podcast is produced by Revive Our Hearts calling women of all ages to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ!

*Offers available only during the broadcast of the podcast season.