Sin Separates Us from God
(Psalms 14:1–7; Psalms 53:1–6; Romans 3:9–20)
Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, Jer 32:17Isa 50:2Num 11:23Isa 65:24Gen 18:14Heb 7:25Isa 58:9Mat 13:15
nor His ear too dull to hear.
But your iniquities have built barriers Pro 15:29Jer 5:25Mic 3:4Isa 1:15Deu 31:17-18Ezk 39:23-24Deu 32:19-20Isa 57:17
between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden His face from you,
so that He does not hear.
For your hands are stained with blood, Isa 1:15Ezk 13:8Jer 2:34Isa 1:21Jer 2:30Ezk 35:6Ezk 7:23Ezk 9:9
and your fingers with iniquity;
your lips have spoken lies,
and your tongue mutters injustice.
No one calls for justice; Job 15:35Mic 7:2-5Jas 1:15Jer 7:4Jer 7:8Isa 30:12Isa 59:16Mic 2:1
no one pleads his case honestly.
They rely on empty pleas; they tell lies;
they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.
They hatch the eggs of vipers Mat 3:7Isa 14:29Job 8:14Mat 12:34Pro 23:32
and weave a spider’s web.
Whoever eats their eggs will die;
crack one open, and a viper is hatched.
Their cobwebs cannot be made into clothing, Isa 57:12Jer 6:7Rev 3:17-18Amo 3:10Amo 6:3Ezk 7:11Ezk 7:23Gen 6:11
and they cannot cover themselves with their works.
Their deeds are sinful deeds,
and acts of violence are in their hands.
Their feet run to evil; Pro 6:17Rom 3:15-17Mrk 7:21-22Pro 1:16Act 8:20-22Ezk 22:6Ezk 9:9Isa 59:3
they are swift to shed innocent blood.
Their thoughts are sinful thoughts;
ruin and destruction 1lie in their wake.
The way of peace they have not known, 2 Isa 57:20-21Rom 3:17Isa 5:7Luk 1:79Psa 58:1-2Hos 4:1-2Jer 5:1Mat 23:23
and there is no justice in their tracks.
They have turned them into crooked paths;
no one who treads on them will know peace.
Therefore justice is far from us, Isa 5:30Job 30:261Th 5:3Amo 5:18-20Hab 1:13Jer 14:19Jer 8:15Lam 5:16-17
and righteousness does not reach us.
We hope for light, but there is darkness;
for brightness, but we walk in gloom.
Like the blind, we feel our way along the wall, Deu 28:29Job 5:14Lam 3:61Jn 2:11Amo 8:9Isa 8:15Jer 13:16Jhn 11:9-10
groping like those without eyes.
We stumble at midday as in the twilight;
among the vigorous we are like the dead.
We all growl like bears Isa 38:14Ezk 7:16Hos 7:14Isa 51:20Isa 59:9Jer 8:15Jer 9:1Job 30:28-29
and moan like doves.
We hope for justice, but find none,
for salvation, but it is far from us.
For our transgressions are multiplied before You, Ezr 9:6Hos 5:5Jer 14:7Ezk 5:6Hos 4:2Isa 1:41Th 2:15-16Dan 9:5-8
and our sins testify against us.
Our transgressions are indeed with us,
and we know our iniquities:
rebelling and denying the LORD, Mrk 7:21-22Heb 3:12Jas 3:6Act 5:3-4Ezk 18:25Ezk 6:9Hos 1:2Hos 11:12
turning away from our God,
speaking oppression and revolt,
conceiving and uttering lies from the heart.
So justice is turned away, Ecc 3:16Hab 1:4Amo 5:11Isa 1:21Isa 10:1-2Isa 5:23Jer 5:27-28Jer 5:31
and righteousness stands at a distance.
For truth has stumbled in the public square,
and honesty cannot enter.
Truth is missing, Mic 7:21Jn 3:11-12Heb 11:36-38Jer 7:28Jer 5:1-2Psa 12:1-2Psa 5:9Rom 8:36
and whoever turns from evil becomes prey.
The LORD looked and was displeased 3
that there was no justice.
He saw that there was no man; Ezk 22:30Isa 64:7Psa 106:23Psa 98:1Isa 41:28Isa 52:10Isa 63:3-5Mrk 6:6
He was amazed that there was no one to intercede.
So His own arm brought salvation,
and His own righteousness sustained Him.
He put on righteousness like a breastplate, Eph 6:17Eph 6:141Th 5:8Rom 13:12-14Isa 11:5Heb 10:30Isa 51:9Jhn 2:17
and the helmet of salvation on His head;
He put on garments of vengeance
and wrapped Himself in a cloak of zeal.
The Covenant of the Redeemer
So He will repay according to their deeds: Jer 17:10Isa 63:6Mat 16:27Rom 2:6Nam 1:2Isa 1:24Isa 49:25-26Isa 63:3
fury to His enemies,
retribution to His foes,
and recompense to the islands. 4
So shall they fear the name of the LORD Dan 7:27Psa 113:3Rev 12:15-17Zec 4:6Psa 22:27Rev 17:14-15Mal 1:11Rev 12:10
where the sun sets,
and His glory where it rises.
For He will come like a raging flood,
driven by the breath of the LORD. 5
“The Redeemer will come to Zion, Rom 11:26-27Tit 2:11-14Act 3:19Ezk 18:30-31Heb 12:14Jol 2:32Oba 1:17-21Act 26:20
to those in Jacob who turn from transgression, 6”
declares the LORD.
“As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” 7 says the LORD. “My Spirit will not depart from you, 8 and My words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth or from the mouths of your children and grandchildren, from now on and forevermore,” says the LORD. Jer 31:31-34Heb 10:16Ezk 36:25-27Jer 32:38-41Heb 8:6-132Co 3:17-18Isa 51:16Isa 44:3