Sin Separates Us from God

(Psalm 14:1–7, Psalm 53:1–6, Romans 3:9–20)

59 Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save,

nor His ear too dull to hear.

2 But your iniquities have built barriers

between you and your God,

and your sins have hidden His face from you,

so that He does not hear.

3 For your hands are stained with blood,

and your fingers with iniquity;

your lips have spoken lies,

and your tongue mutters injustice.

4 No one calls for justice;

no one pleads his case honestly.

They rely on empty pleas; they tell lies;

they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.

5 They hatch the eggs of vipers

and weave a spider’s web.

Whoever eats their eggs will die;

crack one open, and a viper is hatched.

6 Their cobwebs cannot be made into clothing,

and they cannot cover themselves with their works.

Their deeds are sinful deeds,

and acts of violence are in their hands.

7 Their feet run to evil;

they are swift to shed innocent blood.

Their thoughts are sinful thoughts;

ruin and destruction [fn] lie in their wake.

8 The way of peace they have not known,[fn]

and there is no justice in their tracks.

They have turned them into crooked paths;

no one who treads on them will know peace.

9 Therefore justice is far from us,

and righteousness does not reach us.

We hope for light, but there is darkness;

for brightness, but we walk in gloom.

10 Like the blind, we feel our way along the wall,

groping like those without eyes.

We stumble at midday as in the twilight;

among the vigorous we are like the dead.

11 We all growl like bears

and moan like doves.

We hope for justice, but find none,

for salvation, but it is far from us.

12 For our transgressions are multiplied before You,

and our sins testify against us.

Our transgressions are indeed with us,

and we know our iniquities:

13 rebelling and denying the LORD,

turning away from our God,

speaking oppression and revolt,

conceiving and uttering lies from the heart.

14 So justice is turned away,

and righteousness stands at a distance.

For truth has stumbled in the public square,

and honesty cannot enter.

15 Truth is missing,

and whoever turns from evil becomes prey.

The LORD looked and was displeased [fn]

that there was no justice.

16 He saw that there was no man;

He was amazed that there was no one to intercede.

So His own arm brought salvation,

and His own righteousness sustained Him.

17 He put on righteousness like a breastplate,

and the helmet of salvation on His head;

He put on garments of vengeance

and wrapped Himself in a cloak of zeal.