only because of his purpose in Christ that forgiveness was possible through animal sacrifice. That this assurance of forgiveness is only open to the contrite, to those who share the sentiments of verses 1–2, is clear from its effects on the psalmist: you are feared. True forgiveness does not breed complacency and carelessness; quite the opposite, it creates an even greater awe of God, as of one whose love is more humbling than his holiness! If ‘fear’ sounds a nebulous