"Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. 2 Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, 5 who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. 6 The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. 7 He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel: 8The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.9 He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; 10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;14 for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. 15 The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; 16 the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.17 But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children —18 with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts. 19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all. 20 Praise the Lord, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word. 21 Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will. 22 Praise the Lord, all his works everywhere in his dominion. Praise the Lord, my soul." Psalm 103:6-22
Any company that offers financial services or insurance benefits is required to prove that is has sufficient assets to cover the benefit claims for its clients.
In the first five verses of Psalm 103, the Psalmist lauds the benefits of those who love God and admonishes us to remember those benefits and praise Him. I the remainder of this Psalm he gives proof that God's assets are more than sufficient to deliver His benefits!
THE
PROOF, VV. 8-16 – “God’s response to
us is one of mercy…..”
THE
DEGREE OF HIS MERCY, V. 8 - 10
First: “compassionate, or tender” - The word is related to the Hebrew for womb, thus relating God’s
kindness to a maternal care. Whereas grace and mercy are the common terms we
use to describe what God does, this term gives us a glimpse into his heart for
us.
What flows out from compassion is then grace.
This term speaks of a favor or kindness that is unmerited. Rather than
mechanical, cold terms to describe our Lord, the words depict God’s pleasure
and favor falling over us. These words are at the heart of God’s forgiveness.
I read a story of
a wealthy Englishman who was satisfied with only the best. So, naturally, he
drove a Rolls-Royce. It was his pride and joy, but one day after years of
perfect service, he hit a pothole and his rear axle broke. The car was towed to
the dealership and soon repaired, but without a bill. Although his warranty had
run out, there was no charge. The car was fixed perfectly, all for free. The
owner called the company and inquired about the repair. The reply was, "We
have absolutely no record of your Rolls-Royce axle ever breaking. There can be
no charge." The dealer’s commitment to excellence would not permit a flaw
to be made known. Therefore, they repaired the damage immediately and without
charge...as if nothing had ever gone wrong.
Second – “gracious” - Grace
is not deserved; it comes without charge to the one who receives it, but it is
very costly to the one who gives.
Third – “he is patient, slow to anger” - Often in
Hebrew terms are visual and pictorial. God's patience, "slow to anger" is literally: "long of nostrils",
because anger is expressed in flaring the nostrils, or snorting. So here, God
is long in the nostril; they do not flair quickly.
Fourth – “he is committed to love” – We might use the word “DEVOTED”.- Hebrew word, "hesed" refers to a kindness to which one is obligated on
the basis of a relationship. There is love between me and my wife out of our
marriage, and between me and my children, because they are my kids. My
love does not make my kids my children; rather, my love comes because they are
my children.
V. 9 – “forgiving” - How
different God is from us. As long as your memory functions, you no doubt can
recall many hurtful things said and done to you. If we forgive, we certainly
struggle with bitterness later.
From
Joni Eareckson-Tada: ‘Why do we feel so bad about our past sins? Because we
confuse sin with its impression. Got a notebook nearby? Let me show you how it
can be so. Write the word ‘sin’ on the top page. Press hard. Now tear of that
sheet of paper, crumple it up and throw it across the room. That’s how God
forgets your sin. Now take up your pencil and rub it across the new page at an
angle, back and forth over the same location where you wrote. And guess what.
The ghost of the word ‘sin’ appears. That’s what our flawed memories do. We go
back over the deep impression left by transgressions in our life and we feel
just as guilty. It’s as if the sin never left. But be encouraged, the
impression of sin is not the same thing as sin…will you continue to work over
forgiven sin as with a pencil? Or will you let the Holy Spirit work His
lovingkindness?’
God
is not the accuser; he doesn’t "endlessly nag or scold us". God
doesn’t hold grudges, allowing resentment to boil over in bitterness.
V. 10 - is a great
definition of mercy: "God doesn’t
treat us as our sins deserve."
If grace is giving us good gifts we don’t
deserve, then mercy is not treating the way we deserve because of the bad
things we’ve done. So grace is giving us good gifts, and mercy is withholding judgment.
Christ’s death on the cross is the reason the
Father is affectionate toward us. God does not sacrifice justice to show mercy;
he does not deny his law to be gracious. But as Christ has died for your sins,
you are free from the guilt and shame of that sin. Forgiveness is secured.
The degree of his mercy is great due to the
great degree to which he went to secure us for himself. His forgiveness is
great because his love is great, a love that gave his only Son. These should
not be abstract concepts. They are clearly marked by a bloodstained cross.
THE DIMENSION OF HIS
MERCY, V -
11-14
The
dimensions in these verses cover every facet: the height of his love, the
breadth of his forgiveness and the depth of his compassion.
V. 11 – HIGH – If you launched in
spaceship how far up would you go before
running out of space.
V. 12 – LONG – “east from west” - Does God forgive and forget?
“Remove”
= Not
that God overlooks your sins or ignores them. He dealt decisively with them
when He sent His Son to the cross.
Clara Barton, the
founder of the American Red Cross, was reminded one day of a vicious deed that
someone had done to her years before. She acted as if she had never heard of
the incident. "Don't you remember it?" her friend asked.
"No," Miss Barton replied. "I distinctly remember forgetting
it."
V. 13 –
DEPTH - “fatherly
compassion” - When it comes to our
own sin, we are indeed our own worst enemy. We beat ourselves to death with how
we have failed God, how we have failed ourselves, and how we fail everybody
else. But God’s compassion is like that of a father, who knows us better than we
know ourselves.
Many years ago, a
father and his daughter were walking through the grass on the Canadian prairie.
In the distance, they saw a prairie fire, and they realized that it would soon engulf them.
The father knew there was only one way of escape: They would quickly begin a
fire right where they were and burn a large patch of grass. When the huge fire
drew near, they then would stand on the section that had already burned. When
the flames did approach them, the girl was terrified but her father assured
her, "The flames can't get to us. We are standing where the fire has
already been." (Erwin Lutzer,
Failure, The Back Door to Success)
If
you are in Christ, blood has already been spilt and sin has already been atoned
for where you stand.
THE
DURATION OF HIS MERCY, V. 15-17
V. 15-16 – Longer than your life
and your children and your grandchildren………
V. 17 – Everlasting to
everlasting!
As you praise God for His many benefits, also praise Him for His limitless assets!