The Blessing Of Forgiveness

Psalm 103

This week’s psalm, as we get ready to enter the season of Lent, is Psalm 103, one of my favorite psalms.  This psalm, written by King David, calls us to praise and bless the Lord, listing many reasons for which to do so.  During the period of Lent, when many believers seek to develop a closer, deeper, and more intimate relationship with the Lord, it is good to meditate on the many reasons we have to praise the Lord.  Let’s look into this psalm, and bless and praise the Lord along with David.

Scriptures say that we were created for a purpose, and that is to praise God and to glorify Him (Isaiah 43:7).  We should be mindful of all of God’s benefits, everything He has done for us and given us (vs. 2). As we read the opening verses of our psalm, we see many things that came to David’s mind as he penned this song of praise.  A few of the blessings that he praised God for were His forgiveness of sins, healing of illnesses, redemption, blessings of loving kindness and mercy, food, His righteousness and justice (vs. 3-6). We should remember to praise God for His character, and His works in our lives, both past, present and future.

David had many reasons to praise the Lord.  God had protected him from the murderous attacks from King Saul, and had raised him up from being a shepherd all the way to being king over Israel.  Most of all, though, David praised the Lord for his forgiveness of sins. Though David was a believer, one who loved the Lord deeply, and was even called a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22), there were several times when he fell into sin, some rather serious sin.  He needed God’s forgiveness, and he was most thankful for that blessing.

David acknowledged when he sinned, and he came to the Lord, asking Him for His forgiveness.  He knew that the Lord was merciful, and did not punish us as we deserve (vs. 8-14). God is patient and merciful, and He does not punish us as we deserve.  However that does not give us a free pass to act any way we wish, and feel there are no consequences.  He still disciplines His children (Hebrews 12:6).

Another reason we can praise the Lord is that He not only forgives us of our sins when we come to Him confessing them, He also takes those sins completely away from us, not holding them to our account (vs. 12).  God forgets them. When we think of forgetting, we might think of forgetfulness as a flaw. With God and our sins, that is a good thing. People like to hold our sins and mistakes over us. They never forget them.  However, God does. They are as far removed from us as the east from the west, which never meet. He casts them to the bottom of the sea (Micah 7:19). When God looks at believers, He doesn’t see their sins, He sees Jesus (Galatians 3:27).

Some people have a very difficult time forgiving themselves of sins they have committed.  They have come to Jesus, asking for His forgiveness, which He gives, yet they cannot forgive themselves.  If we refuse to forgive ourselves, are we saying that Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross for our sins was insufficient?  Is our standard of righteousness higher than God’s? Both Peter and Paul forgave themselves, Peter for denying Jesus, and Paul for persecuting Christians.  They regretted their actions, but accepted Jesus’ forgiveness. By not forgiving ourselves, we are focusing on ourselves, not on God, and by making our feelings superior to God’s Word.  We need to trust in God, not on our feelings.

God is a Father to believers, and like a good father, He takes into consideration His child’s immaturity and weaknesses (vs. 13-14).  God doesn’t give them more than they can handle. When God examines our lives, He remembers our human condition. As we reflect on this psalm, we need to remember all that God has done for us.  We should fear Him, obey His commands (vs. 17-18), and do His will (vs. 21).