The Book of Psalms has sometimes been called the songbook of the Bible. Many of them were set to music and sung in the Tabernacle and later the Temple in Biblical days, and many have also been set to music today. Most Christians who read and are familiar with the Bible have a favorite psalm that they really love. I have several that are particularly special to me, and today’s psalm is one of those favorites. Today we’ll take a quick look at several verses that come right in the middle of this beautiful psalm.
With Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent upon us this week, the portion of Psalm 103 from the middle verses is very appropriate, as it speaks of God’s mercy and His forgiveness of our sins when we come to Him in repentance. There are some people who do not like anything about the Old Testament because they feel that it portrays Yahweh as a mean and vengeful God. However, as we read through the psalms, particularly our specific verses, we see that it couldn't be farther from the truth. Our opening verse, verse 8, tells us that Yahweh is merciful and gracious. Mercy is the act of withholding the punishment that is due to us. Because of our sins we would rightly deserve punishment, condemnation, and hell. However, when we turn to God, He shows His compassion and mercy, and withholds that punishment. Not only that, Yahweh is gracious to us, He shows us His divine grace, giving us the blessings and salvation we do not deserve.
As David continues on in his psalm, he reminds us that the Lord is slow to anger (vs. 8). Unfortunately that can be said of very few people, as so many today are quite quick to get angry. It seems that everyone takes offense at the slightest things. God would have every right to get angry at us and the world, but we see that He is slow to anger, and does not keep His anger forever (vs. 9). How long do we keep our anger? We all know people who are angry all the time, and we know those who remain angry over a specific incident for weeks, months, or even years.
We read again in verse 10 about the mercy of God. David reminds us that we are not punished as we deserve. If we were, none of us could even stand. There are some who refuse with arrogance to accept God’s gift of mercy, and will await that day of judgment. There are others, though, who have accepted God’s mercy with salvation, but who continue to have a difficult time in truly accepting His forgiveness and feel continued guilt. When God forgives, He also forgets. We see that in several verses throughout the Bible - Isaiah 43:25; Jeremiah 31:34; and Hebrews 8:12. Neither Peter nor Paul, who each had great offenses in their past, refused to forgive themselves. We should never put our own feelings above or superior to God’s Word.
How great is God’s mercy? David tells us that it is as high as the heavens are above the earth (vs. 11). When we watch various science fiction shows we see the space crafts going on and on into outer space, never coming to the end of space. That’s because there is no end. If there was, then this verse would indicate there would be a limit to the mercy, however, there is no end, which shows how great God’s mercy is. Another example is how far He has removed our sins from ourself. Scripture says it is as far as the east is from the west (vs. 12). There is a measurable distance with north and south. Once you hit the north pole you start going south, and then once you get there, you start going north. Not so between east and west. If you start heading east you will keep going east indefinitely unless you turn around, and same with the west. That is why God said east and west, and not north and south. We don’t need to keep dragging our guilt around. Jesus is waiting to take that load from us, and cast it as far as the east is from the west. All we have to do is hand the burden over, and receive His forgiveness.
We read that the Lord God pities us, His children, just as a father pities his children (vs. 13), and even more so. A good majority of fathers have love and compassion towards their children, but there are some of us who did not have fathers like that. It is natural for us to project onto God many of the same life experiences that we had with our own father. However, Yahweh is the perfect Father, and He loves us completely, infinitely better than even the best of fathers.
In conclusion, God knows everything about us (vs. 14), and is filled with compassion towards us. We are never alone, because He is with us. God knows everything about us and yet He still loves us. That is something we can rejoice about!
No comments:
Post a Comment