Psalm 103:6-10 Memory/Meditation

 "The LORD works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. He made his ways known to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel. The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities." 

Last time we looked at the first 5 verses of Psalm 103, in which the Psalmist calls us to remember how God is worthy of our praise for all that He does- forgiving our sins, healing our diseases, redeeming our lives from the pit, crowning us with steadfast love and mercy, satisfying us so that our youth is renewed like the eagle. 

These are undoubtedly wonderful blessings- and the majority of these blessings work personally and internally at the level of our hearts. In this next section, we're reminded that God's blessings are demonstrated visibly in public. 

The Psalmist presumes that his readers/singers are familiar with their own history. He reminds them of how God remembered His promise as He heard the cries of the oppressed Hebrew people languishing as slaves in Egypt, and rescued them with a mighty hand and outstretched arm (Psalm 136). He used Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt- and showed great signs in the wilderness (e.g. leading them with a cloud by day, pillar of fire by night; manna for sustenance, water from the rock in the desert) in their tortuous path towards the promised land of Canaan. And we know that they wandered for 40 years before entering Canaan due to their own grumbling, complaining, and outright faithlessness towards God. The Psalmist knew that if God really treated Israel as they deserved- well, they would have been extinguished long ago. But because God is who He is- slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love- Israel was not consumed;  and hallelujah bless the Lord, neither are we! 

We are beyond blessed to be on this side of the resurrection of Jesus Christ- God's mystery having been fully unveiled to us (remember the song we sang on Sunday?)- God's love fully demonstrated for us as shown through Christ's life, death and resurrection. Our hope is unwavering, and the unshakeable joy we have is only a foretaste of our deliverance! 

Ok, so now that we have seen God's plan unfold in Christ- and anticipate the new heavens and the new earth when He returns- does this mean that God has nothing left to show us of His ways in the meantime?  May it never be! God in his gracious love, continues to show us his kindness that leads us to repentance. Even as He allowed Israel to wander for 40 years in the wilderness (as a way to discipline the faithless), so he will discipline those He loves, to conform them to the image of Christ (Hebrews 12:6; Romans 8:29). We are no better than the Israelites- their history is our history- there is nothing they've done that we are not every bit as prone to doing- making idols of all sorts of things (relationships, careers, comfort, among many others) that steal away the affections of our hearts from the only One who is worthy. We need the Lord to continually be gracious and merciful to us- and in Christ we know He is absolutely committed to keeping His promise to make us a people filled with His Spirit, walking in love and obedience to Him. 

So with that said- I want to encourage us to ask ourselves- How has the Lord been making His ways known to you? How has His mercy and love been leading you to repentance (because repentance is not just a one time thing...)? How has he shown Himself slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love towards you? Has He been using various circumstances to show you your sin? Remember that even when you feel like you're at the darkest moment- He has not (and will not) leave you nor forsake you. He is still at work in you and will continue sanctifying you until He comes again (Philippians 1:6). 

Brothers and sisters, may we be free to tell one another of God's steadfast love and mercy in our lives- particularly in how He continues draw us out of the darkness to walk in the light. Let's mutually share more reasons to bless His name together! How great is His mercy towards us! 

Grace and Peace,

Mike

Psalm 103:1-5 Memory/Meditation

"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's."

Our next several meditations will be taken from Psalm 103- I encourage you to try and memorize as much of it as you can. For every two weeks, it's just about 5-6 verses. The idea of memorizing verses can seem daunting- but just take it a verse at a time- don't let yourself move onto the next verse until you've got one verse down verbatim. But as you try- ask the Lord to use your efforts to hide His word in your heart to grow your love for Him- in your affections and your actions- it will delight His heart to hear you pray in such a way. 

Have you ever felt as if your heart is divided? When you're driving on your way to church on Sunday morning, or as you are listening to God's word being preached, do you ever feel certain desires drawing you away from seeking and praising the Lord? Or during the week, when you're finally finished with a long day at work, does the draw of mindless activity take precedence over seeking the Lord? Congratulations, you're not alone! :-) 

King David knew this experience- otherwise he wouldn't have written these words- "and all that is within me, bless his holy name!" (see also Psalm 86:11). He wrote these words to remind himself (and all of God's people) that we are made to praise the Lord with all of ourselves- that we are not to hold back any part of us in declaring His praise. He knew that our sinful tendency is to compartmentalize, often living like we belong to ourselves even though in reality we've been bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:20). 

And how often we need to be reminded of why we are to bless the Lord! We simply forget! We must remember the goodness of the Lord in order for our hearts to praise Him accordingly. So David reminds us to turn our minds towards who God is. We praise the Lord for the forgiveness of our sins, ultimately accomplished through the cross of Christ. He has bought us (redeemed us) out of what we earned through the wages of sin (eternal death), and brought us out of darkness into His eternal kingdom of light. In Christ we are treated like sons and daughters of the King- because we have been adopted into the King's family. We are thus crowned with the steadfast/unfailing love and mercy of God. Because Christ is our life, our hearts are ultimately satisfied in His love (God's love is our greatest good- his love is better than life! Psalm 63). Bless the Lord indeed! 

But there is one line that I didn't mention. What about that line saying that God "heals all your diseases"? Everyone knows that even after Christ's death and resurrection- we are met with the inevitability of disease, pain, and death. Surely David knew himself that even though God forgave him for his sin of adultery with Bathsheba- their firstborn son did not survive past 7 days (1 Samuel 12) What are we to make of this? 

While the word "disease" typically connotes physical ailment, it is also used to describe moral and spiritual malaise. Now I don't want to tritely over-spiritualize things and say that David was just talking about spiritual healing- but I do want us to consider how God often uses pain to wake us up from our spiritual deadness. 

There is a famous quote from C.S. Lewis' book "The Problem of Pain": 

"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

God often uses our pain, suffering, and affliction to expose our idols- the things we truly value/worship. God in his sovereignty may even see it fit for some of our afflictions to never go away, but to serve as reminders of our utter dependence on Him. But these afflictions always serve the purpose of purifying and sanctifying our lives- healing us from the lingering effects of our greatest disease- that of sin. In and through our earthly suffering (be it physical, mental/emotional, relational), the LORD is at work, accomplishing his purposes, making us more like Christ. 

Indeed the writer of Psalm 119 says: 

"It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes."

EACF, may you bless the LORD with all that is within you, never forgetting his benefits, trusting in His sovereign hand to heal you through your afflictions, remembering that as a child of the King, nothing in death or life can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

Grace,

Mike