Psalm 103:15-18 Memory/Meditation

 "As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone; and its place knows it no more. But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting to those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children, to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments." 

Our current passage provides a poignant reminder that our days are fleeting. 

"As for man, his days are like grass...."

I grew up in Northern California, and those who are familiar with the region know how perpetually dry it can be- with hills that are yellowish-brown for 95% of the year. On the off occasion that it rains, the hills turn green almost immediately- but even within a week or two without rain, they go back to their default hue. 

The Psalmist tells us that our lives are like that too. 

"...the wind passes over it, and it is gone; and its place remembers it no more."

Not only are our earthly lives transient, we are fragile- we are gone with the wind, so to speak. It doesn't take much to unmoor us from the illusions of success, safety, and comfort we often strive so hard to obtain. As much as we may try to plan for contingencies, we are always susceptible to loss- be it an unanticipated loss of a family member, losing a job, or losing a treasured friendship/relationship.  

If that wasn't bad enough- we're reminded that we are forgotten- "its place remembers it no more." 

As people grow older, it's natural to look back on one's life and consider whether their life counted for something. And in our society which often embodies hyper-capitalistic tendencies- we often mistaken activity and productivity for significance. An underlying fear of our own insufficiency and inadequacy will always have us asking ourselves whether we are "enough". 

"Did I provide my kids enough academic/social/spiritual enrichment through their summer activities?" 

"Have I done enough to make sure I have the life that I want for myself (or for my family)?" 

"Have I done enough to care for those around me that they would remember me fondly?" 

"What kind of legacy will I leave when I die?"

For such anxious souls as ours- David turns our eyes away from our fleeting frailty and towards the boundless compassion of God.   

"But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting to those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children, to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments."

What a contrast, and what a comfort! Though our lives are fleeting, fragile, and forgotten- the LORD's love for those who fear him never ends...and if God's love for his people never ends...that implies that his people will not come to an end either. 

Ultimately God demonstrated his steadfast love toward us in giving us Jesus Christ. Through His sinless life, his suffering sacrifice on the cross to pay the debt of our sin, and his death-defeating resurrection- He secured our rightful place as heirs of eternal life that begins even now, adopted into His family to live and reign with Him forever. Praise be to God for his indescribable gift! 

So EACF, may the steadfast love of the Lord be the anchor of your soul- may the good news of Jesus Christ never cease to amaze you, and may the Lord teach us to number our days, that we may gain hearts of wisdom (Psalm 90:12).

Grace,

Mike

 

Psalm 103:11-14 Memory/Meditation

 Hi EACF, 

May the Lord bless and keep all of you this summer- I know that many of us are on the road to see friends, family, beautiful sights around the country, and perhaps outside the country as well! 

Even as we are out and about, I want to invite you to keep storing God's word in your heart- whether you are feeling great or feeling down and out, or somewhere in between- the Lord wants to remind you of His nearness and His care for you. 

"For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion on his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust." 

Many of us are probably quite familiar with this passage. But let's not let our familiarity allow us to pass over it without meditating on it. 

"For as high as the heavens are above the earth....." When this Psalm was written, the author and his readers could glimpse endlessness of the skies through their own eyes- they undoubtedly saw many more stars at night than we do now since we've got so much light pollution in our modern world (remember how God told Abraham to number the stars...if he could?). 

And yet, through to the development of increasingly sophisticated telescopes across the last several decades like the Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, and most recently the James Webb Telescope (among others as well!), God has given us an unprecedented glimpse of just how much higher the heavens are truly above the earth. The Webb Telescope itself sits over 900,000 miles away from the earth- and recently detected a galaxy cluster ~ 30 billion light years away! Just one light year is already 5.88 trillion miles (5,880,000,000,000)...and now multiply that by 30,000,000,000! (For those who are curious, the total number of miles is 176400000000000000000000 = 1.764 × 10^23)

How great is His steadfast love towards those who fear Him! The heavens indeed declare the glory of God, and the skies proclaim the works of his hands (Psalm 19). But even further beyond the gargantuan numbers, we know that in Christ God condescended from infinite heights of holiness to not only meet us sinners where we are, but to experience pain, sorrow, and grief through suffering in the worst way for us.  None other could bear the weight of the sins of the world past, present, and future but the Holy and Anointed One of God. Jesus bore our sin in His death, clothed us in His righteousness through His perfect life, and through His resurrection has secured our salvation forever as children of God.  Why did He do it? He did it for the joy set before Him (Hebrews 12). The prospect of doing His Father's will to rescue those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery (Hebrews 2:15) brought him joy! 

"He knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust." As our Creator, surely God knows how we are formed/shaped. He knows how short our lives are- our lives in view of the cosmic time scale is miniscule....and yet what magnificent mercy and patience He shows us- what kindness and generosity He has shown us in Christ! Be amazed EACF, that God would go to such lengths to rescue dust like you and I, and that He chooses to conform us into the image of Jesus. He is in the business of making beauty even out of the dust. 

Let me just leave you with an image, and one final passage from Psalm 8:3-4, as it encapsulates this meditation. 

(For info about this picture of the Eagle Nebula (often called the Pillars of Creation) https://esawebb.org/images/pillarsofcreation_composite/)

"When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,

    the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

what is man that you are mindful of him,

    and the son of man that you care for him?"

May the Holy Spirit grant us a deeper grasp of God's unfailing love for us!

Grace and Peace,

Mike