First read Psalm 103:1-12
I want to walk through and point out just five things from this passage that speak to me and by God’s grace do the same for you.
The first is, verse 3 tells us that through Jesus, God forgives all our sins. Christ has redeemed us and forgiven us from all our sins. Through the cross and Jesus shedding His blood, rising from the dead, He defeated death! We were brought back to our original value! How amazing is that? He makes us holy and blameless in His sight, IF we repent from our sins and trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ. No one can earn it. We don’t deserve it. Yet, He gives it to us as a gift. A gift that is meant to share with others.
Yes, undoubtedly the cross saves us, but it should also be an example for us to deny ourselves and our fleshly desires daily, pick up our cross and follow Jesus. In verse 4, God redeems our life from the pit and crowns us with lovingkindness and tender mercies. God’s greatness extends beyond sparing us from sin, disease or trouble. Through God’s blessing, we are crowned with His great love and mercy.
Then, not only does He crown us, next, He satisfies us. Verse 5 says that Jesus satisfies us with good things. The result of God’s work, both in what He saves us from and what He saves us unto which brings true satisfaction to our lives. This connects with Psalm 63 where David states, “My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips.” This is different from mere pleasure or entertainment; God wants to bring true satisfaction to our life in Him through the good things He provides. This satisfaction becomes the source of strength and energy to us. The Psalmist says, “He satisfies you with good, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” What an incredible picture! He renews me and gives me a new identity. I love this anonymous quote, “No man is ever filled to satisfaction but a believer, and only God Himself can satisfy even him.” False identities collapse. However, Jesus does not. He is the peace and joy we all search for. I can try to find satisfaction in something the world throws at me and that may work for a season, but Jesus is the contentment and significance that I desperately long for. Jesus is an identity that will never let me down. He is my approval. I know who I am because I know WHOSE I am. How I feel or what others say does not change what is true. I’m amazed how the truths of Psalm 103 can replace old lies in my mind. The truth is my only path to true FREEDOM! I am covered by His grace alone, in Christ alone.
Verse 8 walks us through some of God’s character: “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” In the previous lines, David describes the righteousness and justice of God, simultaneous with His mercy and graciousness. His anger comes, but slowly and after much mercy has been shown. Unlike ours, His anger is holy. Spurgeon said it well, “All the world tastes of his sparing mercy, those who hear the Gospel partake of his inviting mercy, the saints live by his saving mercy, are preserved by his upholding mercy, are cheered by his consoling mercy, and will enter heaven through his infinite and everlasting mercy.”
Lastly, consider the greatness of God’s gracious forgiveness:
This is a description of the abounding mercy and forgiveness of God. The distance from the Earth to the Heavens measures the greatness of His mercy toward those who fear Him. Instinctively, we think of God’s mercy as less than it really is. Furthermore, the separation from east to west illustrates the great forgiveness of God. We have no idea if David knew the shape of the Earth, but the Holy Spirit who inspired David to write this did, and the nature of the Earth and our way of describing directions makes this statement particularly inspiring. As far as the east is from the west is much greater than saying as far as the north is from the south. If you travel east, you will continue east forever. Given the true shape of the Earth, east and west never meet — and this is how far God has removed our sins from us!! The devil wants me to sit in my guilt and shame. May this never be the case for us! “As the east and the west can never meet in one point, but be forever at the same distance from each other, so our sins and their decreed punishment are removed to an eternal distance by God’s mercy.” — Clarke
Our yesterday does not define us. We are eternally marked as accepted by God because of our faith in Christ. No matter where we’ve been or what we’ve done, even on our darkest day, He doesn’t lose sight of us. His love never fails or waivers. He drew us near because He wanted us. We are never too far gone! Our life is not hopeless. Jesus doesn’t just tolerate us; He crowns us with His steadfast love and mercy. He removes our transgressions from us. He’s called us out of darkness into His marvelous light!
My prayer is that as we remain in these beautiful truths of Psalm 103, that we as co-laborers with Christ would share them among our spheres of influence. Here is a helpful acronym that has kept me grounded in my identity in Him:
L — Lives in the security of God’s steadfast love and forgiveness
A — Aims for Christlikeness in ALL things
B — Builds life around Great Commission
O — Owns their walk with God
R — Relates properly to the body of Christ/local church
E — Evangelizes as a lifestyle (out of an overflow)
R — Reproduces their life (discipleship/invest in another person)
S — Steps out in Radical FAITH: risks by faith so we have to depend on the Spirit