16 Sep Meditations on the Psalms #209
Psalm 103 Part 4
In my homeland, the lofty Southern Alps have one peak (Mt Cook) that rises above the rest. In the peaks and valleys of the psalms, Ps103 is my majestic Mt Cook. It sounds too good to be true! Can God forgive all my sins? Does he heal all my diseases? If He is filling my life with good things, why doesn’t He take away the bad things?
If we are not healed now, we are healed for a kingdom, where there will be no more tears, sickness, or death. There will be final, complete healing for all. When we ask God to heal an afflicted love one, we are asking Him to bring a piece of His future kingdom into the present. Sometimes He does, and sometimes He asks us to wait. Waiting for the Lord is a common theme in the psalms. We are asked to remember the things listed about God’s benefits, but memory is treacherous; by a strange perversity, it treasures up the refuse of the past and permits priceless treasures to lie neglected.
In the first section (vs1-5), David had described the greatness of God in His work for the individual. In vs6-7 he shows His greatness in bringing ‘righteousness and justice’ to others. While these are attributes of His characters, so are lovingkindness and graciousness. These ‘abound’ (v8). His ‘anger’ comes slowly.
David’s statements on lovingkindness (mercy KJV) reminds us of God’s revelation of Himself to Moses in Exodus34:6. David knew personally the abounding lovingkindness of God. He knew that his sins (and the sins of his people) deserved much greater judgment or discipline than they had received. God has not dealt with us as our sins deserve’ because he dealt with Jesus as our sins deserve. He was treated as we deserve so that we can be treated as he deserves. Jesus was condemned for our sins in which he had no share so that we can be justified by His righteousness in which we have no share. He suffered the death which was ours so that we can receive the life that was His. This is the exchange you make at the cross!
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