It’s come to a point that meditation on the Word goes beyond being mere convenience and opportunity… No man, nowadays, we need to stay vigilant with the Word.
Thank You, Father, for the reading of Your Word.
Psalm 103
Praise for the LORD’s Mercies
A Psalm of David.
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits:
I stopped here through the sporadic power outages we’ve been experiencing throughout the day. By the way, I do pray all that’s resolved and we actually enjoy some consistent electricity in our parts.
It’s just crazy, we’re having this power crisis in a provincial level, and we’re also witnessing a leadership (power) crisis on a national level.
One common line of thought couldn’t help but complain again, while the rest of us who just want to go on with our lives just see it as an issue in consistency that continues to merit a response, rather than a brash reaction. One side’s mocking the other, while the rest of us who just want to go on with our lives just see it all as such a new low for our country.
So you could see that I find special value in these the very first parts of this Psalm – where we’re reminded to bless His name as a response to all the crazy things that have been going on. While the rest of the world is throwing all sorts of labels to companies and individuals, we’d do well to ascribe praises and honor and glory to Christ, who has the name that is above every other name.
And as we praise the Lord, we’re reminded of all that we have in Christ, all that was bought through Christ – and we praise Him again. We’re brought into a cycle of praising and recalling, which I think is a practically better mindset to possess in a bitter world with a bitter cycle of complaining and resenting.
I just read somewhere that true repentance isn’t the repetitive regret for the sins we commit but the change of mind which, to my understanding, bears real fruit. And that’s what we’re doing here – we’re not reacting, but we’re responding, with the hopes of the power of the Spirit bursting forth and impacting this reality.
Through Christ we’re taken out of humanity’s default setting, out of the downward spiral of sin leading to death; Consequently, we’re taken into an upward path, of being brought from glory to glory – more than surviving in existence, we now have the option to respond to all this world throws at us with life that causes us to thrive, naturally.
All this is to say that to praise and to recall His benefits is, in itself, a benefit. We haven’t even talked about what these benefits can be, specifically – But I suppose it just couldn’t be helped that when we meditate on the Word, and when we are naturally brought to praising Christ, we couldn’t help but notice that which He has actually already done for us:
3 Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases,
4 Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
By the finished work of Christ, we are forgiven, and healed. We are saved, and more than that, we are commended and crowned, lavished with His lovingkindness and mercy.
Christ is the Good Shepherd who restores our soul, and prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies.
6 The LORD executes righteousness And justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel.
8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
9 He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever.
10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father pities his children, So the LORD pities those who fear Him.
All that’s there to do is to believe in Christ – It’s only through His finished work that we are forgiven – So forgiven that our sins have been separated from us, as the east can never be in the same place as the west. And, actually, thought iniquity may be so close to us, it is far from us in that we can no longer be one with it.
And this gives us another idea of what it means to be a new creation. Through Christ, though we try our darndest, we can never be identified with transgression. We can even go as far as doing it, but we will never find satisfaction, because it’s no longer a part of our identity. It’s no longer a part of who we are now, in Christ.
To be a new creation also entails that we are regular recipients of His great mercies – mercies that are as high as the heavens are from the earth. I say we are regular recipients because in another scripture, in Lamentations, it is written that these mercies that are just so high, are fresh and new with every morning.
We are regularly supplied with said incredible mercy… and, as new creations in Christ and reconciled to God, we are loved by God, as Christ is loved by His Father.
Here we are looking for money and health as ‘blessings’ when Christ has already guaranteed so much for us before we even asked for any of it. What a great Savior we have!
14 For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
16 For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, And its place remembers it no more.
17 But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting On those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children,
18 To such as keep His covenant, And to those who remember His commandments to do them.
So again, His mercies are as high as the heavens are from the earth, His mercies are also new every morning – but here we also read that these same mercies He gives us consistently? They span from everlasting to everlasting.
And being a new creation also means that we carry His righteousness, so that our households are saved (as Paul told the warden who freed them in the book of Acts)… but it is also a righteousness that passes on to our children, and our children’s children.
And as we continue to take in all that we have through Christ, as we continue to remember the benefits we have by way of our salvation, it just couldn’t be helped, could it? We’re brought back to praising our God and Lord, again.
19 The LORD has established His throne in heaven, And His kingdom rules over all.
20 Bless the LORD, you His angels, Who excel in strength, who do His word, Heeding the voice of His word.
21 Bless the LORD, all you His hosts, You ministers of His, who do His pleasure.
22 Bless the LORD, all His works, In all places of His dominion. Bless the LORD, O my soul!
It should probably already be normal for us in the body of Christ, but given the magnitude and the weight of all that’s going on in this season, I suppose we all need the reminder: That we were made new creations to worship, and as we worship, we remember just how absolute our salvation is, down to the smallest of details… which leads us to worship, again and again and again.
Let’s continue to encourage ourselves, and others. This world is dark enough as it is.
We are the light of the world. We are a city on a hill. The light that we shine simply cannot be hidden.
All praise, glory, worship and adoration ascribed to the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
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