Wednesday Devo
Scripture:
Psalm 103
1 Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. 2 Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. 3 He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. 4 He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. 5 He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!
6 The Lord gives righteousness and justice to all who are treated unfairly. 7 He revealed his character to Moses and his deeds to the people of Israel. 8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. 9 He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. 10 He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. 11 For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. 12 He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. 13 The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. 14 For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust. 15 Our days on earth are like grass; like wildflowers, we bloom and die. 16 The wind blows, and we are gone— as though we had never been here.
17 But the love of the Lord remains forever with those who fear him. His salvation extends to the children’s children 18 of those who are faithful to his covenant, of those who obey his commandments! 19 The Lord has made the heavens his throne; from there he rules over everything. 20 Praise the Lord, you angels, you mighty ones who carry out his plans, listening for each of his commands. 21 Yes, praise the Lord, you armies of angels who serve him and do his will! 22 Praise the Lord, everything he has created, everything in all his kingdom. Let all that I am praise the Lord.
1 Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. 2 Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. 3 He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. 4 He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. 5 He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!
6 The Lord gives righteousness and justice to all who are treated unfairly. 7 He revealed his character to Moses and his deeds to the people of Israel. 8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. 9 He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. 10 He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. 11 For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. 12 He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. 13 The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. 14 For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust. 15 Our days on earth are like grass; like wildflowers, we bloom and die. 16 The wind blows, and we are gone— as though we had never been here.
17 But the love of the Lord remains forever with those who fear him. His salvation extends to the children’s children 18 of those who are faithful to his covenant, of those who obey his commandments! 19 The Lord has made the heavens his throne; from there he rules over everything. 20 Praise the Lord, you angels, you mighty ones who carry out his plans, listening for each of his commands. 21 Yes, praise the Lord, you armies of angels who serve him and do his will! 22 Praise the Lord, everything he has created, everything in all his kingdom. Let all that I am praise the Lord.
Commentary:
God makes his justice known to the oppressed, and the psalmist backs up this claim with an appeal to the past. At the time of Moses, God showed how he worked justice for the oppressed by freeing the Israelites from Egyptian bondage and judging the Egyptians with plague and at the Re(e)d Sea. He further revealed his ways to Moses as compassionate and gracious, patient (slow to anger) and abounding in love (or loyalty; ḥesed) in the aftermath of the sin with the golden calf (see Exod. 34:4–7; Ps. 86:15). He did not treat Israel at that time as their sins deserved, but graciously he forgave them. The psalmist, healed from a deadly disease that resulted from his sin, sees this as a pattern that should be praised. God’s love (or loyalty; ḥesed) towards those who have the proper attitude towards him (fear, v. 11; see commentary at 2:10–12 and 10:2–11) promised in the covenant is as great as the heavens are high above the earth. Using another spatial metaphor, the psalmist affirms the finality of God’s forgiveness of sin by saying that he removes transgression from us as far as the east is from the west.
Tremper Longman III, Psalms: An Introduction and Commentary, ed. David G. Firth, vol. 15–16, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 2014), 356–357.
Tremper Longman III, Psalms: An Introduction and Commentary, ed. David G. Firth, vol. 15–16, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 2014), 356–357.
Questions:
David uses a poetic (and blunt) way to describe our human condition: "He remembers we are only dust." In other words, we are fragile, temporary dirt, while God is eternal, holy, and sustaining. A.W. Tozer famously wrote, "What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us." Authentic worship can only happen when we see God rightly and see ourselves rightly at the exact same time.
- If you are honest, what is the default image of God that pops into your head when you mess up? Do you see Him as a harsh Judge waiting to punish you, or the compassionate Father who removes your sin "as far as the east is from the west"?
- Our culture hates the idea of being weak or out of control. Where are you currently trying to prove you are self-sufficient instead of embracing the fact that you are "dust" in desperate need of grace?
- God revealed His exact character to Moses in Exodus 34:6, using the Hebrew word hesed (loyal, covenant, promise-keeping love). Why is it essential to the Christian faith that God is a covenant-keeping God rather than a god whose love changes based on our performance? What does this imply about the security of your salvation?
Prayer Topics:
- Ask God to give you a right and healthy understanding of both His immense holiness and your own fragility, keeping you from both fear and pride.
- Pray that God would tear down any false, mental images you carry of Him and replace them with the reality of who He truly is; holy, eternal, meriful, redeemer, etc.
- Thank God that because He knows you are "dust," He meets your weaknesses with endless patience and has removed your failures as far as the east is from the west.
This Week's City 7:
Try to commit to memory!
6. Is the Bible God's word? Jesus proved He is God by rising from the dead and said the Old Testament was God’s Word and gave authority to the Apostles to write the words of the New Testament, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, so that all the words of the Bible are God’s Word.
(Matthew 5:18; Luke 24:27, 44; John 14:25-26, 15:27, 16:12-13, 17:20; Acts 2:42; Ephesians 3:5; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:16-21)
(Matthew 5:18; Luke 24:27, 44; John 14:25-26, 15:27, 16:12-13, 17:20; Acts 2:42; Ephesians 3:5; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:16-21)
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