So my friend and I just recently became Blogger people, and as we are getting used to all that can be done in a blog we both decided that we should do a post on scripture. The Bible is so full of life and so much good stuff, that it is always worth reflecting over it and seeing what God has in it for us.
So we decided to write about a little of the Psalms, mostly because the Psalms is a collection of songs that were used to enter into God's presense. I especially love David's Psalms because his heart for God clearly comes across in how he praises the living God. These Psalms were meant to be a continual, 24/7 prayer to God. Breaking through barriers, crying out to God, and praising His name.
Psalm 103: 1-5
Praise the LORD, oh my soul, and forget not all of his benefits-
who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases
who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion
who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's."
Now the beginning in anything is meant to signify what will follow and grab the attention of the person who is going over it. So when it starts with "Praise the LORD, oh m soul", it is a cry from the depths of being that sings it. It signifies the awesome glory of the LORD...now just stop on that in itself. I find when we are going over points such as this, we get so calloused to who God is and what His glory is. The Bible says that in the throne room of God in heaven, seraphim are continually giving glory to God by singing "Holy Holy Holy" forever and ever. God is not a being in a single place and time but a thousand years to him are but a day and day is as a thousand years, as Peter said. He is the Creator, from the smallest flower that breaks through the earth in spring, to the amazing planets that continually rotate around the sun but never crach into each other. God will be glorified, even if we refused, the works of His hands, even the rocks, would cry out in praise to Him. Now how can such a God of that majesty and just plain awesomeness become a boring religious practice of going to Sunday when it is convenient? God is meant not to be pushed aside for times when life is good, but He is a God of indescribable words that ushes and gushes forth from the universe He created. Yet He will provide when everything is lost and you are despised by those you thought loved you. God cannot stop loving you. So when the Psalmnist says "all my inmost being praise His holy name", it is a heartcry to find joy in the God who connects with His people. It is absolute joy, security and peace in rejoicing to the one whose worthiness outstrips anything we can give, and yet He finds in it a sweet fragrance that engulfs His nostrils. He is our Abba Father, and His name is holy.
The Psalmnist then adds "and forget not all of his benefits". Saying do not forget the great promises which God has given, given as a command to take possession of what is promised and claim it.
Now God is a being of extraodinary grace with compassion. The many aspects of God seem to not make sense; this awesome love that He presents to those who clearly do not deserve it is not logically founded. But God is awesome like that. He takes what seems illogical and unfounded and presents it to us. It makes those who are perceived to have knowledge fools. God is a god "who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases". Not only does He redeem those with sin, He heals diseases. And not only that, but He heals all your diseases. Some Christians believe hat God doesn't heal today, not that He does not have the power to, but He just doesn't. You point to the Bible and show example after example to them, but they just say that God works differently now than He did then. What? It is a promise of God to heal all your diseases. God never changes, and He cannot break His word. First we must claim the promise He has made to us, and then we must remind Him of what He has promised. By the stripes of Jesus we have been healed, now put your faith in that and beleive.
I love this next part. He "redeems your life from the pit". Now when I see the word pit, an image pops into mind. I see a darkened forest with a completely black hole, that resembles a well, right in the middle of a path. You have fallen in. It's damp, it's muddy, it smells horrible, nothing can be seen. The walls are tall, and enclosing. You're trapped, you're exhausted. You've been trying to climb out, but anything you dig out just caves in with mud. You're irritated and you're scared. It feels as though you'll never get out. Then a hand appears out of nowhere and lifts you out into a bright sunny day. Your savior dusts you off and guides you along the path again. No matter what we've done, no matter what the age, God's love still envelopes us. His grace redeems our worst failures. It is not that we go out and sin, then repent, get a clean slate and then go out and sin again. No.... God's compassion is not meant to be taken advantage of, yet it is apart of God's nature to have compassion on us. He "crowns you with love and compassion". God's wants to bestow His love upon you, He thinks that much of you.
Now Jesus said to ask anything in His name, and you will receive it. So the Psalmnist hits on this principle when he says that God "satisfies your desires with good things". God wants to bless those who follow Him. God wants to be our friend and we have to desire to be His friend. Our desires, our passions, He wants to grant to us, but He fulfills that with "good things". He knows what will fulfill us and He chooses to give us what will build us up and encourage us. He does not want us to be built up on hype and then just burn out after a period of time. God wants to enstill an endurance that, when fully matured, will be willing to go through any hardship with joy, because that is God's will. It is a foundation for our entire lives. He does not wish to spoil us, but He does wish to be a part of Him. To walk close enough to God, that our desires begin to be what God desires for us. Just as David always asked God about even the small decisions that seemed so clear, because he did not care about fame or fortune. Only about being in the presense of God.
God gives you these promises "so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's". The eagle is one of my favorite animals, fast, elegant, graceful, keen, they are ruely majestic creatures. They have awesome eyesight, yet they have trouble reading books for some reason. An eagle is full of vibrant life, and God wishes us the same.
At the end of the day, it's not for our own benefit that we should be close to God. Our heart should not be self-centered, but God-centered. What is Your will, LORD, for me? That is the question we must ask. We should not be satisfied with the knowledge that God loves us. He does, and that in itself is beyond understanding. But we should strive with everything in us, until we are on our death bed and breathing in the last breath of air that will enter our lungs, to love Him back. To seek, pursue, and become one in whom He delights. I want to be an ornament that God can show off. I want to be the light in the darkness. I want to be the friend and lover of God. And that is what we were created for.
Labels:
compassion,
desires,
eagle,
glory,
God's promises,
grace,
holy,
oh my soul,
pit,
Psalm 103,
redemption
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First of all, I must applaud you for the thoroughness of your response- you obviously put a lot of thought into each line, and I definitely saw a lot of things I would have missed without reading your commentary. The first part, about God's glory, was really good (and I spied a little bit of David Crowder-esque style in there, haha well done), and I love how in the body paragraphs, you always find a way to bring the focus soley on God, which is how it should be. I especially love the analogy of the pit, I could picture it in my head exactly how you said it. Oh and I also like the eagle comparison, it didn't even occur to me that the author would have picked them specifically for a reason.
And the ending- well you already know what I think about that, haha.
overall, it was excellent and quite inspirational. you should think about taking up writing instead of engineering.. i would support you all the way =]