Verses 1-5: Forget Not All His Benefits
Psalm 103 celebrates who the Lord is and begins by calling us to praise the Lord three times in the first 2 verses alone. In the first 5 verses we’re reminded that the Lord is the forgiver of sins, the healer of diseases, our redeemer who lifts us up out of the pits that our sins have thrown us into, the Lord who crowns us with his love and compassion, a reminder that since God is our father, you’re princes and princesses in the kingdom of heaven, and that the Lord satisfies our desire with good things, echoing Paul’s beautiful words of hope in Romans 8, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified…. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
As we look back at the past year, I encourage you to look for how the Lord has used both the good and hard times for your good, or to see how during the hardest times, the Lord was with you and give you what you needed to get through those days and continues to be with you. Psalm 103 is all about not forgetting the Lord, a call to remind ourselves of who God is. This helps us then to recognize his presence and help. Let us take some time to remember.
Verses 8-12 He Does Not Treat Us as Our Sins Deserve
These are powerful verses! The Lord doesn’t have to be compassionate and gracious; he could just punish us for our sin and selfishness, he could give up on us and start over again with someone else. The Lord even threatens to do this after Israel worships golden calves while God’s giving Moses the 10 Commandments in Exodus 32, “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’ “I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people. Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”
Many of us have grown up expecting punishment for when we do wrong, for anger and frustration towards us as we fail God again and again. Yet, even in his anger, the Lord reveals that while he does get angry at us when we sin, he’s still abounding in his love towards us. Moses seeks the Lord’s favour and reminds the Lord of his covenants with Israel, and the Lord turns away from his anger
We go into the new year knowing that we won’t be perfect. There will be times when we’ll sin and disappoint God, family, friends, and others, and yet we go into the year with the reassurance of knowing that we live in God’s grace and love. What a love that is, “as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” We see how great is the Lord’s love for us when Jesus chooses to go to the cross so that our sin can be removed from us and our relationship with the Lord is made right and whole once again. In response, we humbly turn back to God, confess our sin, repent and recommit ourselves to strive to do God’s will and be the people he’s called us to be.
Verses 13-16 As For Us, Our Days are Like Grass
In these verses, David reminds us that our God is a compassionate God who loves us as a father loves his children. The Lord is not just our God, he also reveals himself as our Father, one who cares for us like a mother. Our parents may punish us when we mess up, but their prayer is that we learn and grow from it, they punish us because they love us, even if it doesn’t always feel like it at the time. Our parents love us, even though they themselves are sinners, now imagine how much more our sinless perfect Father loves us.
We hear an echo back to creation when God created Adam from the dust of the earth and gave him life by breathing his Spirit into Adam. Jesus, in a passage where he calls us to not worry, echoes these verses, acknowledging that this part of our lives, these bodies are temporary, and calls us to trust in God above all. Matthew 6:28–34, “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” This is an invitation to enter the new year with a sense of peace, a reminder that God provides for us. All Jesus calls us to do is to seek first the kingdom of heaven and the Father’s righteousness as we walk through the year ahead.
Verse 17-18 God’s Everlasting Love is With Those Keep His Covenant
At the heart of this psalm is God’s “hesed,” the Hebrew word translated as love, but it’s so much more, it means mercy, favor, loyalty, or steadfast love and is found about 250 times in the Hebrew Bible. It often refers to God’s covenant loyalty to his people. The psalmist uses this word as love in verses 11 and 17, and here in 17 it’s for those who fear him, those who also experience his compassion in verse 13. This combination of deep compassion and loyal steadfast love is the foundation of God’s covenants with us, it’s what sustains the covenants when we fail to keep them. God’s hesed love freely forgives our sins, extending God’s grace when we’re graceless, it leads Jesus to the cross for us to draw us back to the Father. Peter and John acknowledge this as the heart of the gospel news, 1 Peter 3:18, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.” And 1 John 3:16, “By this we know love, because [Christ] laid down his life for us.”
This love and compassion is from everlasting to everlasting. This love has its roots from before creation and will carry on beyond Jesus’ return. God’s love is different from the love we often experience here. God’s love is a deep forever commitment while our culture often sees love as for a time and then moving on. Love is even used as a weapon to keep others in line with threats to withhold your love until they measure up. God’s love is seen in Jesus’ commitment to us in that he went to the cross for our sin while we were still sinners. It's because of God's committed covenantal love for us, that we find the courage to examine our hearts and be honest with ourselves and God and confess our sin, knowing that we’re safe in his hands, giving us the strength to repent and commit ourselves to living fully for and in Jesus in the year ahead.
God’s love is “with those who fear him.” We’re called to keep covenant with God, and when we sin, we’re called to remember God’s ways and to obey again his precepts. This is our response of gratitude that flows out of his everlasting love. We come to Jesus with empty hands of faith, seeking to receive the rich blessings of the Father through the blood of Jesus. We return to the heart of Jesus’ message as found in Mark 1:15, “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” We’re called in the year ahead to keep Jesus as the center of our lives. As repentant and trusting children we fear him, holding him in awe and honour. Paraphrasing a theologian, “We’re not forgiven because we fear the Lord; we fear the Lord because we’re forgiven.” As we journey into this new year, may it be our resolution to live into God’s hesed love, praising him alone as our God, and keep asking, “Help us to be who you’re calling us to be, and use us according to your will.”
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