The Goodness of God- Psalm 103

 Before the death of Jesus at Calvary, I have often had different thoughts about who the Lord was to the Old Testament saints. Was He more of a Judge, throwing down verdict in form of fire and pestilence for disobedience, or was He the God of provision—shown to Abraham as his son lay on the altar awaiting death? Did He desire to have a close relationship with all of who would long for it, or did He choose certain people to bestow favor on—like Moses, Isaac, Abraham or a Joshua? Before the cross, I tend to think of Him as being less merciful and gentle, and yet when I stopped to read Psalm 103, I got a glimpse of David's good LORD. Let me share some of it with you:

Let all that I am praise the LORD; may I never forget the good things he does for me. 

He forgives my sins

and heals my diseases.

He redeems me from death

and crowns me with love and tender mercies.

He fills my life with good things,

My youth is renewed like the eagle's!

The LORD gives righteousness and justice to all who are treated unfairly.

The LORD is compassionate and merciful,

slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.

He will not constantly accuse us,

nor remain angry forever.

He does not punish us for all our sins;

he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.

For his unfailing love to those who fear him

is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.

He has removed our sins as far from us

as the east is from the west.

The LORD is like a father to his children,

tender and compassionate to those who fear him.

For he knows how weak we are;

he remembers we are only dust (Psalm 103:2-6, 8-14, NLT).

On this page, written many, many years ago, I see the heart of my own Savior. One who is Forgiver, Healer, Redeemer—compassionate and full of mercy and goodness. He doesn't deal harshly with us as we rightly deserve. He is a loving and tender Father. And He knows everything about us—even our weaknesses. He certainly knew David's, and yet this was the LORD David knew and loved—and the LORD that loved David, despite his many failures.

For any who may be longing for the LORD, this little Psalm is packed full of Him. If you read it with understanding, you will clearly see His good character and it will hopefully birth in you, a longing to know and serve Him better. Charles H. Spurgeon's Treasury of David states this about Psalm 103: "There is too much in the Psalm, for a thousand pens to write, it is one of those all-comprehending Scriptures which is a Bible in itself, and it might alone suffice for the hymn-book of the church." 

I am no David—or even a Charles Spurgeon. But I've come to know each characteristic listed in this song of my LORD, drawing me to a true longing for Him. The world is filled with discouragement and painful situations. Life presses upon all of us at times and fills us with a deep ache—an ache only the good LORD of Psalm 103 can fill. Do you want Him? Do you long for Him? He is our good, good Father who despite the circumstances of living in a broken and sinful world, fills our lives with good things. May we take some time today to reflect on His character and thank Him for His tender, compassionate love toward us. 

An Accurate View of God

 Many people grow up with a warped view of God. He may be thought of as a huge etherial Creature that sits on a giant throne in some distant land in the sky. He's harsh, and ready to strike when you make a wrong move. He is impersonal and disinterested—unless you mess up. He makes rules that feel like punishment, and likes to hold back good things from us. He labels things as sinful that our nature naturally wants (sex outside of marriage, recreational drugs, excess alcohol, the love of money, etc)—depriving us. He's angry and menacing and watching with critical eyes. This view of God is completely wrong, and yet many people hold thoughts along these lines.

But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness (Psalm 86:15, ESV).

Other people fall on the other end of the spectrum and see God as a hip Friend in the sky. He loves us all (true) so much, that He will overlook our sin. He changes His mind about what His Word clearly says based on popular opinion of the present day. He's an "anything goes" kind of God who turns His face from sinful choices because He is our Friend and doesn't want to upset us or make waves. He's a God who takes every "good" person home to heaven when they die, no matter if they were a true believer or not. This is another completely false view of God that many hold as truth.

Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth (Psalm 96:9, ESV)!

The truth is, neither of these views is accurate. God is gracious and full of mercy, but He is also holy. God's holiness demands respect and reverence. God is also loving and kind, yet demands obedience, repentance from sin, and our whole hearts—a living sacrifice. He is fair and just and always in control. He isn't subject to change, which we should find refreshing and encouraging—we never have to wonder what He expects because He never changes. 

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever (Hebrews 13:8, ESV).

God is our Creator, and as such, He understands us perfectly. He knows what is bad for us and can cause us heartache and pain—that's why He asks us to keep our bodies pure. He doesn't hold things back from us to make us miserable; He asks us not to do certain things because they will damage us. God longs to have a relationship with each one of us, and yet He leaves our pursuit of Him as a choice we must make. He will pursue us, but He will never force us to choose Him. 

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me (Revelation 3:20, ESV).

Having an accurate view of God is important if we are to know Him and serve Him. The only way we can know Him is to come to Him through the Father. How is this possible? By putting our faith and trust in the gift of the cross of Calvary. There, Jesus died to put away sin forever, calling us to believe that He is the Son of God who died to rescue us from sin and hell, and rose on the third day, victorious over death. This truth is what we call 'salvation'—an act of acceptance in what Jesus accomplished for us on that cross. 

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16, ESV).

Once we come to intimately know Jesus as our Savior, our view of Him should change. The more we study the Bible, the more we learn about Him. The more we pray and spend time with Him, the more clearly we see and understand Him. We won't have a warped view—we will begin seeing the truth of who God is through the lens of time spent learning and communicating with Him. 

Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path (Psalm 119:105, ESV).

God wants us to know Him—and He knows us better than anyone else ever could (and still loves us)! How we live and love as Christians has a loud voice. Our behavior reflects on our Savior. May we each live in such a way that the world has a clearer picture of who our God is, and that through us, they may have a desire to know Him better.

But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15, ESV),