- Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Psalm 103:1 – An interest of mine is watching documentaries of ultra-marathoners. These are racers who will go 100 miles, 200 miles, some even well over 400 miles straight in a single race. To get your body to go that sort of distance you are literally giving everything you have within you. All your energy, heart, and mind goes into just taking that next step. While we may have never been in a race like that, we can imagine the completeness of one’s self that would have to be given to such a task. Here our psalmist says that everything within him, to the deepest part of his being, needed to be given over to praising the Lord. Why though? Why would God be worthy of such an extensive amount of praise from us? Just look at the rest of the psalm and you get a good idea of why. He forgives our sin, He heals our diseases, He is gracious, He doesn’t deal with us as we deserve, but sends our wrongs away from us as far as they possibly can. Such a God deserves our praise, but a praise greater than likely we’ve ever given Him. A praise that extends to the deepest part of our being and exhausts everything we have. Honestly I don’t even know if I’ve ever worshipped like that, but it sets a challenge to me to what my worship ought to be. How could you give more of yourself to the Lord when you worship Him? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3517
- Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Psalm 103:2-5 – I love that phrase, “And forget not all his benefits.” Here we see recorded that God does so much for those who follow Him. He forgives, heals, redeems, crowns, satisfies, and renews us. He steps into our story so we don’t have to walk under the shame of sin. He showers us with love and mercy. He makes sure we have what we need to keep moving forward. Yes, as we unpacked in our Deuteronomy study, God asks us to give all we have to Him in our following of Him. All our idols, all our focus, our life. Today though we are reminded of just a small, small portion of the benefits that come when we do let go and follow God. In those moments and mornings then when we are choosing if we are going to follow God or not, look at the benefits of both choices in front of you. Which one truly gives you what you are looking for today? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1331
- He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. Psalm 103:10-13 – Something we must understand about sin and our relationship with the Lord is that if God truly gave us what we deserved when it came to our sin, we’d forever be shut out of Heaven and a life with Him. That’s not God being unjust or unfair, it’s the reality of our sin. What this passage reminds us though is God is choosing to not deal with us like He “ought” to when it comes to our sin. Instead His grace, mercy, and forgiveness are at play. We shouldn’t have a chance at forgiveness, but God is offering that to us. We shouldn’t have access to Heaven and the Father, but we do because of Jesus. We shouldn’t even have the right to speak with the Lord, yet we can anytime we want. Thank you Jesus that you are not treating us like our sin deserves. Dwell on how deeply God’s grace and mercy are at play in your life today. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2234
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