Love Songs
“The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;
he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
For 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.”
Today’s Text: Psalm 103:1-11 (Living Life Daily Devotional)
I’m not sure why Duranno decided to cut off today’s text at verse 11 instead of verse 12. Verses 11-12 go together. Hebrew poetry is based on parallelism, and verses 11 and 12 are parallel. I guess, technically speaking, the psalms are not meant to be broken up at all, but read and recited in whole—even Psalm 119, the longest psalm and the longest chapter in the Bible with 176 verses. Of course, when these psalms were written, there were no verse numbers—just the words.
And the psalms were sung to music as well. Maybe they were chanted. No one knows for sure. But pretty much every scholar believes that the Book of Psalms was the hymnal for the Israelites.
Amazing. The words themselves are powerful enough. How moving and stirring they must have been when set to music and sung.
Question: Where are my transgressions, my sins? Answer: As far as the east is from the west—completely removed.
Question: How great is God’s love for me? Answer: As high as the heavens are above the earth—immeasurable.
Question: Is it salvation attained by my own efforts to say that God’s love is immeasurable for those who fear Him?
Answer: Why is it necessary for us to breathe in order to live? Is that living attained by my own efforts?
I do not fear the LORD, as I should. It’s like trying to live by holding my breath, and then only breathing when I’m about to suffocate.
Question: Why do we “live” like that? Answer: I don’t know.
But praise be to God. Thank God that “He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our inequities!” Where would we be if the LORD was not “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love?”
He disciplines me to teach me to fear Him so that I may breathe in the Spirit and live. He gives me mercy out of the riches of His glorious grace and so I may live and breathe and use my breath to give Him thanksgiving and praise.
Father, You are the LORD, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. You are worthy of all glory, honor, and praise. And yet, You do not leave the guilty unpunished. Teach me to fear You, Lord, so that I may live and enjoy the riches of Your glorious grace. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
