Psalms 103

So in my quest over the past 10 days or so to get consistently back into the word on a daily basis for more than just a breeze over the Journey and calling it a quiet time. I am not saying there is anything wrong with the Journey and I still read them and usually get a lot out of them every morning when I get to my desk at work as part of my daily emails – I just needed something more and more time in the word than I was getting. To no one’s fault but my own laziness and lack of discipline over the past two months I have just kind of settled for less than my best – I can give you a ton of good excuses and reasons and some are even very valid but they are still just excuses! So about 10 days ago God really started to convict me of how little quality time I had spent with him lately. So in an effort to change this I decided I was going to pick up my Believing God book by Beth Moore that I had actually purchased early last spring when my community group was trying to decide what Beth Moore study we wanted to do. All this to say I have spent the last few days diving into this study which I am loving by the way and learning lots about old things that I have always known.

Okay sorry I felt like there was a little background knowledge/where I am right now that was needed there before I get to the real point of this blog. So in my quiet time there was a lot of time spent in Psalms 103. This Psalm has a lot of really special meaning to me and has been a Psalm I have spent a ton of time camped out in ever since I was in high school and was told to memorize it – while sadly I have forgotten parts of it over the years so that my exact memory isn’t word perfect anymore – I still love it.

Each time I read it something else stands out to me and the part that stood out to me today the most was verses 1-5 and all the amazing things God does for us and just how much He truly loves us in spite of ourselves. To just be completely honest the part that really hit home with me is verse 4 “who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion” – I haven’t been in a pit lately but I have been in a hole/funk lately. A lot of factors have played into this from being in a boot for 3 months, job issues, to finding my identity in the world, and some tough stuff with my family. It was really good to be reminded this morning that once again God is in control and can pull me out of the hole when He chooses – it isn’t up to me to pull myself out of the hole but I do have to be someone who is willing to be pulled out. Thankfully God is changing/softening my heart lately not only to Himself but also just to where I am in life right now and I am exactly were I am suppose to be. That doesn’t mean I will be in this exact spot in 3 months even but for today I am where I am suppose to be.

While I could continue to go on about Psalms 103 and everything I have learned from just this one Psalm over the past several years – I will spare you the details. But I do want to encourage you to read it if you haven’t read it in a while or if you have never read it.

Psalms 103

1 Praise the LORD, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits-
3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
6 The LORD works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel:
8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are like grass,
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
17 But from everlasting to everlasting
the LORD's love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children's children-
18 with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.