Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 103:7-14
Psalms 103:7-14
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.
We all enjoy reading and thinking about the love of God, his compassion, how he is slow to anger and about his forgiveness. There is no passage that gives me more comfort than verse 12 in our reading about how God forgives me. This is because I know that I sin and have sinned and need his forgiveness to be right with him. This is also because I know how hard it is for me to forgive and really remove the offense from my mind so it is not brought up again and this verse tells me God really does forgive – my sin is gone forever.
As with most things that seem too good to be true, there is “a catch” in this. We must fear him to receive his blessings and his promises. This should not surprise us since we already know that the whole purpose of mankind on the earth is to “fear God and keep his commandments.” This fear we are to have is a healthy respect that recognizes his holiness, his power, his majesty while at the same time knows we are to live up to his glory. Yet, it is tempered by knowing his love, his compassion and his willingness to forgive us when we fail.
In a small way I see this as similar to my earthly father. I was afraid of him in the sense that I knew if he caught me doing wrong, I would be punished. It was not “maybe” or “if” or anything else, I would be punished. When he said it would come later, it always came. I was a pretty good talker as a kid but I don’t ever remember talking him out of punishment. But I never doubted he loved me and only wanted what was best for me. My punishment was for my own good. Even more, I know God will always do what it best for me.
Thank you God for being my Father and for loving me. Thank you for forgiving me for all the things I have done against you. Help me learn from every time I fail so I will become stronger and more like you as a result. Give me a heart of love and compassion, filled with wisdom and controlled by a sense of what is right so I will be forgiving to others. I ask your peace and comfort for those who are hurting and are grieving today. Use me to help them in some way. I pray in Jesus name.
--Robert
