God's Unfathomable Love

A couple of weeks ago we talked about the importance of God's name. My goal today is to, once again, look at God's name and see the way God loves us. God really does love us deeply. I'll be using Psalm 103 today. Prayer

Psalm 103 is a praise psalm. David is given credit for writing this psalm but we are not given any specific reason or occasion for David writing it. He could have associated this Psalm with the Thanksgiving offering, which was given by worshipers. But in addition to all of this, Psalm 103 could have served as a song used in a general setting of worship to praise our Lord for the benefits that He has given to us as His people. And doesn't God deserve to be praised? So, let's approach this in that mindset, giving God the praise that He so richly deserves.

Psalm 103:1- 2 – “My soul, bless the Lord, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. 2 My soul, bless the Lord, and do not forget all his benefits.”

Again, we don't really know the details that led to the writing of this psalm, but we do know that this Psalm is a powerful description of who God is. If we are to break this psalm down into categories, we would see it is like a hymn with bookends. One bookend is verses one and two and the other book end is verses 20 through 22.

In verses 3-6, it is a discussion about the characteristics of God. And then in verses 7 - 19, we're given a summary of the joys of the forgiveness that God offers us. In some ways, this Psalm's focus on God, creates within us an urgency just to kneel before Him as we read it.

David knew that he had good reason to be grateful and to praise the Lord, but he also knew he needed to choose to turn his heart in God's direction. With all of his being, he wanted to bless the Lord, praising Him and speaking of His goodness.

The focus of this praise is once again God's name or His character. In fact, the repetition of the phrase "bless the Lord" reflects the highest form of praise. You might recall the angels crying out:

Isaiah 6:3 – “And one called to another: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Armies; his glory fills the whole earth.”

Or the creatures singing:

Revelation 4:8 – “Each of the four living creatures had six wings; they were covered with eyes around and inside. Day and night they never stop, saying,

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God, the Almighty, who was, who is, and who is to come.”

We can almost picture David in worship. And that worship is gripping, intense, intentionally giving thanks and praise. It came from deep within David. You can tell that it fills his soul from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head. It's as if David locked eyes on God's goodness and is throwing himself into worship. When was the last time you worshiped like that? I read this and feel almost as if I have slighted God in my worship.

But at the same time David was aware that even he might take for granted all that God had done for him, so it seems like he's pushing himself to avoid letting that happen. He never wanted his commitment to be superficial or his worship to be just a religious activity. Does that remind you of any church services you have attended? Maybe when David wrote this, he had the warning that was written in:

Deuteronomy 8:14 – “be careful that your heart doesn’t become proud and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.”

Psalm 103: 3 – 5 – “He forgives all your iniquity; he heals all your diseases. 4 He redeems your life from the Pit; he crowns you with faithful love and compassion.

5 He satisfies you with good things; your youth is renewed like the eagle.”

My dad always worked hard to provide for his family. I am so grateful that we had a roof over our head, food on our table, and clothes on our backs. So, in these verses, David focuses on the provisions that God offers us.

And as we think about it, we should focus our worship on how God provides for us. Even though my dad worked hard for the things we had, God is still the source of the good things that were made possible for our family. But God goes beyond that.

He forgives us. He heals us. He redeems us. He grants us victory over death. He loves us with a steadfast love. He satisfies our soul, and He renews our strength. When we worship God with all our hearts, we should think about these things and remember that God makes it all possible through our relationship with Him.