Weekly Devotional 28th of June, 2024
by Bruce Billington
Weekly Devotional 28th of June, 2024
We are continuing to explore the knowledge of God as expressed in the Psalms. This week we will begin to look at Psalm 103 – a Psalm of David.
Psalm 103:1-5– “Bless the LORD, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.”
Here we see that the Psalmist (David), exhorts himself to worship and magnify the name of the Lord. Sometimes, when we don’t feel like doing this, we should arouse ourselves in the same way.
Firstly, because God is worthy of our praise, His name is holy and sacred. It is such a tragedy that it is taken in vain by so many people in various situations. We are to set His name apart and never use it in any way that may demean or dishonour Him.
Secondly, our praise and worship will put us and everything around us, into the right context before the Lord. David calls deep within himself, reminding himself of all that God has done in his life. It is so easy to forget this and fail to acknowledge and give thanks to God when He has blessed us in ways that are undeserved and are an expression of His lovingkindness towards us.
Praise and worship remind us that we are sons and daughters of God and are recipients of His unfailing love and tender mercies. If we do not give thanks for these things, we can quickly forget them and fail to embrace and walk in the new life that the Holy Spirit beckons us to.
We are offered peace and inner satisfaction that this world cannot compete with. The benefits of God’s goodness and mercy are eternal. We need to take our eyes off the things we can see – the afflictions and difficulties of this life – and focus on those things we cannot see: the eternal blessings God has so mercifully given us (2 Corinthians 4:18).
God has bestowed upon us free forgiveness; cleansed us from our sin and restored us to a godly and upright life. As a result, we now have the spirit of regeneration living within us and He crowns us with loving kindness and compassion and satisfies our years with good things. As we walk in this, we realise that nothing else can compete with the blessing of God.
We are told that our youth is renewed like the eagle (Verse 5). Commenting on this Matthew Henry notes, for those of us who are older, that it will be like getting young again. He says,
The eagle is long-lived, and, as naturalists say, when she is nearly 100 years old, casts all her feathers (as indeed she changes them in a great measure every year at moulting time), and fresh ones come, so that she becomes young again. When God, by the graces and comforts of his Spirit, recovers his people from their decays, and fills them with new life and joy, which is to them an earnest of eternal life and joy, then they may be said to return to the days of their youth.
We may become as full of energy as the bird, the strongest of the feathered race, the most fearless, most majestic, and most soaring. With our sins forgiven, we are honoured, empowered and revigorated, becoming newborn believers in the household of God.
May we, with all our heart, soul, and strength, praise His wonderful, most holy name.
God bless you.
Bruce Billington