Weekly Devotional 12th of July, 2024
by Bruce Billington
Weekly Devotional 12th of July, 2024
We are continuing to explore the knowledge of God as expressed in the Psalms. This week we will continue with Psalm 103 – a Psalm of David.
Psalm 103:8-10 – “The LORD is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.”
We should consider this from God’s perspective. All those with whom He deals with on earth, are sinners – including you and me. But His mercy pardons our sin, and His grace bestows favour. That is the way He chose to introduce Himself to Moses and this description of God is repeated in several other places in the Old Testament. He is slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. The procedure of His righteousness is regulated not according to our sins, but according to His purpose of mercy. In all the different ways God could have introduced Himself, this is how He wants to be known and His actions will always be consistent with this.
Continuing to exalt God’s mercy, David declares that the Lord does not constantly accuse us, nor does He harbour anger when we do wrong (Verse 9). Certainly, He does not punish or repay us as much as our sins deserve. His love for all who truly fear Him, who reverence, submit to, and obey Him, soars above the highest heavens (verse 11).
In other places, we learn that He does execute righteousness and judgment. He can be angry, and He can deal out righteous indignation upon the guilty, but His doing this is described as His strange or unusual work (Isaiah 28:12). He pauses to give space for repentance and then receive His mercy. To those who truly follow Him and are described by Him as His sons and daughters, His anger is short-lived. If not, we would all be consumed. Despite this, we should not seek to take advantage of this. We are told that,
“Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4).
Sin is terrible and will never produce what is good, anywhere. It separates us from God, and He wants us to be forever connected to Him. As a result, He certainly does express His displeasure against us when we sin, He will often allow the seeds we sow to reap their own harvest. Also, the Holy Spirit will stir our consciences and in so doing, cause us to feel grief so that we will seek Him immediately to find what it is we have grieved Him by.
Once we have done that, and come to a sincere place of repentance, we are washed clean by His blood (1 John 1:7) and restored to His place of favour. Yes, there may still be some consequences for our sins, but even here, God is limiting them and making sure they will work together for good ultimately in our lives
As a result, we also should learn to be the same in our dealings with others. Spurgeon quotes a poem here. It does not say who the author is, but it says,
“Plenteous grace with thee is found,
Grace to cover all my sin.
Let the healing streams abound,
Make and keep me pure within.”
Spurgeon goes on to say,
“Let grace abounding be our hourly song in the house of our pilgrimage. Let those who feel that they live upon it glorify the plenteous fountain from which it so spontaneously flows.”
In Christ, we have a rich fountain of grace and mercy that we can draw from, and it should be the first place we go when we have difficulty with others.
God bless you.
Bruce Billington