6 The LORD executes
righteousness And justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known His ways to
Moses, His acts to the children of Israel.
8 The LORD is merciful and
gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
9 He will not always strive
with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever.
10 He has not dealt with us
according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heavens are high
above the earth, So great is His mercy toward 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 pities his
children, So the LORD pities those who fear Him.
14 For He knows our frame; He
remembers that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are
like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
16 For the wind passes over
it, and it is gone, And its place remembers it no more.
17 But the mercy of the LORD
is from everlasting to everlasting On those who fear Him, And His righteousness
to children's children,
18 To such as keep His
covenant, And to those who remember His commandments to do them.
In Psalm 103:1-5, David wants
us to remember all the wonderful benefits that the LORD has personally blessed
us with in life. Now in verses 6-18, David is encouraging the nation of Israel
to also remember and praise the LORD for His provisions, His protection, His
power, His mercy, and His Fatherly care for them in times past.
Yes, not only as individuals
should we bless the LORD and give Him praise, but we should also as a nation
remember His help in times past and recognize our present need for Him. “Blessed
is the nation whose God is the LORD!” (Psalm 33:12). But how sad it is when
a nation like America forgets God and puts Him on the shelf and goes chasing
after other gods that are no gods at all!
In the verses before us today,
David reminds his people how the nation of Israel was certainly blessed of the
Lord and therefore obligated to express their praise and thanksgiving to Him. In
verse 6, Jehovah was their righteous Deliverer. God heard their cry when they
were in bondage in Egypt and He rescued them. He prepared and sent a deliverer
by the name of Moses, who revealed God’s power as he released the ten plagues
upon Pharoah and the Egyptians.
Over and over again,
throughout their history, when the people were oppressed and they cried out to
the LORD for help, God would have mercy on them and send a judge or a man who
would defeat their enemies and give them freedom. Even in David’s time the people
had experience the mighty power of God and gave them victory over their
enemies.
The Lord also gave His people
guidance (v. 7), leading them by His glory cloud, His Word, and His prophets.
The people know God's acts, what He was doing, but Moses knew God's ways, why
He was doing it. Moses was intimate with the Lord and understood His will.
Jehovah was also the merciful and compassionate Savior who forgave His people
when they sinned. In verses 8-12, we have a summary of what Moses learned about
God while on Sinai (see Ex. 33:12-13; 34:5-9; and see Num. 14:18).
Being a holy God, He did get
angry at sin, and the Israelites were prone to rebel against Him, but in His
compassion, He forgave them. This was possible because one day His Son would
die for those sins on a cross. (See 86:15; Isa. 57:6.) The picture in verses
8-12 is that of a courtroom in which God is both judge and prosecuting
attorney. He has all the evidence He needs to condemn us, but He does not
prolong the trial. When the judge is your Father, and when Jesus has died for
your sins, there is full and free forgiveness available to all who will ask for
it. If God gave us the punishment we deserved, we would be without hope (Ezra
9:13). The punishment that we deserve was given to Jesus (Isa. 53:4-6).
We can thank the LORD that “He
knows our frame and He remembers that we are dust” and He had pity on us
and has given us a Savior, Jesus Christ!
God bless!
