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Depths of God's Grace
Psalm 103:1-22
By David. Praise Yahweh, my soul!
All that is within me, praise his holy name!
Praise Yahweh, my soul,
and don't forget all his benefits;
who forgives all your sins;
who heals all your diseases;
who redeems your life from destruction;
who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies;
who satisfies your desire with good things,
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
Yahweh executes righteous acts,
and justice for all who are oppressed.
He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the children of Israel.
Yahweh is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness.
He will not always accuse;
neither will he stay angry forever.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
nor repaid us for our iniquities.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is his loving kindness toward those who fear him.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
Like a father has compassion on his children,
so Yahweh has compassion on those who fear him.
For he knows how we are made.
He remembers that we are dust.
As for man, his days are like grass.
As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
For the wind passes over it, and it is gone.
Its place remembers it no more.
But Yahweh's loving kindness is from everlasting to everlasting with those who fear him,
his righteousness to children's children;
to those who keep his covenant,
to those who remember to obey his precepts.
Yahweh has established his throne in the heavens.
His kingdom rules over all.
Praise Yahweh, you angels of his,
who are mighty in strength, who fulfill his word,
obeying the voice of his word.
Praise Yahweh, all you armies of his,
you servants of his, who do his pleasure.
Praise Yahweh, all you works of his,
in all places of his dominion.
Praise Yahweh, my soul!
World English Bible
This psalm, attributed to King David, shows a deep understanding of God that far exceeds the concept of God the Warrior in the time of Joshua and the Judges. In the days of Joshua, God was perceived to be the God of Israel, looking after that one nation. The battles required to ensure the survival of the Hebrew people in those hostile circumstances dominated their interpretations of the nature of God.
By the time this psalm was written, David understood that God's identity was not tied to the children of Abraham. David saw that God's people were those who fulfill the covenant agreement with God and show deep respect and "fear" to God. Maybe his insight came to him in his time of exile, when he lived with foreigners and recognized God's presence. Maybe his insight came when he felt God's presence and protection while being hunted by King Saul and the army of "God's people". What a breakthrough to know that God is far bigger than any one heritage or nation, and what a humbling thought to understand that God didn't "owe" the Israelites anything because of their lineage.
David also recognized, however, that the covenant God set up with Abraham's descendants could not be followed. The commandments that God had given to us through Moses are righteous and just, but our sinful nature subverts us from following those commandments faithfully. This posed a dilemma for David. Would he assume that the commandments didn't really matter, that God was going to care for him just the same whether he followed the covenant or not? Or did he give up in despair because he could never uphold his side of the covenant? Neither of these choices fit with David's understanding of God.
Instead, David recognized the infinite depth of God's Grace. God could not ignore sin, but God would forgive sin. God would be angry at his sin, but then God would take it away from him so that his relationship with God would be restored.
How can this be? We have to understand how great God is and how weak we are to understand this covenant between God and us. We have to accept that we are "dust", here and then gone, while God is forever. We have to see that our will is weak while God's Will created the universe. In that understanding, we can also understand that the only way to fulfill our part of the covenant with God is to rely on God's strength instead of our own, and on God's Grace to restore us when we fail.
David never knew Jesus, but he knew of the prophesies of the Messiah. More important, David knew of the message of forgiveness from God, and the limitless efforts that God would make to restore our relationship with God.