Aug. 19 – Thoughts on Psalm 103-104 & 1 Cor. 2

At our wedding, we read Ps. 103 and ever since it’s been one of my favorite Psalms.

“Praise the Lord!” comes first and last.
We begin by calling ourselves, all of ourselves, to worship.
We end by calling all in heaven and all on earth to worship.

And why worship?  Because God…
forgives, heals, redeems, crowns, and satisfies us.
works righteousness, makes his ways and deeds known.
is compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love
doesn’t accuse, harbor His anger, treat us or repay us as we deserve.
instead removes our sins, has compassion, and remembers our frailty.
most of all, loves us.

Why is it so hard to remember all of these things?  Why do we so quickly decide that God is not just, doesn’t love us, and sometimes is even working against us?  Probably because we are so focused on ourselves that we forget that life is about focusing on Him instead.

You see, whenever things are bad, we need to remember one of my favorite phrases:  “God’s got this!”  If I were the type to get a tattoo, that’s what I would have it say:  “God’s got this!”  Because if we can remember this, that God has every situation in His hands and is watching out for my best interest, then I can stop spending all of my time watching out for myself.  And the time I usually spend watching out for myself I can spend watching out for others.

And it all begins with the call of this Psalm: “Don’t forget all His benefits…”  If I can do that, then loving, serving, and caring for others becomes natural.

Bless the Lord, you His people who read this.  Bless the Lord, O my soul.