READING: Psalms 103-104, 1 Corinthians 2
“The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and rich in faithful love.”
Psalm 103:8
It’s hard to believe how much God loves us. In fact, His love shows just how deeply he is “compassionate and gracious” (Psalm 103:8), yet we still take that love for granted. Sure, we talk a big game by telling other believers how much God adores us, but I’m not sure we fully appreciate that love. He is “slow to anger” toward us even though He would be justified in bringing His wrath on us. We’re guilty, but He is “rich in faithful love” toward us (Psalm 103:8). We might be people who hold grudges far too often, but God is not angry with us forever. His love and grace trump our wrongs; He has chosen not to bring on us the full weight of our wrong.
Indeed, He has not dealt with us according to what we deserve. If He had “repaid us according to our offenses” (Psalm 103:10), we would have been in much trouble. Lost, alone, and indefensible, we would have had no hope.
That’s not the way God loves us, though. When we could not help ourselves, God came to us in Jesus – and it was He who bore the full weight of our wrong as He died in our place. Meanwhile, God’s grace draws us to Him. He loves us with a love that is “as high as the heavens are above the earth” (Psalm 103:11).
His works are great, and His love is magnificent. In turn, our praise of Him is to resound loudly: “My soul, praise Yahweh, Lord my God, You are very great; You are clothed with majesty and splendor” (Psalm 104:1). Likewise, we might echo the worlds of the psalmist: “I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God while I live” (Psalm 104:33). May our praises and our songs of thanksgiving reverberate through the earth!
ACTION STEPS:
- Thank God for not dealing with you as you deserve.
- Like the psalmist, sing to God while you live.
PRAYER: “Lord, I say with the psalmist, ‘You are very great; You are clothed with majesty and splendor.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Psalms 105-106, 1 Corinthians 3
