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Psalm 103
Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel: The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children— with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts. The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all. Praise the Lord, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word. Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will. Praise the Lord, all his works everywhere in his dominion. Praise the Lord, my soul.

Continue scrolling to read reflection.

By: The Rev. Dr. W. Ross Blackburn

There are certain places in Scripture worth building one’s life upon. Exodus 34:6-7 is one of those places. After Israel sinned by creating and worshipping a golden calf, Moses intercedes, pleading that God would not destroy Israel. Eventually, the Lord answers: The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

King David never got over those verses. We know this because they show up repeatedly in the Psalms he wrote, particularly Psalms 26, 103, and 145. And also in Psalm 51, which David wrote after his adultery with Bathsheba, and his murder of Uriah her husband. Sexual sin and killing. There are of course many in our world, and in our churches, who are in great need of knowing God’s forgiveness and mercy. They do not need to be convinced of their sinfulness, but rather of God’s abundant mercy and grace. Notice that David does not quote the entire passage from Exodus in these psalms. Only the first part concerning God’s grace and mercy. Does this mean that the word of judgment is irrelevant? Not at all. But for those of us who know our sin, who are weary and heavy laden, we can look upon God’s mercy with great hope, for, as the psalm goes on to say, he does not give us what our sins deserve. David understood this, and was therefore able to be honest with himself and before God, knowing that God’s mercy was able to handle even the worst of David’s sin.