THE PSALMS ARE A TREASURE-TROVE describing and displaying the infinitely wide range of interaction between human beings, and between mankind and God. One of the reasons we are drawn to read them time and again is because they speak to every facet of the ways we think and what we think about; they also address fully the depth and complexities of human emotion in every shade of nuance. From the depths of agony of the soul to the heights of ecstasy of spirit and Spirit, there is no area of existence that they do not explore.
Yet another reason that we explore them time and again is that they reveal the corresponding thoughts and emotions of God. We are not unlike God, for we are made in his image. (cf. Gen. 1:27) Though he says “my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways” (Isa. 55:8), we recognize that our imperfect character is sourced from his all-encompassing perfect nature.
King David, the prolific and melancholic poet, begins this particular psalm with his focus on God as source of all that is good. “Praise the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.” (Psa. 103:1) Subsequently, he develops a glowing litany of tribute. “Forget not all his benefits—who forgives sins, heals diseases, redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion.” (Psa. 103:2-4) David’s paean then turns from the benefits of our relationship with God to an appreciative assessment of God’s character. His appraisal centers on God’s great love for his highest order of creation and the object of his love—you and me. His assessment includes observations about both God’s thoughts and his emotions.
This includes revelations of God’s purposes: “He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel.” (Psa. 103:7) God had chosen a people for his very own, and for his unique purposes. This disclosure by David is directly linked to his next statement. The man “after God’s own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14) is showing us his intimate knowledge of God’s heart. This is important for us; the more our heart becomes like God’s heart, the better we will manage our lives and activities.
David shares with us that God “is compassionate and gracious.” (Psa. 103:8a) God cares for the issues that distress us. In another psalm, David says “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” (Psa. 147:3) Out of his principled goodness flow his compassion and his merciful grace. He is both sympathetic and empathic; he feels what we feel, and knows that our struggles are oftentimes beyond our capacity. Again from the psalms, David says “The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion.” (Psa. 116:5)
Revealing further depths of God’s nature, David adds that he is “slow to anger” and “abounding in love.” (Psa. 103:8b) Also from the psalms, David says “His anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime.” (Psa. 30:5a) And all of God’s thoughts and actions stem from the fact that his love for us is so great. Even when he disciplines us, his motivation is loving. The apostle John rightfully says that “God is love.” (1 John 4:16b)
David’s use of the word ‘love’ in respect to God throughout the Psalms is based on the *Hebrew word that is best nuanced as meaning lovingkindness. Lovingkindness displays qualities of God that are preconditioned, unconditional, long-suffering towards objects of his anger, and patient. In his most well-known psalm, David concludes “Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” (Psa. 23:6)
God’s love is a love that pursues us both kindly and relentlessly to bring about his purpose for the reason we have been given life. He pursues us kindly, for he is ‘compassionate and gracious.’ He pursues us relentlessly, for while he is ‘slow to anger’ and otherwise might destroy us, he is self-governed by his ‘abounding love.’
Still in the Psalms, David reveals that God’s anger was held in check by Moses in favor of his ultimate purposes. Israel had forgotten God, and raised his ire, “So he said he would destroy them—had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him to keep his wrath from destroying them.” (Psa. 106:23) This is a foreshadow of the greatest example of God’s love overcoming his anger with lovingkindness.
The highest expression of God’s lovingkindness is shown to us through the Son of David. This term is not to be confused with Solomon, but instead is the Messianic revelation of Jesus Christ as the prophetic fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant (cf. 2 Sam. 7:11b-17). God’s compassionate new Covenant of Grace is expressed to us through his redemptive representative of “a new heavens and a new earth” (Rev. 21:1), Jesus—Son of David, Son of Man, Son of God. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:15-17)
Q. What does it mean me that I am created “in the image of God?” (Gen. 1:27)
*Strong’s 2617, “checed” – “mercy, kindness, lovingkindness.”
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