All His Benefits (Part 9)

June 24, 2016 at 3:18 am (abiding, All His Benefits, Assurance, Bible study, Blessings, Devotional Series I Have Written, Devotional Thoughts., Discernment, Faith, Family, Forgiveness, Glory, Grace, Guidance, Holy Spirit, Home Education, Homeschooling, Hope, Joy, Lighter Burdens., Love, Mercy, Our Unchanging God, Patience, Praise, Prayer, Provision, refuge, Relaxed Homeschooling, Repentance, Restoration, Righteousness, Sins, Sovereignty of God, Transformation., value, Veteran Homeschoolers, When you are afraid, When you feel bitter, When You Feel Like Crying., Wisdom, worth)

Scripture Reference;

Psalm 103

 ¹Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

 ²Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

 ³Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;

 ⁴Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;

 ⁵Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

 ⁶The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.

 ⁷He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.

 ⁸The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.

 ⁹He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.

 ¹⁰He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

 ¹¹For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.

 ¹²As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

 ¹³Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.

 ¹⁴For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.

 ¹⁵As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.

 ¹⁶For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.

 ¹⁷But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children;

 ¹⁸To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.

 ¹⁹The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.

 ²⁰Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.

 ²¹Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure.

 ²²Bless the LORD, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul.

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Here are the two verses I am considering today:

“ ¹⁰He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

 ¹¹For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.”

Let’s look at verse 10. I noticed that it mentions both sins and iniquities. My first thought would be that they are synonyms for the same thing, but the fact that both are mentioned must mean that there is at least a subtle difference.

Have you ever thought about all of the categories of sin that are mentioned in the Bible? There are a lot. Sins, trespasses, transgressions, and iniquities would be some entry words a person might use if they wanted to do a study on the topic of sin. Then there are subtopics; all of those adjectives like besetting sins, sins of omission (those good deeds that we never get around to doing like giving to the poor or visiting the sick) the sin unto death, past sins, future sins, and so on. I have no intention of “going there”. There are great theologians (both past and present) who have written books, and I appreciate that.  But my blog is just a simple blog. Just typing that list of words overwhelmed me, and almost made me cry. It’s convicting.

When I first read verse 10 and 11 of Psalm 103 I thought of Isaiah 55:6-9

“⁶ Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

⁷ Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

⁸ For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

⁹ For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

In verse 7 we once again have two classifications:  the wicked and the unrighteous. Once again, since they both are mentioned it means that each type of these people are in some respect different (it seems wicked would be worse), yet they are both in danger, and in need. One needs mercy and the other needs pardon, or maybe each of them needs mercy and pardon. The point I’m trying to make is that the Lord invites both of them to receive what they need.  “Abundantly” is a beautiful word. The Lord lavishes us with mercy and pardon.  I think about that a lot. If our ways have become wicked we are invited to abandon them and follow the Lord. If our thinking patterns have become unrighteous we can return to the Lord in prayer and have our minds renewed. I have to do this every day. The flesh (human nature) has a mind of its own, but if we are Christians we also have the Holy Spirit to convict us and to guide us. I love these verses:

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

² And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Romans 12:1-2

At first glance some people might feel afraid and overwhelmed, but there is good news if you look at them again. First of all we wouldn’t be requested to do that in the first place if it were impossible. The Lord tells us in so many passages of the Bible that all we must do is desire those things. We desire, and then we call upon the Lord and ask him for them. We tell Him that are bodies haven’t been living sacrifices and that we are sorry. We tell Him that we haven’t been holy and acceptable, and that we are sorry. Then we ask Him to forgive us and to change us. Christians have to do this every day, because every day we fall short of the glory of God. The Lord will always be glad when we call on Him like that.

Now lets look at Psalm 103:11 along with Isaiah 55:9:

“ ¹¹For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.”

“⁹ For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

It is difficult for us to fathom just how great the Lord’s mercy is. Some people might think that we would be able to approach the Lord like this just one time, because maybe we didn’t know any better when we were so unrighteous and wicked, but surely not repeatedly. That is because we think in human terms; according to how we might extend mercy and pardon. But we aren’t talking about people’s capacity. We are talking about God’s capacity. Check it out. The patriarchs and the prophets of the Old Testament, and Jesus’s disciples in the New Testament—whenever they had a special encounter or vision their first reaction was to be aware of their sin and to be afraid. There were even times when it said they were “sore afraid”.  Look at this:

“1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.

² Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

³ And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

⁴ And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

⁵ Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.

⁶ Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:

⁷ And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.” Isaiah 6:1-7

We are all in good company! If you have received Jesus as your personal savior you are the recipient of an abundance of benefits. Rejoice in that knowledge!

 

Do you know Jesus as your personal Savior and Lord?  Please click here:https://pronetoponder.wordpress.com/category/about-salvation-very-important-words/ and make sure.

Do you have a Bible? If you don’t have one, you need not worry. Just go to http://www.biblegateway.com. They have many versions and translations of the Bible that you can read. Some of the best things in life are free!

 

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