1. Prayer of a man cured of fatal illness
The writer of Psalm 103 might be a man who had suffered from grave diseases. But he recovered. So he sings to praise God,the healer ; - Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits - who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases (Psalm103:2-3)
To begin with, the poet gave thanks to merciful God who cured him. He also represents gratitude of all Israelites who are specially protected by God. Then to his amazement, he recognized that God’s heavenly grace extends over all human beings. So he invokes angels to praise God together. The structure of the poem is magnificent, which consists in diversified views, personal, ethnic, human till worldwide. And the leading key word is “חַסְדּוֹ (hesdow), grace of God.”
At first the poet calls on his own soul ; - Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits - (Psalm103:1-2)
He will never forget the merciful act of God who saved him from grave diseases.
So he repeats expressions of thankfulness ; - who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.(Psalm103:3-5)
Jewish people of the time thought that diseases were generated by sinful acts. Therefore they looked for forgiveness of God in order to be cured. It was certain for them that “ חַסְדּוֹ (hesdow)” or grace of God could heal the sick. And those who recovered gave thanks to God for his grace won’t forget such a merciful act, like the poet.
From the verse 6, the poet begins to give God gratitude of all Israelites for being saved by God from slavery in Egypt. ; - The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel: (Psalm103:6-7)
He explains how generously God showed his mercy at the time of Exodus. ; - The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; (103：8-9）
The verses above are referring to Exodus 34:6-7. The escaped people arrived at last in the fertile land but the journey had not been easy at all. The following passage describes the fearful state of Israelites when they were pursued by Egyptian army. They were so strongly upset by enhanced Egyptian soldiers that they began to blame God. ; - They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?…’Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” (Exodus 14:11-12)
Even though they behaved ungratefully, God rescued them by submerging Egyptians into the sea. Naturally, at that time, the Jewish people gat filled with joy and praised God with hymns and dances. Nonetheless, several weeks later, they began again to grouch because of shortage of food. ; - The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death."( Exodus 16:3 )
Again, God showed grace by granting them the food called Manna. The people became thankful but still temporarily. They started ; - “If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!”(Numbers 11:4-6）
Then patient God gave them meat of quail. Despite all vicissitudes, the people survived and entered in the fertile land thanks to God’s grace and mercy. So the poet of Psalm 103 praises God to remember that ancient event. ; - 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. (Psalm 103:9-10)
The poet confesses that they could not survive if God had treated sinners as they deserved. But God is so merciful that he allows sinners to live . ; - 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;(Psalm 103:11-13)
We can live only thanks to God grace. When we recognize the fact, we cannot help praising him.
2. God loves humans made with dust
From the verse 14, the poet glorifies the Creation of all human beings. The event revealed that God’s love and mercy went beyond iIsraelites to all nations. The verses begin with, ; - for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.(Psalm 103:14)
The background of the lyric is Genesis chapter 2 ; - the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.(Genesis 2:7 )
The breath of God made the man a real living being then supports all humans’ life. And “חַסְדּוֹ {hesdow}, God’s grace” makes our life joyful, worthy of living. Even though we are made with dust of the ground, we could become real living beings thanks to “חַסְדּוֹ (hesdow), God’s grace”
Two different words in Greek signify “life.” The first is “βίος {bios}” and another is “ζωή{zowe}.” The former indicates life in the physical domain, or of the body. In contrast, the latter means the spiritual life, including personality and characters of humans. “βίος {bios}”concerns all creatures whereas “ζωή{zowe}” specifies the human life. When we are in total despair , we might be dead in the term of “ζωή{zowe},” even though our body remains still alive.
In other words, when we fall away from God, we should be dead in “ζωή{zowe}” because we can’t feel God’s grace and mercy tangibly. We would become like a zombie, a living body without soul. In contrast, the poet is filled with joy and gratitude because he lives by feeling love of God.
The poet recognized the boundary of humans. Therefore he says ; - As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.(Psalm 103:15-16)
He should be remembering Isaiah 40 while writing the verse ; - The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.”(Isaiah 40:7-8)
Life of humans is ephemeral like the grass. A man who is alive today might die tomorrow. Even powerful persons who enjoy fully their status must turn back to the dust after the death. Therefore those who acknowledge their own weakness and vulnerability fear God, the Almighty. ; - 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. (Psalm 103:17-18)
In following verses, the hymn resounds up to heaven, far beyond the sky. ; - 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. (Psalm 103:20-21)
For ; - The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.(Psalm 103:19)
Supreme God, powerful and almighty, shows mercy to us, vulnerable and fragile humans. So much so the poet shouts out, “Praise the Lord, O my soul!” to concludes the praise.
3. Praise the Lord, O my soul
Today’s invocation verses are John 8:7-8 ; - But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
The words were said to a woman who committed adultery. She was brought to Jesus by law teachers and Pharisees who accused her of shameful acts. So ; - They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.(John 8:3-6)
If Jesus taught them not to kill her, they could criticize him for a violation of the Law Moses. If Jesus agreed to the verdict in accordance with the Scripture, the crowd should find the answer in opposition to his teaching based on love and tolerance. But the answer of Jesus was totally unexpected for all of them. ; - “ If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”
And ; - At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. (John 8:9)
Because nobody could declare, “I am sinless.” Then Jesus addressed to her ; - “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin."(John 8:10-11)
Thus Jesus set her free not only from the punishment but also from sin in future. It is said that the woman was Mary Magdalene. Afterwards, Mary followed Jesus till Golgotha, the place of the Cross. She went to the tomb where Jesus was buried. Thus she encountered resurrected Jesus before other disciples did. Mary had been newborn thanks to grace and forgiveness of Jesus. All of his love, tolerance, patience and warm blessing towards her sprang from “חַסְדּוֹ (hesdow)” or grace of God.”
Those who recognized grace and mercy of God through their own experience cannot live as before. They must be emancipated from sin. A very famous example is John Newton’s case. Newton was an English Anglican clergyman and very well known as the author of hymns, including “Amazing Grace"*1.
Newton had been a sailor of the Royal Navy and eventually participating in the slave trade before the conversion. One night a terrible storm battered his vessel so severely that he became frightened enough to call out to God for mercy. That very moment marked the beginning of his spiritual life. A few years later, he quitted going to sea and began studying theology. Achieving the curriculums, he was ordained in the Church of England in 1764 and began to write hymns. “Amazing grace” is the most well-known hymn among his works.
The lyric sings, “Amazing grace how sweet the sound、That saved a wretch like me.” The entire poem expresses gratitude to God for his mercy. And Newton left those words when he handed his soul to God :
“John Newton, Clerk, once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the gospel he had long labored to destroy.” (from the epitaph) *3
He confessed humbly that he surrendered to God, Father, the Creator and the Lord. He witnessed also to Jesus Christ, the Savior who redeemed all sinful humans. He believed that the Lord had protected him throughout the whole life and would receive him in His kingdom.
The life of Newton had been completely changed, similarly to the poet of Psalm 103. They were also profoundly moved by Grace of God, “ חַסְדּוֹ (hesdow).” The ancient poet wrote ; - who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.(Psalm 103:3-5)
The lyric of “Amazing grace” is the confession of faith of Newton. And we came to this church as “redeemed sinners.” Therefore we also shout out, “Praise the LORD, O my soul,” as the ancient poet, Mary Magdalena and Newton did.
*1 John Newton http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Newton
*2 Amazing Grace http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazing_Grace
*3 Epitaph of J. Newton
http://www.johnnewton.org/Groups/69918/The_John_Newton/About_John_Newton/Newtons_death/Newtons_death.aspx
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