“Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And all that is within me, bless His holy name.
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget none of His benefits;
3 Who pardons all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases;
4 Who redeems your life from the pit,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;
5 Who satisfies your years with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.” (Psalm
103:1-5 NASB1995)
This is a Psalm of David, who was a man of God, who was
writing about the relationship we who are followers of God (of Christ) have
with God. And the things he wrote about in this Psalm (in the Old Testament)
are taught under the New Covenant in the New Testament, too, so we can apply
these truths to our lives today. And what he said is that God’s lovingkindness and
his compassion are on those who fear God, who obey his commandments.
So, what David wrote here is not to be taken out of context
and applied broadly to all who profess faith in Jesus Christ. These promises of
God, and the benefits he provides, are for all who obey him, who do what he
says, who honor him as Lord (Owner-Master) of their lives, and who are no
longer walking in sin, making sin their habit. Same thing is taught all
throughout the New Testament writings. We must obey God to reap his benefits.
And this has nothing to do with “works salvation.” For not
one of us, in our own flesh, can do anything to earn or to deserve our own
salvation. Even the faith to believe in Jesus is not of our own doing, but it
comes from God, it is persuaded of God, and it is gifted to us by God. But God
persuades us of his righteousness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to
die to sin and to now walk in obedience to his commands in holy living, by the
grace of God.
So God does not pardon the sins of the unrepentant who
refuse to bow the knee to God in humble surrender of their lives to him in
submission to his will and purpose for their lives. And their lives are not
redeemed from the pit if they are still living in the pit, deliberately and
habitually engaged in what is sinful and disobedient to God. You cannot just
say you believe in Jesus and then expect God to forgive you of your sins if you
won’t die to your sin.
For Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny
self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if
we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity.
But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience
to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with
God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven,
but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew
7:21-23).
And..
By God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own
doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to
walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as
slaves to righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no
longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires.
For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience to God is
what we obey, it results in sanctification and its end is eternal life with God
(see Romans 6:1-23).
And..
The grace of God, which is bringing us salvation, is
training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live
self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for Jesus’ return. For Christ
“gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for
himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” “For
we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God
prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (See Titus 2:11-14; Ephesians
2:8-10)
And we are all going to be judged by God according to our
works:
“He will render to each one according
to his works: to those who by patience in
well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life;
but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey
unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.” (Romans 2:6-8 ESV)
So, we who profess faith in Jesus Christ must die with
Christ to sin, and now we must walk (in conduct, in practice) according to his
commands, by the grace of God, in the power of God, by God-persuaded and
God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, who is God, the second person of our triune
God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And God will pardon our sins, and he will redeem
our lives from the pit of hell, and he will crown us with his lovingkindness
and grace.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John
6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1
Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32;
Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2;
1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]
Broken and Contrite
An Original Work / May 13, 2012
Christ’s Free
Servant, Sue J Love
I come before You,
Lord, my Savior,
With humble heart
and crushed in spirit.
I bow before You, I
implore You,
Heal my broken
heart, I pray.
Love You, Jesus,
Lord, my master,
You are the King of
my heart.
Lord, purify my
heart within me;
Sanctify me, whole
within.
Oh, Lord, I long to
obey fully
The words You’ve
spoken through Your Spirit.
I pray You give me
grace and mercy,
Strength and wisdom
to obey.
Father God, my
heart’s desire,
Won’t You set my
heart on fire?
Lord, cleanse my
heart of all that hinders
My walk with You,
now I pray.
Oh, Jesus, Savior,
full of mercy,
My heart cries out
for understanding.
I want to follow You
in all ways,
Never straying from
Your truth.
Holy Spirit, come in
power,
Fill me with Your
love today.
Lord, mold and make
me;
Your hands formed
me;
Live Your life
through me, I pray.
God’s Lovingkindness and Compassion
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