Psalm 103:1 Bless the Lord, O my soul.
This chapter is so uplifting. Especially after 102. This chapter is even titled "Praise of Divine Goodness," in my Bible (NABRE, New American Bible). We are to praise God's divine goodness. He has given us a beautiful bounty. Just last week, the kids and I were running errands, and got stuck in construction traffic. In our small town, there are still lots of trees/grassy areas on either side of the main road we were on. One of the kids were fussing about us going so slow/being stopped. And I told them, "What if we were meant to be here at this exact moment? We are always in such a rush to get our errands done and back home, and God thinks we need to take a second and appreciate things. Look around? If we hadn't been here in traffic, we wouldn't have noticed the way the wind blows the long grass in those patterns." It's all I had in a jiff to calm them, but it worked. And it's so very true.
We even noticed a cool red flower growing in the ditch because we were stuck there. We certainly wouldn't have noticed it if we were going at regular speed in traffic.
God forgives our sins, heals our illnesses, surrounds us with love and compassion. He wills us with good things, and renews our lives (v3-5). Why should we not praise him every second of the day? Do we praise God and his works often enough? And not just say the words, but praise him with our soul? Do I praise him with everything in my being?
Psalm 103:11-12 As the heavens tower over the earth, so God's love towers over the faithful. As fas as the east is from the west, so far have our sins been removed from us.
I read this online, and was fascinated by it. I never thought of directions in this way, nor how this verse related to it:
"If you travel north on a globe, you begin to travel south as soon as you go over the North Pole. But if you travel east, you will continue east forever. Given the true shape of the earth, east and west never meet – and this is how far God has removed our sins from us! (Enduringword.com)"
How awesome is that! Our sins have been taken away so far from us, that we never meet them again. And God's love for us surpasses that.
I should take every opportunity to bless God and thank him for everything he has given me. From the greatest sequoia trees to the smallest flower, God's love is everywhere. He just wants us to take a second and look.
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