Perfect Government

Justice is not, nor has it ever been, a product of man.
Justice, where it does exists, only does so because God established it and man, in that instance, follows it.

In 1850, Frederic Bastiat said, there is "the fatal tendency that exists in the heart of man to satisfy his wants with the least possible effort. This fact explains the almost universal perversion of the law. Thus, it is easy to understand how the law, instead of checking justice, becomes the invincible weapon of injustice. It is easy to understand why the law is used by the legislator to destroy in varying degrees among the rest of the people, their personal independence by slavery, their liberty by oppression, and their property by plunder. This is done for the benefit of the person who makes the law, and in proportion to the power that he holds."

-Could be a commentary on our times, but it's not. What we face now is not new. It's not even as bad as it has been before. It could be much worse. But according to Psalm 103:6, it will be judged by God ........

How does scripture direct the Christian's response to injustice around him?

Birthday of the King!

What do kings wear on their heads? Why?

Psalm 103:4 says the Lord crowns us. The word used can mean either to surround or to bestow a crown. He crowns us with lovingkindness and tender mercies. What do you think is the significance of the action which employs lovingkindness and tender mercies? I look forward to your comments.

Merry Christmas.

Healing All Our Diseases

God is the source of all healing - both by intervention in the nature of disease in our physical bodies as well as the normal restorative processes he wonderfully designed into our bodies.

For me, and probably for many in our church, this is the one phrase in the entire Psalm which I have dreaded.

God can heal all diseases. But He has chosen not to in every case and I'm still having trouble with that right now. It's going to take some real spiritual work - alone - again -and again - to deal with his sovereignty.

Why did you take Tom, Lord?

Who forgives all our iniquities....

Have you ever considered the etymological meaning and origins of the word forgive?

I have had a running debate with an individual who maintains that as a christian, we are not required to forgive unless we are asked by the offending party for that forgiveness.

My position is that God forgave us before the foundation of the world (Eph 1) and structured the entire plan of salvation - from the purposes of Christ on the cross, to the manner and meaning of our repentance - around his intention to restore us to himself.

He GAVE us that position beFORe we asked for it.......... what a wonder!

Thankful Memory

In Psalm 103:2, David calls for a vigilance of memory - a determination to keep God's works of mercy at the forefront of his mind. David actually instructs his soul to avoid the active neglect of the meditation on the benefits of God.

In our world, life moves fast. Think for a moment of what we decide on a daily basis today that people were not encumbered with 100 years ago. Then think of how much effort we must direct toward keeping in mind the favors and mercies of God.


It is difficult to appreciate God and his mercies when we do not keep them in mind. Thanklessness soon sets in when we lose that focus.

Maybe some of you can give examples of thanklessness we see that results from spiritual memory loss.
Maybe you could also give examples of the beauty of a thankful heart.

Supernatural Reality

So while we're on the topic of soul in verse 1......
Does a child see himself primarily as a body first with this abstraction of a soul which Mommy and Daddy keep referring to every time there is a funeral?
At what point do we begin to see the supernatural reality that exists way, way beyond our physical experience - our senses of sight, hearing, touch, feel, and taste.
David has disciplined himself to pay attention to a God and His creation who is beyond his ability to measure by physical experience. His soul and all that is within him is the essence of himself which communes with God.

Isn't it insidious - the naturalism that presses in from all sides. Consider what physical beauty means in our culture and you come face to face pretty quick with the interest our culture has in the reality of our eternal soul (103:1), God and His kingdom (103:19), angels (103:20,21).

We need to develop our understanding of the reality of a supernatural God - one not limited by-or defined by - the natural world as we see it.

Environment of Repentance

Things are gearing up now! Some of you have been stimulated by this topic as found in Ps 103.
The question has been raised: What was the environment that David experienced that produced the repentance of Ps 51 and the renewal Ps 103?

Consider: A young man walks into youth group with his underwear showing - his pants down too low. The youth leadership addresses the situation - politely and respectfully asks him to change his dress. No problem right? We want to maintain a standard of modesty in our midst that both protects our kids and presents a commitment to decency. So the young man complies with little resistance. Goes to camp - gets saved - time goes by - drifts away with lttle or no interest in spiritual things.
Question: What happened? What does this situation say about the external vs internal nature of our walk with God.

Please note: This is not a criticism of our youth program - I was part of the decision - but it is a hard question about whether repentance took place and if our influence on such a person is focused on the internal or external manifestations of repentance.

Bless the Lord, O my SOUL
and all that is WITHIN ME bless his holy name.

Kneeling is Blessing

So we're coming to terms with how we as mere mortals bless the sovereign, omnipotent, Creator. We have an errant understanding of the word in the case of Psalm 103 that needs to be corrected. There are two elements to blessing, one is kneeling and the other is praising.

The Hebrew word is modified for use to express either depending on the context.

The great commentators such as Calvin, Matthew Henry, Thomas Watson, Charles Spurgeon all are sympathetic to the idea that the meaning here is to kneel. They cite Gen. 26 and 27 along with Ps 95 which says in verse 6:

Come let us worship and bow down, let us kneel (bless) before the Lord, our maker.

What a beautiful verse! Submission is not degrading. It is not domination. It is not humiliation.
In an uncertain, sinful and dangerous world, I cannot think of anywhere I'd rather be than kneeling directly before my Creator! What a safe, clean, honest place!

Is there such a thing as false praise? If we corporately do not assume an attitude of kneeling or bowing down when we engage in praise activity - is it Psalm 95 or Psalm 103 praise? Would we ever just go "through the motions" if we were directly in front of God?

Thoughts on Verse 1

Sunday, we will cover the first part of verse 1.
The word bless is an interesting word when one thinks about blessing as an activity which has direction from man to God.
Normally, I think of receiving a blessing. Something is given to me from God.
But in this case the word is NOT a gift. And it is NOT praise (take that Zondervan and all those dynamic equivalencers out there).
The word has to do with kneeling, submission, surrender of autonomy.
It is the word used in Gen 26 and 27 when Esau begs for his blessing.
So what was it that Jacob gave Esau that David gave to God in Ps 103?
What can I give to God?
Your Thoughts?

I have been captivated by Psalm 103.
An old gentleman took me under his wing when we were first married, William F. Parsons, after whom my youngest was named, and we spent Saturday mornings together nearly every week for 3 years. He would have breakfast ready at 4:00 AM
We ate, read scripture, prayed, drove 40 minutes to his land, and still watched the sun come up in the woods. (By the way he’s 93 and still fells, cuts and splits 4 cords of firewood each year for his stove.) He has prayed for me faithfully since 1983.

Psalm 103 was one of his favorites. Now these years later, with many of the experiences of life behind me that he said were ahead of me, it is one of mine as well.

Psalm 103 speaks of forgiveness for sin, thankfulness, the frailty of life, and David’s response to the reality of those issues in his life.

First, when we’re young, we are ignorant of how our sin affects us and the people around us. Next, we tend, at least in our culture, to be somewhat presumptuously expectant of all that we have, and therefore quite thankless. Finally, we are unable to comprehend how fast life passes by.

After David sinned against God, Uriah, and Bathsheba, we find his crushing experience of repentance recorded in Ps 51. Most commentators, such as Calvin, Matthew Henry, Thomas Watson, Spurgeon, and others classify Ps 103 as the companion to Ps 51. Probably some significant time after the devastating realization of his guilt, David emerges from the mood of Ps 51 with the realization that the mercy and forgiveness of God will enable him to continue serving God once again. His spirit is lifted by the truth and implications of mercy. His confidence as a spiritual leader is restored to the point where he can command everything around him to submit in joy to the Sovereign of the Universe

These issues are at the heart of our walk with God. They constitute the deepest, most private, and most profound exchanges that take place between God and his child. They involve real pain (Rom 7) as we endure with God the frustration of recurring sin. Don’t we avoid God as pain management? Isn’t that what Adam did? Might we not even face depression as Satan deceives us with the lies that we are no longer useful to God - that God doesn't want to hear our praise - that others are embarrassed by our past - that we are a hypocrites? This Psalm is all about putting our past behind and growing toward God.

In this winter quarter at Camden Baptist Church, we will take a close look at the “Walking with God” issues of the 103rd Psalm. I hope you’ll join us.

The purpose of this blog is to encourage and capture your thoughts outside of our class time. Please feel free to comment on class lectures and discussion. Please make suggestions. Also, if you are shy, you can use a pseudonymn and share your responses in a safe, yet meaningful way.

Come On - Don't Be Shy

Hi folks. If you have read this then, you can post a comment next week when the class notes come out. For now, just respond with a greeting so I can tell you've stopped by.
On Sunday, Nov. 30 at 2:00 PM, I'll post the class notes for classes beginning Dec 7. In the mean time, I hope you'll be reading Psalm 103. Read it each day. Meaning and understanding have a way of growing with repeated exposure.
Doing this together is going to be a huge blessing to all of us.
Watch the list of participants in the upper right hand corner of the blog. I have been told that many believers who do not even attend our church plan to participate in the discussion.
It will be interesting.

First Posting

Hi Everyone.
We've just created the blog space and we're testing it.