The Source of Forgiveness • Psalm 103:1-13
By Don Hicks
Come over and pull all the weeds out of my flower beds and when you finish, to my satisfaction, I will give you $1,000,000.00 cash. You probably don’t need my address since you doubt I have the resources to get the cash. To trust a promise of a large sum of money, you need to know that the source of that amount of money is real and that there is willingness to part with it.
Forgiveness of all your sins is a bigger promise than $1,000,000.00. The title of this study is “The Source of Forgiveness.” Our only resource to study this topic is the Bible. Let’s study it, our Christian source of dependable information about forgiveness and eternal life.
Psalm 102:18 says, “This will be written for a later generation, and a people who have not yet been created will praise the LORD:” This passage is written to you and me. God, thank you for making this promise! To get this passage in context, study Psalm 102:12 to Psalm 104:5. “Forgiveness reflects the character of God.” David lists some of these characteristics:
- Psalm 102:12a “But you, LORD, are enthroned forever;”
- Psalm 102:12b “your fame endures to all generations.”
- Psalm 102:13a “You will rise up and have compassion on Zion,”
- Psalm 102:15a “Then the nations will fear the name of the LORD,”
- Psalm 102:16 “for the LORD will rebuild Zion;”
- Psalm 102:17 “He will pay attention to the prayers of the destitute and will not despise their prayer.”
- Psalm 102:25a “Long ago you established the earth.”
- Psalm 102:26a “They will perish, but you endure;”
- Psalm 102:27 “But you are the same, and your years will never end.”
The focal passage is Psalm103:1-13. Here David takes a look at the care we get from God. His first reaction is “My soul, bless the LORD, and all that is within me, bless his holy name,” (Psalm 103:1 CSB). David certainly wasn’t halfhearted when he said, “all that is within me, bless his holy name”
“My Soul,” refers to all of David’s being, his physical body, his spiritual being, his total being before the world — God is totality without reservation. This was, in David’s mind, an all-out emphasis that he had no reservation when he blessed God.
The commentary, in the Leader’s Guide on page 99 says, “Bless the Lord — ‘Bless’ (barakh) carries the idea of kneeling before another. The focus is not on the one kneeling, but on one being knelt before. Kneeling acknowledges that person’s authority and gives that individual respect, and admiration.”
The personal study guide puts an emphasis on God’s forgiveness by putting a bold box on page 93: “Our natural response to God’s unwavering forgiveness is wholehearted praise.”
God’s loyalty and love to David is evident in our study. That same love is seen in other Old Testament characters, as a reminder to us of God’s abundant love.
Let me look with you at this love story which emphasizes God’s unending, abundant blessings. The story took place in the time of the Judges. According to Judges 21:25, “In those days there was no king in Israel, everyone did whatever seemed right to him,” (CSB). Remember at this time many responsible Jewish men knew what was right and lived accordingly. Boaz was one of those honorable men who knew what was right and did it, even if there was no king to make him.
Naomi was a Jewish woman who escaped a famine by leaving Judah with her husband and two sons. While in Moab, her husband and both of her sons died. Naomi and her widowed daughter-in-law, Ruth, returned to Naomi’s homeland of Judah. Naomi’s kinsman, Boaz, being an honorable man, lived in Judah. He married Ruth and provided for both of the ladies.
Ruth returned to Judah with Naomi so she could care for Naomi in these desperate conditions. Ruth made the clearest loving commitment ever made. Here is what she said: “Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the L0RD do to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me,” (Ruth 1:16-17 KJV).
Hicks is a member of Park Place Baptist Church, Pearl.
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