Daily Scripture: Psalm 103:8-18
8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.
15 As for mortals, their days are like grass,
they flourish like a flower of the field;
16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
17 But from everlasting to everlasting
the LORD’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children—
18 with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.
Read additional translations at Biblegateway.com or youversion.com
Reflection Questions:
August’s mother Lyla seeks him, and the social worker asks, “Why now?” “I’ve always wanted him,” is Lyla’s poignant reply. “I’ve waited eleven years, two months and fifteen days to find out that he’s alive. I’ve been counting.” Sounds like the psalmist’s God. “From everlasting to everlasting, the LORD’s love is with those who fear him.”
- God’s love for us is “as high as the heavens are above the earth,” says the psalm. The psalmist, like most people in his day, probably saw the heavens as a dome above the earth, the center of the cosmos. How does our greater knowledge of the vastness of “the heavens” give even grander meaning to this psalm?
- God is “slow to anger.” God “has compassion,” and “remembers that we are dust.” How does this fit with the picture of God that Jesus taught and modeled during his time on earth? How does this fit with the picture of God that you learned as a child? How do you see God now?
Read Correy Trupp’s insights on today’s scripture at gpsinsights.wordpress.com
Weekly Prayer:
Dear God, we’ve learned so much about the physical properties of this world and this universe. Sometimes I struggle to remember that, with all we’ve learned, there is more in this world than just what my five senses can detect. Give me eyes to see, and ears to hear, your presence in my life. Amen.
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, TODAY’S NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 2001, 2005 by International Bible Society®. Used by permission of International Bible Society®. All rights reserved worldwide.
