Psalm 103 (Part 2) - Jesus, Lover of my Soul

2 Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits-

3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,

4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,

5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

The past few days had really been challenging for me. This is because, I've got to work while attend summer school (International Criminal Law rocks!). Yet God continue to grant new revelations. If you are following this series on Psalm 103, you will know that recently I have been pondering a lot on these verses. Well, the first few verses is pretty easy to grasp or so I thought, but somehow I seem to feel that there is something more to them. So desperately, I prayed for more revelation through the Spirit. And, true enough, God showed me more. First of all, yes, give thanks to God for He forgave our sins (I don't know about you but I am an awful sinner, still learning now), and yes, give thanks that He heals all our sicknesses (I remember the times when Iwas down with fever and flu and thought whether that day would be my last). BUT ON TOP of that, and this being His first revelation to me, the "forgives" and "heals" are in present continuous tense. That is amazing because, not just when we were born again did he forgave our sins, till now our Father continuously forgives us for all the hiccups in our daily journey. This is as what Jesus had said in the last supper "A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean..." (John 13:10). We need to be continued to be washed and refresh through the washing of blood and water.

The second revelation is the fact that forgiveness and healing comes together. Well, this was really made clear to me when I was listening to Pastor Phil Pringles' sermon of the Lord's prayer on forgiveness (yes, I'm now officially into the podcast-craze). I guess it is the need to release the bitterness, and letting go that really sets us free, and this also healing us of our emotional and (apparently) physical hurt. Phil Pringle shared of a man who refused to forgive another who ripped him off and was inflicted with respiratory disease ("something-semia") and was healed once he was converted and subsequently forgave the trespasser.

Now, if I were to count all the blessings and all the good things God had done in my life, it would take approximately 100 years to finish counting. I mean just the fact that i'm able to blog and have internet access makes me the top few percent of the world. Yet beyond the physical, there is the more critical aspect of the spiritual. The spiritual blessings that God gracious gives through His son Jesus makes me equal with the poorest christians in the World, and I'm glad just to know that I'm counted as the Father's child.

I think, in the essence, David in this 5 verses is really talking about spiritual blessings, rather than physical blessings. God's third revelation through these verses to me (which really popped out like an answered prayer, literally) really paints the whole passage and my understanding of it into a lovely and complete picture. He forgives YOUR SINS, and heals YOUR DISEASES... Crowns YOU with love and compassion... satisfies YOUR desire with good things. Who is this YOU? I think the beauty of this Psalm, and the thing that stands out, is that it refers and is directed to the soul, and not so much of the body. This really makes sense because at the end verse 5, it doesn't really 'click' if it was referring to the body- I mean how is our youth suppose to be renewed by getting good things? But if it refers to the soul, then it can be said that even if you are old, your "youth" could be renewed when the desires of your heart are satisfied with all the spiritual blessing and all the love and compassion that God gives through Christ Jesus. Hence, we find that David reminds his soul, that it is being crowned with love and compassion- the very things that our soul desires deep within us, than any other. Praise the Lord!

I think, at the end of this entry (i can hear your sigh of relief) it is apt to be reminded (I need to remind myself rather) of the song "Jesus, lover of my soul".

Jesus lover of my soul.
Jesus I will never let you go.
You've taken me from the miry clay,
You've set my feet upon the rock,
...and now I know.

I love you, I need you.
Though my world may fall, I'll never let You go,
My Saviour, My closest friend,
I WILL WORSHIP YOU UNTIL THE VERY END