1 The Lord! How wondrous are his ways!
How firm is his truth! How large his grace!
He takes the mercy for his throne,
And thence he makes his glories known.
2 Not half so high his power hath spread
The starry heavens above our head,
As his rich love exceeds our praise,
Exceeds the highest hopes we raise.
3 Not half so far has nature placed
The rising morning from the west,
As his forgiving grace removes
The daily guilt of those he loves.
4 How slowly doth his wrath arise!
On swifter wings salvation flies:
Or, if he lets his anger burn,
How soon his frowns to pity turn!
5 His everlasting love is sure
To all his saints, and shall endure
From age to age his truth shall reign,
Nor children’s children hope in vain.
The first line of this hymn reads:
“The Lord! How wondrous are his ways!”
We say this phrase sometimes out of reverence but sometimes out of our own lack of being able to verbalize anything else to articulate praise to God.
Psalm 103 articulates Gods wondrous ways.
The first five verses of Psalm 103 reads:
1 Of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,
3 who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. [Psa 103:1-5 ESV]
David speaks of his wondrous ways through forgiveness.
God forgives all our sin.
God heals all of our diseases.
God redeems our lives from the pit.
God crowns us with steadfast love and mercy.
God satisfies us with good.
God forgives.
There was once a Scottish doctor who was noted for his skill as well as his piety.
After his death, this family was looking over his books.
On several of the accounts the old doctor had written in red ink “Forgiven—too poor to pay.” (Heart reaching Illustrations p44).
We are each too poor to pay for our sin. Jesus paid it all on the cross.
There is nothing that we can do to earn salvation for ourselves, but Jesus paid it all and offers forgiveness.
Psalm 103:6-8 says:
6 The LORD works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel.
8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. [Psa 103:6-8 ESV]
God works righteousness.
We don’t use this word much anymore—the word righteousness.
I think because we can’t do this ourselves.
Righteousness is living Godly—we cannot live Godly without God.
But God is to be glorifies by his works of Righteousness and, the verse continues, his justice for all who are oppressed.
There are many injustices in the world. We are constantly seeing it on the news or in the paper.
People are hurting, but God brings justice for the oppressed.
He acts out his forgiveness and his mercy in his righteous works.
It is an outgrowth of his nature. I believe this is a great example of how we should live as well.
We become righteous by becoming close to God, we then follow through on God’s example to bring justice for the oppressed.
One of the reasons that there is so much injustice in our world is because there is too little righteousness.
The next portion of Psalm 103: 11-14 reads:
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
13 As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.
14 For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. [Psa 103:11-14 ESV]
This passage reminds us that God has steadfast love for us.
Verse five of this hymn says:
“His everlasting love is sure
To all his saints, and shall endure
From age to age his truth shall reign,
Nor children’s children hope in vain.”
That is steadfastness—everlasting love.
Love that does not end.
I like this very last line: “Nor children’s children hope in vain.”
There are many times that I look at our world and fear for the future.
What kind of life will my children have when they grow up.
What will the world look like?
What will their children have to endure if they are to be Christians.
But there is hope of steadfast love…not just today for us—but for our children and their children.
This morning I want to encourage you with these three words:
Forgiveness, Righteousness, and Love.
These three God offers to you.
Many times when we speak of salvation we like to say that salvation is a free gift—and it is—all you must do is to accept it.
The same is true for these three words:
Forgiveness, Righteousness, and Love.
They are available to you…if you would just accept them and apply them.
As you finish out this week, don’t forget to embrace these three words as you go about your days.
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Photo by Karl Fredrickson on Unsplash
Hymn from Hymnary.org