Thoughts for the Day

Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and do not forget all his benefits -
who forgives all your iniquity....

The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding
in steadfast love.
He will not always accuse,
nor will he keep his anger for ever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.

(Church in Wales Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Psalm 103 is attributed to King David who wants to honour God. He challenges himself to really praise God not just with his mind, but with his soul, indeed with his whole being. He appreciates that worship is not just something we do outwardly like going to church in our case, or the Temple for him. He knows it's not just saying the right things. We need to engage our whole self when we worship.

David reminds us that God forgives all our sin. He doesn't treat us in the way that He might when we let Him down again and again - when we criticise others, when we ignore those who need our help, or when we fail in thousands of other ways. If we are honest and acknowledge how far we have fallen from His standards, He will forgive us. Our response then, is to praise God with our whole being.

Finally as God forgives us when we are truly sorry, we must learn to forgive others. When people hurt us the greater damage is often to ourselves when we don't forgive them but nurture bitterness and anger in our heart. We need to lay aside what happened, move on, learn to live again and above all praise God.

Heavenly Father,
help us to really look at our life:
to acknowledge where we fail
to live up to Your standards,
to confess our mistakes,
especially those continual and deliberate errors.
We ask Your forgiveness
and Your help in changing our life.
May we also learn to forgive others
as You graciously forgive us.
Amen.