"Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being,
praise his holy name.Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits-
who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed
like the eagles." Psalm 103:1-5
"Redeems my life from the pit"...
I have never been in a pit, literally speaking, but I imagined myself in one this morning as I read this ...how I got there, I don't know....maybe I fell in, or someone threw me in, or even worse, maybe someone who I thought loved me, threw me in, or maybe I threw myself in...I don't know but what I can imagine is feeling so alone and afraid, no light, little air, maybe in pain, hungry, thirsty, dirty, maybe I don't care, maybe I want to die...maybe I feel worthless, loved by no one, maybe no one even knows I am gone...or maybe I deserve to be here, maybe I have done something so horrible to others, to myself, and the feelings of guilt and shame threaten to tear me apart...how would it feel to be left to die all by myself?
Days past, the tear streaks woven through my dirt covered face remain, almost as if they were cemented in. I have given up, tried everything I could to get out, finally, exhausted and weak, I put my face in my hands, my body heaves with sobs that my eyes can no longer cry...I am nothing. I have nothing. I deserve nothing. My life means nothing.
"He redeems my life from the pit"
And then...out of nowhere I feel a hand reach down and touch me and then another. Gently, carefully I am pulled up out of the darkness and those strong arms that pulled me up are now wrapped around me, holding me, whispering to me that I am everything. I have everything. I deserve everything. My life means everything.
"He crowns me with love and compassion"
He wipes the dirt from my face, He crowns me with a crown of love, of compassion.
"He satisfies my desires with good things so that my youth is renewed like the eagle's"
_ _ _
And though I have never been in a pit like that, I have been in pits symbolic of it and He has done the same for me and for all who love and believe in Him and He will do it for you too because...
"For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love..." Psalm 103:11
So today, if you get a chance, imagine yourself in that pit...imagine the feelings you would have...now imagine His arms reaching down, embracing you, crowning you with love and compassion, giving you the desires of your heart. "Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits..."
3 comments:
Thanks for your good words on God's
good Word.
Reminds me of the quote by Corrie
at the end of the movie The Hiding Place. "There is no place so deep and so dark that God's love does not go deeper still" She speaks not out of the theoretical but like David, out of first hand experience.
Dad
Reminds me of another Psalm--18 -- where David again uses word pictures so aptly:
"The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called to the Lord, I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him into his ears.
..........He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes who were too strong for me.
.......He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.
Ah---the wonder of His love.
Mome
David uses a similar theme in Psalm 18 -- aptly describing very intense emotions and fears.
"The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before Him into his ear.
.........He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me.
..........He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.
Ah, the wonder of His powerful love.
Mome
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