Psalm 103 Devotionals: vv. 8-12

The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever.

He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;

as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

Psalm 103:8-12

In the book of Exodus, we find an example of God’s patience when He appeared to Moses in order to call him as His servant to free the Israelites from slavery. Moses complained that he lacked the aptitude for what God was asking him to do, and wondered if they would believe and listen to him. God reassured him that He would go with him, and He would give him the words to say and the ability to perform the miracles He had planned. After all, God is the creator of man’s mouth and the author of miracles. Nothing was needed from Moses but his obedience. Nevertheless, Moses asked God to choose someone else, and “then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses” (Ex. 4:14). God did not kill Moses on the spot for challenging Him and not obeying Him. Instead, God shows Moses great love and patience by listening to his excuses and pleas, answering his request by giving Aaron as a partner to be his voice. God still uses Moses to perform the miracles. God will not have His plans thwarted, and despite man’s depravity, God gives man the inestimable privilege of being the instruments of His will. The mercy and grace of God praised in the psalm and displayed in history gives me the conviction to always be ready and willing to patiently share the hope of Christ in the gospel message according to my commission (1 Pet. 3:15, Mark 16:15).

This promise of grace and forgiveness is only given to God’s adopted sons and daughters—to “those who fear Him.” Those for whom Christ died on the cross receive the call to salvation and regeneration by the Spirit. Jesus died for the sins of all those given to him by the Father (Jn. 17). He promises to cleanse those who come to Him in faith as white as snow (Is. 1:18). He removes our sin and shame. It is the most glorious gift that we have been given, and it is truly a gift, having nothing to do with our merit. Those who are not in Christ will be judged for their sins and iniquities that continue to mount. Without forgiveness, sins are a burden for life (Jn 3:18-21, Matt. 13:42). What freedom for God’s children! They not only escape eternal wrath in hell, but they enjoy life on earth with a peaceful, forgiven conscience and an eternity where sin and death will be no more. 

The prophet Isaiah states, “Your iniquities have separated you from your God” (Is. 59:2). Iniquity denies the sovereign rule of God and therefore condemns us under God’s righteous judgment. The psalmist praises God for forgiving us comprehensively and wiping the slate clean—remembering these transgressions no more. He will never bring them up again, hold them against us, or use them against us. Whenever the Accuser tries to bring us back under the weight of our sins, our justifying God removes the burden and pronounces, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1).

In the meantime, however, God’s children must receive discipline from their loving Father. God blesses us when His Word and the Spirit chide, or rebuke, the heart of the transgressor to stop and repent rather than continue in sin. To be “free” to sin ends in death, but God wants us to live rightly with Him as we begin to enjoy heavenly fellowship (Rom. 6:23). The chiding activity of God will not last forever, but it will sweeten our experience forever as God shapes us for eternity.

And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
    nor be weary when reproved by him.
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
    and chastises every son whom he receives.”

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Hebrews 12:5-11

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