Sermon Notes; a Daily Devotional

Psalms 103:4 "Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;" Today’s verse is a declaration of God’s redeeming love and compassion. The phrase “redeemeth thy life from destruction” points to God’s power to rescue believers from death, despair, and eternal destruction in hell. The image of being “crowned” speaks of honor, favor, and royal treatment. After rescuing people from ruin, God adorns them with lovingkindness (steadfast, covenantal love) and tender mercy. That change lifts believers from hopelessness to dignity and worth. It shows that God values them deeply and restores their identity by His grace. King David and the other writers of the Psalms had a gift for words and deep insight into faith in the one true God. Yesterday’s verse spoke of complete forgiveness of sin and healing from affliction. The Psalms remain an outstanding model for daily prayer. We do not have every phrase the psalmists used, but we can follow...

Psalms 103:3 "Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;" Today’s verse points to a primary reason for praising the Lord. It highlights two major spiritual benefits: complete forgiveness of sin and healing from affliction. Forgiveness of iniquity. The term “iniquity” refers to twisted, distorted, or grave sin, both what we do and what we fail to do. Commentaries often note that this is the first and greatest benefit, because it restores the sinner to God’s favor and makes every other blessing possible. Healing of diseases. Some readings include physical healing. Many scholars, however, take the phrase primarily as spiritual disease or “soul maladies.” In the psalm’s parallelism, healing diseases is closely tied to forgiving iniquities: God addresses the root of human brokenness. Context of praise. This verse begins the psalmist’s recital of God’s “benefits” and urges the soul not to forget those mercies. Pardon stands at the center of worship. Recognizi...

Psalms 103:2 "Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits:" We are focusing on “Go to God in prayer daily,” the first part of the acrostic GRACED; a pattern of proven ways to grow closer to God. Sometimes we ask, “Why do I need to pray? God knows everything.” That question usually comes from a misunderstanding of what prayer does. Prayer is a conversation with God, but it is also a way God works on our hearts and minds. That idea is well expressed in the classic bluegrass song “Pray All Day” by the Legendary Marshall Family. The lyric goes, “Pray all day, pray all night, pray until you see the light”: hinting that prayer changes the person who prays. Yesterday we read verse 1 of Psalm 103 as an outstanding model for prayer. The phrase “O my soul” refers to the author’s inner self, while “all that is within me” takes in every faculty and power: thoughts, emotions, will, and physical existence. Today’s verse again urges us to “Bless the Lord” and explicitly warns...

Psalms 103:1 "Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His Holy Name." Lest week we began our study of the acrostic GRACED: G o to God in prayer daily. R ead God’s Word daily. A ttend worship regularly. C onnect in a study group. E ngage in service. D edicate yourself to the tithe and beyond. We want to keep this pattern at the forefront of our minds. These are proven ways to grow closer to God. Adopt them, and you will not be far from the kingdom of God. Accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and you will have eternal life in heaven. This week we will focus on “Go to God in prayer daily.” We can be a little stubborn about prayer, asking, “Why do I need to pray? God knows everything.” This thinking comes from a misunderstanding of the function of prayer. There is a classic bluegrass line that puts it well: “Pray all day, pray all night, pray until you see the light.” Today’s verse is an outstanding model for our prayers. The phrase “O my soul” refers to the...

Mark 12:34 "And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, He said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask Him any question." Today’s verse shows that the scribe had rightly grasped the heart of the Law and the priority of inward devotion over outward ritual. That understanding placed him near the truth of the Gospel. Commentators note, however, that he was not yet fully in the Kingdom, because he had not yet received Jesus as the Messiah or committed himself to follow Him. The passage reminds us that intellectual agreement with God’s moral requirements is an important step, but entrance into the Kingdom requires personal faith and submission to Christ. We want to follow Jesus’ example: to stoop and serve others in humility and charity, even to wash one another’s feet. Jesus is not handing us rungs on a ladder we climb by our own effort. He is giving us a pattern to follow. So as we study the acrostic GRACED: G o to God in prayer d...

Mark 12:33 "And to love Him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." Read that last phrase again if you need to: "more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." In today’s verse a scribe affirms that loving God with all one’s heart, understanding, soul, and strength, and loving one’s neighbor as oneself, is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices. This statement summarizes the core of the Law. Genuine devotion and ethical love outweigh external religious rituals. The verse highlights several key theological points: Supremacy of love . Heartfelt obedience is superior to ceremonial law. This echoes the prophetic word that God desires mercy and knowledge of Him more than ritual (Hosea 6:6). Comprehensive devotion . Loving God requires the totality of one’s being: affections, intellect, and physic...

Mark 12:32 "And the scribe said unto Him, Well, Master, Thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but He:" "the truth" In answering the scribe, Jesus named the greatest commandment and the second. Together those two commands interpret all the Law and the Prophets. Real faith shows itself in costly action toward others. Love for God and love for people are not separate paths; one flows into the other. Ritual without that love is not the point. We like hearing this. Then fear follows: we cannot keep so high a standard. We prefer a ladder we can climb, rung by rung, toward God, or at least above other sinners. Is that what Jesus is teaching? No. The scribe kept meticulous track of the 613 Old Testament laws. Jesus covered them all in two. Like the scribe, we think the things we do make us more acceptable to God. We take Jacob’s dream in Genesis 28:12 and make it about us climbing a ladder to heaven, when it is actually about Jesus coming d...