God Crowns You with Love and Compassion
Praise the Lord, 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 eagle’s.
(Psalm 103: 02 - 05)
"There have been moments, time and again, where I have felt very ashamed. Ashamed of some of the decisions I had taken. Ashamed of the hurried choices I had made. Ashamed of the mistakes I had committed. Ashamed of the failures I had faced. Very ashamed of the way I fell down miserably while the whole world watched me."
The above lines are not just said by one person or a people of one category, but by millions of those who had survived in this world. And it is so common to find people who regret what they had done and what they had come across in the past. In times of such disgrace and failures, we find ourselves struggling in the midst of the shame that we carry from the past and the redemption that we look forward in future. Sometimes we recollect these regretful incidents from our memory and we blame ourselves for being so.
The shame that our sins could bring in our lives cannot be wiped out without the divine grace. And that was the greatest purpose of Christ Jesus on this earth. Through His sacrifice on the cross, we received this privilege of grace that would take us away from the pit of shame and restore the happiness and peace in our lives. Jesus was the ransom for our sins. Imagine carrying all the burdens of your sins without the assurance of forgiveness through Jesus. How hard our life would have been if we never had a way to have our sins wiped away.
The verses from Psalm 103 selected for today's devotion beautifully describe this privilege you and I have received from God's greatest love shown through Christ Jesus. These verses remind us not to forget all the great things we had received from the Lord our God. Sometimes when we read or hear the word "received" we immediately think of materials. We are reminded of our education, our jobs, our savings, our awards and many other blessings that are ours now. But more than these things, the Psalmist reminds us that the forgiveness of our sins was the greatest gift or benefit we had ever received from God. Yes, indeed. God forgiving our sins and giving us a shame-free life was the greatest sign of His love for us. And the most important symbol of this love was Christ Jesus. Through this forgiving love of God, He heals you from all the diseases that were the result of all the suffering you have been going through. He brings back the breathing in you. He restores you.
Let us not forget, that when God forgives our sins, He does not just leave us with that. He goes beyond that point. And, I feel, that is where the love of God is different from the love that we could find around us from fellow human beings. When you commit a mistake against a human, they may forgive you. And that's the end. They no more trust you until you prove yourself worthy of their forgiveness the next time - until you prove that you have changed. And, even though they may be back to normal with their relationship with you, remember, they may not be celebrating it. I remember reading a quote on a social media that suggested: "forgive, but do not be foolish to trust again." But God, when He forgives you, He goes beyond the forgiving point. Yes, He celebrates your return. And Psalm 103: 04 says that God redeems us from the pit we had fallen into and when he redeems you, He crowns you with love and compassion! Look at that. God crowns you with love and compassion! Isn't that wonderful to realise? He not only trusts you again, He not only accepts you into His presence, He not only expresses His love, but also He crowns you and says "you are mine." Very few relationships have ever celebrated their forgiveness, and I thank God for such relationships of His own image.
And when God redeems your life from the pit of sins and shame, and when He crowns you with love and compassion, you can be assured about all the things you need for your life. He will satisfy all your desires with good things, and God will make your life as a youth renewed in Him by removing all the scars and wounds of your past. Nobody will be able to point at you, because God has renewed your life. Nobody could say that you were not punished, because Jesus had paid for it on the cross. And through the precious blood of Jesus that was given for you and me on the cross, we could stand renewed in this world again. Your life becomes exactly like the life of an eagle that has renewed its strength and is ready to soar into the wide-open sky.
Whatever situation you may be in today, it could be the pit of shame or just came out of it and seeking a renewed life, I encourage you to seek the presence of God. Seek His forgiveness. Ask Him to renew your life. And indeed, I know for sure, that He will redeem you, crown you with love and compassion, satisfy your desires with good things so that your life is renewed and is able to celebrate the love of God.
I pray that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ will give us the chance to seek God in His holiness and the guidance of the Holy Spirit will keep us growing in the love of the Lord. May you be crowned with God's love and compassion, and stand as a testimony of His great love forever.
May God bless you.
Yours in Christ,
