Psalm 103

The watch says I have five minutes.

We were in Psalm 103 today in church—a rare appearance by the associate pastor in the pulpit.

There is a lot in the Psalm, one of my favorites. I can only concentrate in these limited moments on the uses of the law (how it pains me to pass by the first five verses!). Ray Ortlund talks about four different applications in preaching the law, and two of them are subtly displayed in the Psalm: the second one whereby the law confronts us with our own sin, and the fourth, in which the law gives us a promise for who we will be.

In vv. 7–9, David reminds us that God gave Moses the Law. As Luther reminds us, the law always accuses (lex semper accusat) because we are always lawbreaking. The law never justifies because the mirror it holds up to us shows that we are sinful; we need even to repent for the good things we do. So in verse nine, the NET translators write, "[The LORD] does not always accuse...."

The Psalm, then, associates the iniquities God forgives us of (vv. 3,10,12, et c.) with the giving of the law.

Vv. 17,18 almost confront us again: God extends his covenant mercy to those who follow him faithfully and keep his covenant and commandments. But we already know that we do not. The lesson of the Old Testament is just this.

The promise is hidden a bit in the eschatological commands that end the Psalm, where the Psalmist enjoins all of creation to worship God. From Romans 8, we know that all creation doesn't do this: rather, it "groans in travail" (v. 22) waiting for the redemption of our bodies and the revelation of God's glory.

It is when God is fully revealed in us that the promise of the law is fulfilled in our hearts and actions, when we are finally redeemed from the body of this death; what a promise to look forward to!

There's more here. I've overstayed my time.