Always Ready to Forgive

Praise the Lord, my soul! Praise his holy name, all that is within me.
Praise the Lord, my soul, and never forget all the good he has done:
He is the one who forgives all your sins, the one who heals all your diseases,
the one who rescues your life from the pit, the one who crowns you with mercy and compassion,
the one who fills your life with blessings so that you become young again like an eagle. [vss 1-5]
The Lord does what is right and fair for all who are oppressed.
He let Moses know his ways. He let the Israelites know the things he had done.
The Lord is compassionate, merciful, patient, and always ready to forgive.
He will not always accuse us of wrong or be angry ⌊with us⌋ forever.
He has not treated us as we deserve for our sins or paid us back for our wrongs [vss 6-10]

By David. (Psalms 103:1-10 GW)

In many ways, our relationship with our parents impacts how we relate to God as our Father. God understood this when He gave Moses the fifth of the 10 Commandments—honor your father and mother.

This can be a hindrance or a help depending on the nature of our relationship with our father and mother. We tend to view God through the lens or filter of our experience and memories of growing up.

When this is negative or difficult, it skews our perception of God. When it's positive and affirming, we may have difficulty understanding God's sovereignty. If we were abandoned as children or had absentee parents, God probably seems distant and unapproachable.

All of this can be overcome so we can gain a right or correct view of who God is and of His redemptive love. King David understood how to do this.

My first sense of psalms that began with "bless the Lord oh my soul" confounded me. Was this just self-help psychobabble or efforts at self-talk? Aren't people who carry on conversations with themselves losing a grasp on reality?

The more I read through the Psalms and saw the depth of David's internal prayerful struggles and joyful exclamations, I began to understand.

David understood his relationship with God. Not only was it based on a personal trust (faith) in God, it was spiritual in nature. David's exhortations to himself went much deeper than mental self-talk or cognitive reasoning. He spoke to his inner, spiritual nature—his inner self. We can call it soul-talk.

He reminded himself of his spiritual yet experiential encounters with God during his life. He dialogued with God from his innermost being. This is the nature of genuine faith in a personal relationship with God!