As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.
The life of mortals is like grass,
they flourish like a flower of the field;
the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
But from everlasting to everlasting
the LORD’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children—
with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.
It is well worth noting that Psalm 103 was written by David. David was a man of extremes; he lived life to the full. Never one to rest on his laurels—he was always up for a challenge, and if no challenge existed, he would create one for himself. He was a man’s kind of man, not easily discouraged or deterred, ready to throw himself headlong into the fray. Undoubtedly, others saw and admired these qualities in him. That’s why they gathered around him, and stuck with him through the extremes, the highs and lows of a life lived fully and unreservedly for God.
Sometimes I wonder what David would be like if we met him today—if he lived in today’s world. Into what endeavour would he throw his boundless energy? Who are the extreme men, the Davids of our time? Who are the men—or the women for that matter—who take on the Goliaths of our present world?
This gutsy determination was evident throughout David’s long and eventful life. As a young teenager, a mere scamp, David had the in-your-face audacity to take on Goliath, the towering, undefeated, Philistine champion. And this battle was no game of tiddlywinks, no computer simulation—this was mortal combat—the real thing, winner takes all, including your severed head (1 Samuel 17).
Do we have any young Davids—any teens—who with God on their side, will step out from the crowd, and risk all in the defence of faith and truth?
Later as a young man, we find David at Ziklag. After a meteoric start to his career, he has plummeted from favour. He has persevered through round after round of downward spiralling misfortune. Now at his lowest point, with his own men about to stone him, he rises above an embittered throng of naysayers and doubters. With his very life in the balance, he finds strength in the LORD his God. Then by the extraordinary grace of his God, this indefatigable David pursues his enemies. He seizes victory by the sandal straps and refuses—absolutely refuses—to let it escape over the next hill (1 Samuel 30).
Do we have any never-give-up, never-say-die Davids like that today? Or do we give up at the first sign of opposition? It takes young men of extreme faith to persevere in the face of an unrelenting foe. Have you seen a David lately?
A middle-aged David faced betrayal and heartbreak as his own son, Absalom, sought to kill him and wrench the kingdom from his faltering hands. As this grand tragedy unfolds, David humbles himself before God and his people. He flees Jerusalem barefoot, weeping and with his head covered as a sign of deep contrition (2 Samuel 15:30). The God of all mercy hears his prayers and restores the fallen king—the repentant king—to the throne. Sometimes humility takes far more courage than a strutting cocksure leader can muster. But King David—the man at the top—still knew how to humble himself. He knew how to repent.
What a stark contrast to the middle-aged barons of business, who in recent years have been hauled before the courts in disgrace. All we hear from them is deny, deny, and lie follows lie. Men are a strange lot. Once the great ego puffs itself up, it seems to be incapable of self-deflation. We cannot prick our own balloon.
Do we have any top-of-their-game Davids, who know how to humble themselves before God, and before the public, and openly repent? Upper echelon Davids like that are in extremely short supply, perhaps even extinct. Have you caught a glimpse of one?
In his old age David looked ahead. With a prophet’s eye he saw the future and he planned for a nation without him. He installed his son Solomon on the throne, but he placed the LORD at the helm of Israel, even as the LORD had always been at the helm of David’s entire life. Now in his last days, the House of God became David’s prime concern. He was not permitted to build the temple of the LORD (1 Chronicles 17). But, he made extensive preparations for it. Upon David’s death the House of God would rise. How like another descendant of David? Upon Jesus’ death, by the power of the Spirit, the Church of God would arise.
In his instructions to his son Solomon, David says,
“I have taken great pains to provide for the temple of the LORD a hundred thousand talents of gold, a million talents of silver, quantities of bronze and iron too great to be weighed, and wood and stone” (1Chronicles 22:14).
Do we have any end-of-life Davids like that today? Will you leave behind a visible legacy to the LORD’s great goodness? What preparations are you making that will honor God for generations yet to come? Remember a life lived for God never ends, and its influence never ceases.
Consider this. David is still influencing lives today—far more lives in fact, than he did three thousand years ago. And though Solomon’s temple no longer stands, David’s words—his psalms of praise to God—resound in every nation under heaven. Now that’s a legacy of faith—extreme faith!
The world needs far more faithful-to-the-LORD Davids. We need them at every stage of life. And if biblical Davids like that are in short supply in today’s world, why not decide to become one yourself? Never underestimate what God can do through a life that is wholly yielded to him. When complacency is replaced by extreme, in-touch-with-God faith, anything is possible.
Now verse by verse, let’s look at what David wrote in Psalm 103 about the wonderful God he served throughout his life. David declares, “The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed” (v. 6).
When David was oppressed by Saul, he did not give up, nor did he take vengeance into his own hands. He entrusted his fate to the LORD. And the LORD saw; he took note of his servant David. Saul falsely accused David of rebellion, but David was a faithful servant both to King Saul and to the LORD, the highest king. David waited on God and ultimately, he saw the LORD work righteousness and justice on his behalf. Saul was defeated by the Philistines and in due course, faithful David ascended to the throne.
He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel (v. 7). There is a curious phraseology to this statement. It is well worth noting. Revelation is always based on relationship. My wife knows my bank account number; she has free access to my account at any time. That access is based on our relationship. Moses was shown the ways of God, but the people of Israel only saw his deeds. Moses had access to the LORD’s inner sanctum. He met regularly with God in the Tent of Meeting. He was privy to the counsel of the LORD. That relationship resulted in a far greater revelation of God’s plans and purposes.
Do you want a greater revelation of God’s plan and purpose for your life? Seek to know God better. Spend time with him. David brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem for that very reason. He wanted to be close to God, to spend time with him daily, and to praise and worship him freely. Relationship is always the wellspring of all revelation. It is while we are in God’s presence that we discover the mind of Christ.
David certainly discovered the very nature of God. He discovered that “the LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love” (v. 8). No sentence in the entire Bible captures the pure essence of God quite as fully as this one. It should be indelibly written on our hearts and minds. David could pen these words because he experienced them. He experienced God’s boundless grace; he was an object of the LORD’s great compassion.
When you live life in the extreme, as David did, you are capable of both extreme failure and extreme success. You can bring down Goliath to the glory of God, and you can bring down an innocent man, Uriah the Hittite, to satisfy your selfish fleshly cravings. We are capable of both. The same testosterone fuelled spirit of conquest under girds both endeavors. One is inspired by God, the other reeks of hell’s sulphur.
Men are divinely engineered to conquer. We despise wimps. The real test is whether our conquests are directed by the Spirit of God, or by Satan working through our base desires. In God’s eyes, David was both an extreme success and an extreme failure. That’s why David needed an extreme God—extremely loving, extremely patient, and above all extremely forgiving. The LORD is an extremist.
The amazing thing about David is that he clung to God in both extremes, when he succeeded beyond his wildest dreams and when he failed spectacularly. In his success David tapped into the amazing grace of God—the supernatural enablement of the LORD. In his moral failure David found the extreme love and mercy of God.
So it is that David could pen these words about the LORD: “He will not always accuse, nor will he harbour his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities” (v. 9-10).
David, the adulterer and murderer, penned those words. The extreme sinner found the God of extreme mercy. David’s adultery with Bathsheba, and his premeditated murder of Uriah, meant that David deserved death. The Law of the LORD prescribed it. But instead, he received mercy, extreme mercy from an extreme God. He did not deserve God’s goodness; we never do. A cross on a hill makes that abundantly clear.
“For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those that fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us” (v. 11-12).
David, the spectacular failure, found the LORD to be spectacularly loving. And this extreme sinner needed an extremely loving and forgiving God.
How far has God removed your sins from you? In the infinity of space, east never meets west. The cleansing is complete. The sin is gone. Forgiven. Forever gone in time, space and eternity. Gone.
Totally forgiven means just that. What an extreme God!
As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass. He flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more (v. 13-16).
There is a humble humanity to these words, a certain taste of Jesus in them. Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father… “
Did Jesus have these words of David in mind as he taught his disciples about his heavenly Father? Did David grasp the finite nature of his own earthly life as he contemplated the magnificent infinite One? We certainly catch a glimpse of eternity in his words that follow:
But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s love is with those that fear him and his righteousness with their children’s children—with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts (v. 17-18).
It is striking to note that the extreme forgiveness of the LORD does not produce a flippant nonchalant attitude toward sin. It didn’t in David, and shouldn’t in us. Just the opposite is true. The extreme love of God for humanity gives birth within us to a hunger for righteousness. On the contrary, the loved and forgiven yearn to obey the LORD of mercy.
Who would not fear and love such an extreme God? Who would not want to transfer the knowledge of this extreme LORD to the generations yet to come? I long to see my children’s children loving and obeying this extremist God.
After all, I am forgiven.
Praise the LORD!
Is a return-to-Jesus revival possible in our time?
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I love the Psalms 