I’m excited about Psalm 103, and there are many ways one can see Jesus in this Psalm. But I want to go right to the presenting issue that causes any problem between you and Jesus. Namely sin.
MAIN PONT: God has made a way in Jesus the king to forgive sins and unites us in a new heaven and earth with a restored humanity.
I don’t have time to develop this thought fully today but it is all in the Psalm.
3 “He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases.”
10 “He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.”
12 “He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.”
When Jesus shows up on the scene, the religious leaders of His time knew very well that the forgiveness of sins was something only God could do. Anyone who claimed they could do that was claiming to be God. Jesus makes that very claim.
“10 So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins." Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said,”
If you go back and read this Psalm now and think to yourself this is talking about Jesus. It is Jesus who in verse 7 has revealed His character, the character of God to Moses. Wow. Now we are learning so much about God from David in this chapter, and if Jesus has shown us it was all about Him, then we are learning a lot about Jesus.
I could spend hours contemplating (and probably have and probably will still) the rescuing nature of Jesus. Look at one of the ways He sorts out the sin problem, not only expunging it from the sinner but also undoing the effect for the victim:
“The LORD gives righteousness and justice to all who are treated unfairly.”
What a blessing, what a blessed assurance, what a peace-giving thought that Jesus can undo the terrible consequences of my sin against others.
I have sinned. And my sins are forgiven and Jesus has the authority to do that.
But my sin has hurt Him and others, and one aspect of justice is that forgiving me does not rob a victim of justice. God can both forgive and provide justice.
Further I believe we are dabbling on the edge of imputed righteousness and that is a very amazing and beautiful thing. Jesus is able to give us His righteousness.
Oh the joy to read of the height from which Jesus does all this. There is no higher authority. Jesus says in Mark that He has authority on earth to forgive sins. David tells us He gets that authority from the fact He is above all things and rules on His throne from heaven. Jesus is the Father’s way of answering the prayer, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus shows up and makes it so.
Jump, shout, run around like a free man, be childlike again, your sins are forgiven! The consequences of your sins have been turned back. And so we see death beaten, injustice overturned.
We see this great comparison between the mortality of man and the eternality of God, but David shows us that we will share in the forever status. How can that be? Sins are forgiven and so even the death penalty that came with sin has been removed.
“16 The wind blows, and we are gone—
as though we had never been here.
17 But the love of the Lord remains forever
with those who fear him.”
Conclusion:
Jesus is the king who forgives sin and undoes sin’s work.
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| Handwritten Psalm 103 |
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