Devotion:
Read Psalm 103:1-12.
In this Psalm, David celebrates God’s great love for us that results in our forgiveness. The first few verses admonish us to “not forget”. Do not forget his love, his faithfulness, his kindness, his mercy and above all else his forgiveness. Verse 12 says that our sins are taken away from us as far as the East is from the West. I always thought this was a curious expression until, in a Social Studies class, I began to understand the ramifications of the phrase. To travel west - you can make laps around the globe and never go east and, if you desire, maintain an easterly course indefinitely. Not so with the other two directions. If you go north or south, you’ll eventually reach the North or South Pole and change direction. But east and west have no turning points.
So it is with God. His forgiveness is irreversible. When God sees you, he sees his Son, not your sin. He sees His child.
Adult Challenge:
Make a list of all the reasons to praise God. Share your list with others and then praise God for all his generosity to you.
Youth Challenge:
Read over this a couple of times and write down the things that are most important to you. What characteristics are you most thankful for?
Children's Challenge:
Take a few minutes to talk about what truths this Psalm teaches us about God. Who He is, what He does, what He expects of people and how people should respond to Him.
After discussing the passage, distribute paper and markers to each person. Explain that you want them to do three things in response to the Psalm…
- write a verse from the passage that they want to remember
- write a reason to praise God that they see in the Psalm
- draw something from the passage that they think is important
Once everyone has finished, have each person share what they have drawn or written with the rest of the family.
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