Devotion:
Read Psalm 103:1-8.
One of my favorite passages of the whole Bible extends here to verse 14, but today we stop at the end of verse 8, which reminds us that God is “abounding in love.” I looked up synonyms for “abound.” They include “flourish, thrive, abundant, overflow, be alive with, be all over the place, be plentiful” but my favorite for the meaning of this verse is “be no end to.”
And then I noticed key words in verses 3-5 that tell of the “benefits” connected to a relationship with God: “forgives”, “heals”, “redeems”, “crowns”, “satisfies.” It is because God loves you so much that God provides all of this (and more) for you.
As the people of Christ, we seek to represent this God in the world. (We will focus on that tomorrow.) Before you can do that, you have to receive this love yourself. You have to believe that you are loved by God as you are, no strings attached. You have to believe that this love of God is “abounding,” that it “never ends”; that it is the core of who God is. If you think there are some kind of strings attached to this love or that there is a limit to it, then that is how you are going to represent God in the world. Through your actions and your words, that is how you are going to present God to others.
I invite you to let these verses from Psalm 103 wash over you and go deep inside you, so that you can shout with the Psalmist “Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name!” Then you will be ready (and anxious) to help others experience and praise this God whose love is “abounding.”
Personal Worship Option:
Consider offering this prayer: God whose love is abounding, help me to continue to grow in my conviction that the core of who you are is love. And help me live my life each day secure in that knowledge. Amen.
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