God remembers -- He is on our side

Last time we noted that God remembers that we are dust..... He doesn't look at us the same way that we look at us, when we look in the mirror and see all of our faults, sins, and shortcomings. Did you find time to read Psalm 103? I hope you did - it's a wonderful place for us to "camp" this week and consider.

Let's look first at these seven verses:

Praise the Lord, my soul;    all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul,    and forget not all his benefits— who forgives all your sins    and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit    and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The Lord works righteousness    and justice for all the oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses,    his deeds to the people of Israel:  (Psalm 103:1-7)

Wow. I can scarcely move past those verses that list all of His "benefits." What a wonderful list..... so many people talk today about their jobs, and the benefits. They mostly mean the health insurance, the perks, the things that make that job even better than the fact that they're getting a paycheck. (Grin)
I guess if we consider our lives as believers as pretty important "work," then how is that for a list of benefits?
Forgiveness of sins, healing from disease, redemption, love, compassion, satisfaction, renewal..... can we just stop here and praise the Lord for a while?

Then let's move down to verses six and seven. What does the Psalm writer mean by the "oppressed?" In the Old Testament, and specifically in the Law, the word applied to widows, orphans, foreigners, and the destitute.
Human nature may say, "Go ahead! Take advantage of that person. You are strong. They're weak. Go on!"
God says, "Not so fast. Think about it."

For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. 18 He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. (Deuteronomy 10:17-18)

God loves to help the needy. He takes the side of the weak. And we are to follow His example:

“This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. 10 Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’ (Zechariah 7: 9-10)

Isaiah warned again:

Woe to those who make unjust laws,    to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights    and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people,
making widows their prey    and robbing the fatherless. (Isaiah 10:1-2)

Our Father keeps His eyes on the helpless, and when others hurt them, He moves the scales of justice. There may be times when it's hard to hang on to that belief, but this truth stands as a rock for believers. Eventually, God will bring everything to light, and He will judge impartially. He loves to help the needy.  A day is coming when there will be no hiding, no excuse-making; God keeps watch over His own.

Are you needy? Am I?
In a word, yes! The answer is yes whether we know it or not. Whether we admit it or not.

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,14 but whoever drinks from the water that I will give will never be thirsty again. The water that I give will become in those who drink it a spring of water that bubbles up into eternal life.” (John 14:13-14, CEB)

The Spirit is the one who gives life and the flesh doesn’t help at all. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.  (John 6:63)

God has the power to provide you with more than enough of every kind of grace. That way, you will have everything you need always and in everything to provide more than enough for every kind of good work.  (II Corinthians 9:8)

We are needy. And God is on our side. He remembers that we need Him.
What a wonderful place to be!