Zechariah 9:9-12 or Zechariah 12:9-11, 13:1, 7-9
Psalms 24, 29, 103
1 Timothy 6:12-16
Luke 19:41-48
Love Letters from Psalms 103
As I contemplate this Lenten devotional, I am reminded that Valentine’s Day is just around the corner….and it has me thinking. There are many wonderful messages of God’s love for us in scripture. In beautiful language we hear that we are His “masterpiece” and even that we are His “poem.” Beautiful and amazing images that any valentine would love! These are images to which we can identify. Surely, we have all seen a masterpiece in our lifetime…in art, in nature, and most obviously in children. And certainly we have experienced poetry, by hearing it, reading it, writing it or singing it. These images are relatable…we take our human experiences and connect them to God’s feelings for us.
In Psalms 103, we have, I think another love letter from God. David expresses beautifully, words of gratitude to our Heavenly Father, and in turn, gives us more images of His love. Words like “heals, pardons, crowns and satisfies.” That He is “compassionate and gracious and slow to anger.” Again, words that conjure up images as to what love looks and acts like. But there is one word, which astonishes me from this passage…. “redeems.” In verse 4 we see that He “redeems our life from the pits”.
In verse 12, we are given an amazing truth.
12 As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
Redemption!
Is this a love that you can imagine? I don’t know about you, but I can’t…not in my wildest dream. The kind of love, that causes a father to offer his only son as a sacrifice for us, is unimaginable. I know it is true and I believe it is true, but imagine it... not a chance! In verse 12 from this Psalms passage, we know that God, our Father, cast our sins as far as the east is from the west. As Christ hung on that cross, imagine those hands extending infinitely in those directions. THAT is the Father’s love for us…unfathomable!
On this Palm Sunday, my prayer is to begin to understand THAT kind of love. To witness with new eyes, this Holy Week, the love that God felt for his “masterpieces” and “poems,” a love so strong and so powerful and so amazing that our sins were placed upon that cross and cast “as far as the east is from the west.” God’s valentine to us, friends, didn’t arrive on February 14th, it arrived on Easter Sunday.
Melissa Peter