Psalm 103

  He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle's. (3 ~ 5)

  The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. For his unfailing love toward those who hear him is as great as height of the heavens above the earth. (8 ~ 11)

  He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust. (12 ~ 14)

  Our days on earth are like grass; like wildflowers, we bloom and die. The wind blows, and we are gone - as though we had never been here. But the love of the Lord remains forever with those who fear him. (15 ~ 17)

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  Human's life is like a one dot in infinite space. Someday, life will be gone, and  the disappearance of one life looks like nothing. Then, is human's life meaningless? No. For those who know God have unfailing relation with God, who is infinite and immortal.

He alone is my refuge

This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. The Lord says, "I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name. When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. (Psalm 91: 2, 14)

  I am reading the Bible with chronological order. This psalm is Moses'. I completed reading Deuteronomy, and I could see Moses' last day in the world. In his life, he led the Israelite from the Egypt to Canaan, where the God had promised with Israelite's ancestor Abraham. He was a great prophet. He knew the God face to face. However, he should wander in wilderness in his all life, and he couldn't enter the promised land finally. He died while seeing land of Canaan.

  I believe this psalm is Moses' true confession in his life. Although he couldn't enter the prosper land, he confessed that the God is alone refuge to those who love the God. At the last time of his life, it was Moses' confession. What will be my confession in my life?

What the God requires

And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? He requires only that you fear the Lord your God, and live in a way that pleases him, and love him and serve him with all your heart and soul. (Deuteronomy 10:12)

  This is what God required of Israelite. That is also requisition of me to the Lord my God. Love - it is what God want from me. Why is he hungry for my love? He is God, who is perfect, however, he needs his people's love. It seems unreasonable.

  I have a daughter of one month old. She can't do anything by herself. Only thing she can do is to cry out when she is hungry and inconvenient. I cannot communicate with her, and I don't understand her crying. She makes her parents fatigued. But, I love her with all my heart. I am very pleased when she is pleased with me - she sometimes shows a smile shortly for me. Um... I also don't understand what the meaning is because she makes a smile right after crying. She makes me happy. I want her love because I love her with all my heart. It is a relationship between a daughter and her father. I believe God's wanting for love is similar to this.

The reason why God selected a human

The Lord did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! Rather, it was simply that the Lord loves you, and he was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors. That is why the Lord rescued you with such a strong hand from your slavery and from the oppressive had of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. (Deuteronomy 7:7~8)

  I am not able to know why God selected and saved me. Also, it is mysterious that God loves people who disobey and refuse Him. Someone say that they need something good in order to be selected and saved by God. But, it is not true. God's selection is by his own will and his promise toward people. Good, faithful, sincere, strong, ... People may say there should be virtues needed for being saved. However, all virtues are meaningless in the presence of God, for God is "who am I" and incomparable.

Trust in wilderness

And you saw how the LORD your God cared for you all along the way as you traveled through the wilderness, just as a father care for his children. Now he has brought you to this place. But even after all he did, you refused to trust the LORD your God. (Deuteronomy 1:31~32)

  I am willing to confess that my God have cared and led my life. Through my journey, sometimes I felt harsh in my life, however, I believe that all thing is in His good will. And, now I live in not my homeland but a strange land as a foreigner. That situation is something like Israelite's life in wilderness. They were also foreigner and they couldn't settle in the promised land. They should wander the wilderness because of their rebellion to God. Although they had seen many miracles and experienced guidance by God who delivered them from Egypt, they refused to trust the God due to their difficult situation.

  I also experienced God's sincere care for me especially through times in preparation of studying and curing my thyroid cancer. Nevertheless, I might commit a sin to refuse to trust God because of difficult situations and unexpected happenings in my contemporary life. I hope I won't repeat Israelite's wandering. I pray I can trust God sincerely during my life journey.