In the weeks leading up to Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, we at FLM have been meditating on the words of Psalm 103, as a reminder of how great God's love is for us, how merciful and generous God is, and how fragile our human experience is - we are simply little dustlings but the king of the universe adores us!
We have personalized each passage of the Psalm so here is the text as we read it in the New International Version of the Bible, and below that is the FLM, personalized version.
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.
He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel:
The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.
The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.
Praise the Lord, you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
who obey his word.
Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts,
you his servants who do his will.
Praise the Lord, all his works
everywhere in his dominion.
Praise the Lord, my soul.
Beloved, [insert your name here ____________], do not forget the benefits of my love-
I am the one who forgives all harm you caused and heals all that harms you. I am the one who redeems you from the hole you dug yourself into, and it is my delight to clean you up, wipe your tears, and lift your head high for the crown of my compassion.
I am the one who knows what you need and fills you with good things, satisfying the longings of your heart and putting the spring back in your step so that you can enjoy my goodness! I am the compassionate God, compelled to move toward you in love. All I do is to draw you into alignment with my love and how I express that love. I make right all that has gone wrong for you, ____________, because I see, I care, and I move toward you when you suffer. I, Yahweh, have made my ways known to Moses and all those who call on my name. I have revealed my good deeds of love to the descendants of Israel and to you, ____________, whom I call my own. I, your Lord, am filled with compassion toward you, and I delight in showing you grace. I am patient and calm with you, because my love for you knows no bounds! Beloved, I do not keep a record of wrongs and I do not hold a grudge. I am full of mercy and kindness toward you, so I do not treat you differently or withhold my love because of what you have or have not done. My definition of “fair”, “deserve”, and “pay back” is different than yours, so trust me ____________. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is my love for you! Whatever measure you can imagine, it is even greater than that! And as far as the east is from the west, too far to measure, farther still have I removed the burden of your wrong and harm from you.
Consider the best father you can imagine, see and hear the compassion he has for his children. That, beloved, is what my love for you is like and so much more! For I know where you came from, how you got to where you are, what has and has not happened. I remember that you are limited, but you must remember that you are mine. You are dust, but you are my beloved dustling, ____________. Your life is like grass, it is bright and beautiful like the wild flowers in the field. And just as quickly as it flourishes, the wind blows it over, and it is gone. Generations move forward, and memories fade. But I, the Lord your God, do not forget, but from everlasting to everlasting my love is with you - from before the foundation of this world was laid, I loved you and I will never stop loving you. ____________, I will help you by my very Spirit to restore and align you to my way of living and loving, for your sake and your loved ones, for generations! Let me love you so that you can love as loved, and this will be your story and your inheritance in this life and the one to come. I have established Jesus’ throne in heaven, because beloved, I am in charge. So I invite you to join in with the chorus of the angels who see me and know my love and my way. When you let me love you, and love one another as I have loved you, it fills me with Joy! So sing and celebrate with me, ____________, you who respond to my love, for I am working in you and throughout your whole life to heal and restore and make all things new!
And we sing - Praise the Lord, Oh My soul!
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