Psalms 103:4
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases. Who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy.
To be a Christian is to be redeemed. It is to be bought and brought from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God’s beloved son, the kingdom of light. David uses the analogy of the pit to paint a picture of the kind of redemption we have received. Imagine being stuck in a pit, dark and deep. You are helpless and hopeless and can’t do anything about your situation. You are as good as dead. And then someone comes and pulls you out of that depressing situation. What joy that must be! It is the same for us – Jesus came and rescued us from the spiritual pit that we were subjected to as a result of our sin. He not only brings us out of that dirty place but also crowns us with steadfast love and mercy.
Important to note as well is that the redemption we receive is fundamentally spiritually but not entirely. There is also a sense of physical redemption. David must have looked back at all the dangerous situations the LORD redeemed him from. He was a man of war and must have been snatched from the claws of death so many times. The same is true for us – God has redeemed us from many dangerous situations. There are things that we know and can attest and some that we don’t even know. Yet, redemption is not a past tense issue but a present continuous one as revealed by the usage of the term, ‘redeems’. God redeemed us from our trio enemies of sin, the devil, and the world and continues to redeem us from the same. He not only redeemed us from physical dangers but continues to redeem us from them. We have plenty of reasons to give thanks and praise to God.
Let the redeemed of the LORD say so…
Reflections
1. What is your testimony of redemption?
2. In what ways can you be more thankful for God’s redemption?
