He redeems your life from the Pit. (Psalm 103:4)
Psalm 103 is my favorite Psalm, and my favorite line may be the graphic description of God’s saving ability in verse 4, “He redeems your life from the Pit.” Yes, we all know what it means to fall into a pit. It is not our choice, it comes unexpectedly; we are startled, possibly hurt, and probably need help getting out. David, the psalmist, ascribes to God the power to pull us out of a pit. Consider the people that were affected by the terrible floods in Texas this past month, the many girls that didn’t return from the Christian camp, the loss of life, the devastation to property. This is a deep and terrible pit – requiring God’s deliverance.
The following are the first five verses of Psalm 105:
My soul, bless the Lord, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. My soul, bless the Lord, and do not forget all his benefits. He forgives all your iniquity; he heals all your diseases. He redeems your life from the Pit; he crowns you with faithful love and compassion. He satisfies you with good things; your youth is renewed like the eagle.
Verse 2 encourages us to not forget God’s benefits, which include forgiveness of sin, healing of our diseases, along with “redemption” from the pit experiences in our lives. I find it interesting that the first benefit that David lists is forgiveness of sins. This is our biggest problem; the one that separates us from God. When the lame man was lowered through the roof for Jesus to heal, the first thing that Jesus offered was forgiveness of sins. When the Pharisees who were watching challenged Jesus’ ability to forgive sins, Jesus replied to them: “Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he told the paralyzed man, “I tell you: Get up, take your stretcher, and go home” (Luke 5:23 – 24).
Jesus is our ultimate healer. As we see from the paralyzed man, Jesus can heal both our sins and our physical body. Furthermore, as the psalmist states, “he crowns you with faithful love and compassion. He satisfies you with good things; our youth is renewed like the eagle.” What could be better?