God Renews Your Youth like the Eagle's (Psalm 103)

God Renews Your Youth like the Eagle’s

Psalm 103

Psalm 103 is all about what a loving and forgiving heavenly Father we have.  And it is also about reminding us to bless and praise Him.  This Psalm begins and ends with “Bless the Lord, O my soul.”  And all throughout the Psalm, David the writer, reminds himself (his soul) to bless and praise his God.  He rehearses all of God’s blessings to encourage himself in his faith.  And we can do this too. 

Psalm 103 describe God as the One: “Who redeems your life from destruction.

Who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies. 

Who satisfies your mouth with good things.

Who renews your youth like the eagle’s.”  (verse 4-5)

God redeems or saves our soul from destruction because of His great love for us.  (John 3:16)  And God places a crown on our head, a crown of His loving kindness and tender mercies!(vs 4)    In another Psalm we see this same theme: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life”  (Psalm 23:6)  When we are crowned with God’s loving kindness and when His goodness and mercy are following us throughout our life, we are truly living a blessed life, wouldn’t you agree? 

Psalm 103 also tells us that God “renews our youth like the eagle’s?”  What could this passage mean?  The eagle is one of the strongest and longest lived birds on the face of the earth. Naturalists tell us that the eagle casts all her feathers or she changes them each year at molting time.  Fresh feathers replace the old ones and she renews her strength and appears young again..

 When we allow Jesus into our lives, we receive the graces and comforts of His Spirit, which renews our minds and souls from the decay of this world.  As we believers travel life’s journey the Holy Spirit teaches and leads us into all Truth which invigorates us and gives us peace and joy. And when we open our lives to Jesus, He fills us with new life and seals us with His Spirit which is the earnest or the guarantee of our eternal life. (2 Corinthians 5:5, Ephesians 1:14 and 2 Corinthians 1:22) With Jesus our life becomes a light and joyful journey! So it can be said that we return to the days of our youth.  (Job 33:25) Because our hope and joy and new life make us young in spirit. 

This Psalm is all about what God does for us.  And much here is written about God’s forgiveness of our sins.  He is a God who: “forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.” (verse 3) A God who:” has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities.” (verse 10) “For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him.  As far as the east is from the west.  So far has He removed our sins from us.”  (verses 11-12)   We have a heavenly Father who abundantly pardons and restores!

When it mentions God healing our diseases, what does that mean? The Old Testament promise of bodily healing was based upon the character of God (Yahweh) who is our “Healer”.  Here in Psalm 103 we have a promise of spiritual healing that also includes physical healing. This involves the idea of mending or curing.  God is not only forgiving sins but He is healing diseases.

Until we take our place in heaven we are still sinning and repenting as God is still forgiving and healing.  Only when we are in heaven will we not sin any more at all.  We will be changed!  Changed by Jesus Christ!  (Revelations 21:4,27, Revelations 22:3, 2 Corinthians 5) Also our earthly bodies are now still mortal (they are imperfect, and won’t last -are dying) as God is mending and patching them for our use in this temporary earthly life.   But when we die these mortal bodies will be transformed into glorious immortal bodies (perfect bodies that will last and never die).  “This mortal (death) body shall put on immortal (life) body.” (1 Corinthians 15:53)

 When we take our place in heaven, our immortal bodies will not need any more mending or patching because they can no longer become injured or diseased.  God will completely heal them.  Jesus spent much of his earthly ministry healing the physical diseases of the people around Him.  But these people who Jesus healed eventually died and their healings lasted only for this temporary earthly life. But these amazing healing promises in the Bible reach across the divide of death and into the eternal.  They reach from the sinful, earthly and temporary to that which lasts forever and is sinless and victorious. The promises to heal will be completely fulfilled when we reach the glory land.    

Psalm 103 also speaks of God’s mercy toward us.  We read: “As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him.  For He knows our frame: He remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass:  As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.  For the wind passes over it and it is gone.  And its place remembers it no more.  But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting for those who fear Him.  And His righteousness to their children’s children, to such as keep His covenant and to those who remember His commandments to do them.  The Lord has established His throne in heaven.  And His kingdom rules over all.”  (Psalm 103: 13-19)

We have even more precious promises here in Psalm 103!  These promises are not for those who reject Him but for those who “fear” or respect and obey Him. And these promises to us for our children and even their children. (Verses 13-19) We have a picture here of our heavenly Father pitying and being concerned about us as we walk through our earthly journey.  He knows that we are vulnerable – that we were made from dust.  That our life can end in a moment, like a flower blown away by the wind.

 But our God and Father is on our side and He will keep His covenant to His children, to those who remember His commandments and try to do them.  Our part is to trust and obey. We are weak but He is strong.  His kingdom rules overall and His throne is established in heaven and He will keep His promises to us.  He will hold us in His hand and give us eternal life.  Sin and death have been defeated. What joy is ours!  Christians cannot be pessimists. When we have a God like this, how can we lose?        

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