Psalm 103
On 12 May 2014, Cru medical ministry at National University Singapore organised an end of academic year get together. We invited Casey, a Cru staff, to speak to the medical students. I was impressed by his message from Pslam 103 and its reference and relevance to medical professionals. I hope this message will also encourage you or help you to encourage others.
Casey Lok and his wife joined staff with Cru Singapore in 1991. They have four lovely children: Lemuel (18 years old), Lisbeth (14), Lazary (11) and Latricia (7). Presently, he is pursuing a distant-learning doctoral studies in ministry with Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Boston.
Psalm 103 A psalm Of David.
1 Praise the Lord, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits--
3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
Opening Word – the posture of our heart towards God
The Psalm begins and ends with the phrase “Bless or Praise the Lord”. The first word in this Psalm is very significant as the meaning of this word gives the tone of this Psalm. It helps us to appreciate the meaning, the purpose of this entire Psalm. In English word: Praise (NIV); Bless (NASB) when translated to Hebrew is barak which means “to kneel down before our divine God in adoration to Him”. Why is the Psalmist kneeling?
The writer of this Psalm was King David. God called David “a man after my own heart” - 1 Samuel 13:14. David experienced much of God’s mercy and goodness in his life. We are familiar with the young David who used a slingshot to kill the giant Goliath. God’s plan was for him to become king of Israel. King Saul felt threatened and attempted to kill him. God protected David. David eventually became a king, a good king. But at the height of his victories, he fell to the depth of his spiritual defeat when he succumbed to sexual temptation. In his broken spirit, he sought God’s forgiveness. God forgave him. He also had his fair share of heartache concerning family conflicts. One of his sons rebelled against him and tried to usurp his throne.In this Psalm, we have David, recalling his blessings from God and reminding himself , not to forget God's benefits
God forgives all our sins and heals all our diseases
A human being is basically made up of 2 main parts – the Material part and the Immaterial (non-Material) part. After God created and shaped the physical man (the Material part), He took one more step – He breathed into man’s nostril the breath of life (the Immaterial part)!
Healing our diseases benefits the Material part of our life while forgiving our sins benefits the Immaterial part.
<Illustration by Casey>
Turn to the person next to you.
- how many eyes, nose, mouth?
- Compare the hairstyle, (observe whether person has combed hair or not) (hmmm one strand of gray hair standing out very long; let me put it out for you…)
- Compare the dressing, hmmmm
(Take out stethoscope). Doctors are trained to check and help people to improve on their material part of the human being
- Check the throat, ear
- Hear the lungs (stethoscope)
It is very natural that our first concern is the Material part of our body or related things. When we are sick, we will take our medication to restore our body back to health. We will take time to decide what clothes to wear for the day or what food we want to eat later today. As students, our focus is on our studies. As working adults, our focus is on our jobs. As humans, what concerns us primarily is our studies, our jobs, our health. And this are not wrong, it is also the same in the days of Jesus.
Bible Story - Jesus heals the paralytic
One day, Jesus came into his hometown. Many people in the city crowded into the house to hear what he was preaching. There were four friends who wanted to bring a paralytic friend to Jesus. But they could not bring the man to Jesus as the whole house was filled with people. So, they placed the man on the mat, took him outside and onto the rooftop. Next, they dug a hole on the roof, lowered him next to Jesus. Jesus looked up and saw the four friends. And then he looked at the paralytic man and told him, “Son, your sins were forgiven”. Sitting not far away from Jesus was a group of the teachers of the law, they were thinking, “Who is this man who says he can forgive sin. He is blaspheming. Only God can forgive sin.” Jesus, knowing what they were thinking said “Which is easier to say to this man, “Your sins are forgiven” or “Stand up, take your mat and walk.” But In order to show that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins, I say to you now: “Son, stand up. Take up your mat and go home.” ” To everyone amazement , the paralytic man stood up, took up his mat and walked home. And the people exclaimed that they had never seen anything like this before.
What was the first and primary concern of the four friends and the paralyzed man? They wanted the sickness of the man to be healed (Material). But what was the first thing that Jesus said to the paralyzed man and which reflects Jesus’ main concern for man? Jesus wanted the sins of the man to be forgiven (Man’s destiny. Immaterial)
David and Jesus tell us that it is very natural that what appears important to man is our physical, our material part of our body. But we fail to appreciate the other important aspect of the human being, the immaterial part – our soul. We go for medical check up. The check up has to be more regular for those who are above 40 or 50 years old. How about a spiritual check up now as we approach the half year mark of 2014?
Do you know that we actually have a spiritual stethoscope? And this is in the person of the Holy Spirit who indwells in all believers from the time when we are converted. We are commanded not to quench (1 Thess 5:19) and grieve (Eph 4:30) the Holy Spirit but to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Eph 5:18). When do we quench and grieve the Spirit? When we sin! What is the antidote? To be filled with the Spirit. When we confess our sins! And we ask the Spirit of God to once again control and empower our lives again.
Reflection
Both the material and immaterial part of the human beings are important. But to a Christian it is an issue of priority. Jesus said in Matthew 6:33 “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” Jesus knows that we have the needs of the material body, but He exhorted us to first seek and not neglect the immaterial part of our body. Jesus also told His disciples in Matthew 16:24-26 “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
Regardless whether you have believed in Jesus or not, whether you are Christians or not, all of us will leave this earth one day. When that day comes, the material part of our being will either be cremated, buried or thrown into the sea. But as for our souls, they only have place to go – they will either be in heaven or in hell.
John 3:16
“For God so loved the world, that whosoever believes in Jesus, shall not perish but have eternal life” (eternal life – life in heaven)
In closing, I am going to play a song called “10,000 reasons” by Matt Redman. The lyrics of the song means very much like some of the verses in Psalm 103. 10,000 reasons is figurative number to mean there are numerous and countless reasons we can thank God for material and immaterial blessings of our lives.
On 12 May 2014, Cru medical ministry at National University Singapore organised an end of academic year get together. We invited Casey, a Cru staff, to speak to the medical students. I was impressed by his message from Pslam 103 and its reference and relevance to medical professionals. I hope this message will also encourage you or help you to encourage others.
Casey Lok and his wife joined staff with Cru Singapore in 1991. They have four lovely children: Lemuel (18 years old), Lisbeth (14), Lazary (11) and Latricia (7). Presently, he is pursuing a distant-learning doctoral studies in ministry with Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Boston.
Psalm 103 A psalm Of David.
1 Praise the Lord, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits--
3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
Opening Word – the posture of our heart towards God
The Psalm begins and ends with the phrase “Bless or Praise the Lord”. The first word in this Psalm is very significant as the meaning of this word gives the tone of this Psalm. It helps us to appreciate the meaning, the purpose of this entire Psalm. In English word: Praise (NIV); Bless (NASB) when translated to Hebrew is barak which means “to kneel down before our divine God in adoration to Him”. Why is the Psalmist kneeling?
The writer of this Psalm was King David. God called David “a man after my own heart” - 1 Samuel 13:14. David experienced much of God’s mercy and goodness in his life. We are familiar with the young David who used a slingshot to kill the giant Goliath. God’s plan was for him to become king of Israel. King Saul felt threatened and attempted to kill him. God protected David. David eventually became a king, a good king. But at the height of his victories, he fell to the depth of his spiritual defeat when he succumbed to sexual temptation. In his broken spirit, he sought God’s forgiveness. God forgave him. He also had his fair share of heartache concerning family conflicts. One of his sons rebelled against him and tried to usurp his throne.In this Psalm, we have David, recalling his blessings from God and reminding himself , not to forget God's benefits
God forgives all our sins and heals all our diseases
A human being is basically made up of 2 main parts – the Material part and the Immaterial (non-Material) part. After God created and shaped the physical man (the Material part), He took one more step – He breathed into man’s nostril the breath of life (the Immaterial part)!
Healing our diseases benefits the Material part of our life while forgiving our sins benefits the Immaterial part.
<Illustration by Casey>
Turn to the person next to you.
- how many eyes, nose, mouth?
- Compare the hairstyle, (observe whether person has combed hair or not) (hmmm one strand of gray hair standing out very long; let me put it out for you…)
- Compare the dressing, hmmmm
(Take out stethoscope). Doctors are trained to check and help people to improve on their material part of the human being
- Check the throat, ear
- Hear the lungs (stethoscope)
It is very natural that our first concern is the Material part of our body or related things. When we are sick, we will take our medication to restore our body back to health. We will take time to decide what clothes to wear for the day or what food we want to eat later today. As students, our focus is on our studies. As working adults, our focus is on our jobs. As humans, what concerns us primarily is our studies, our jobs, our health. And this are not wrong, it is also the same in the days of Jesus.
Bible Story - Jesus heals the paralytic
One day, Jesus came into his hometown. Many people in the city crowded into the house to hear what he was preaching. There were four friends who wanted to bring a paralytic friend to Jesus. But they could not bring the man to Jesus as the whole house was filled with people. So, they placed the man on the mat, took him outside and onto the rooftop. Next, they dug a hole on the roof, lowered him next to Jesus. Jesus looked up and saw the four friends. And then he looked at the paralytic man and told him, “Son, your sins were forgiven”. Sitting not far away from Jesus was a group of the teachers of the law, they were thinking, “Who is this man who says he can forgive sin. He is blaspheming. Only God can forgive sin.” Jesus, knowing what they were thinking said “Which is easier to say to this man, “Your sins are forgiven” or “Stand up, take your mat and walk.” But In order to show that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins, I say to you now: “Son, stand up. Take up your mat and go home.” ” To everyone amazement , the paralytic man stood up, took up his mat and walked home. And the people exclaimed that they had never seen anything like this before.
What was the first and primary concern of the four friends and the paralyzed man? They wanted the sickness of the man to be healed (Material). But what was the first thing that Jesus said to the paralyzed man and which reflects Jesus’ main concern for man? Jesus wanted the sins of the man to be forgiven (Man’s destiny. Immaterial)
David and Jesus tell us that it is very natural that what appears important to man is our physical, our material part of our body. But we fail to appreciate the other important aspect of the human being, the immaterial part – our soul. We go for medical check up. The check up has to be more regular for those who are above 40 or 50 years old. How about a spiritual check up now as we approach the half year mark of 2014?
Do you know that we actually have a spiritual stethoscope? And this is in the person of the Holy Spirit who indwells in all believers from the time when we are converted. We are commanded not to quench (1 Thess 5:19) and grieve (Eph 4:30) the Holy Spirit but to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Eph 5:18). When do we quench and grieve the Spirit? When we sin! What is the antidote? To be filled with the Spirit. When we confess our sins! And we ask the Spirit of God to once again control and empower our lives again.
Reflection
Both the material and immaterial part of the human beings are important. But to a Christian it is an issue of priority. Jesus said in Matthew 6:33 “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” Jesus knows that we have the needs of the material body, but He exhorted us to first seek and not neglect the immaterial part of our body. Jesus also told His disciples in Matthew 16:24-26 “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
Regardless whether you have believed in Jesus or not, whether you are Christians or not, all of us will leave this earth one day. When that day comes, the material part of our being will either be cremated, buried or thrown into the sea. But as for our souls, they only have place to go – they will either be in heaven or in hell.
John 3:16
“For God so loved the world, that whosoever believes in Jesus, shall not perish but have eternal life” (eternal life – life in heaven)
In closing, I am going to play a song called “10,000 reasons” by Matt Redman. The lyrics of the song means very much like some of the verses in Psalm 103. 10,000 reasons is figurative number to mean there are numerous and countless reasons we can thank God for material and immaterial blessings of our lives.
Original message by Mr Casey Lok
edited and published on Benjamin Cheah on 26 June 14