BENEFIT #4 CROWN JEWELS

Welcome back to the Holy Ghost Human Resource Office. I am your friendly Human Resource Officer... leading your through your BENEFITS PACKAGE found in Psalm 103:1-5.

We have seen that we have the power to bless the Lord...the creator of the universe by simply NOT FORGETTING none (no not one) of His BENEFITS. Thus far we see how we qualify for these benefits by the fact that He has PARDONED all your iniquities. Without this pardon you do not deserve anything. Then we see the medical plan kicks in when he HEALS all your diseases. We also get to go to the redemption catalouge and see that he has REDEEMED our life from the pit.. Now...BENEFIT #4...He CROWNS you with:

(1) lovingkindness (2) tender mercies (compassion).

The word CROWN implies royalty...a place of power...rule...reign. but the word in this verse actually means to ENCIRCLE (for attack or protection). WOW...what a benefit... to be put in a place of power for attack...and a place of protection. Kings are crowned...our head also has what is know as the crown (look out for that cow lick). Both are places on the HEAD...and the head represents the MIND...what we think. The mind is also the PLACE of attack from the enemy...satan...the devil...the place where imaginations run wild and anxiety attempts to be Lord or King in our lives. There are two things that our heads...our minds...the battlefield ...where we need to have attacking capabilities and protection...(1) lovingkindness (2) tender mercies (compassion).

Lovingkindness: (kheh-sed) piety, beauty, favor, good deed, mercy. The Psalmist sang about it when he said, "Thy lovingkindness is better than life...I will lift up my hands to the Lord."

When Jeremiah was lamenting...weeping about affliction, wanderings, wormwood and bitterness...and his soul was remembering these sad things...to the point of where his sould was bowed down within him...he RECALLED to MIND...something. He recalled..."The Lord's LOVINGKINDNESSES...indeed never cease. For His compassions never fail...they are new every morning...GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS. The Lord is my porition says my sould...therefore I HAVE HOPE in Him." (Lamentations 3:19-24). When the Lord CROWNS us with lovingkindness...he is giving us HOPE.

The next thing that He encircles our minds with preparation for attack or protection .. is TENDER MERCIES...or COMPASSION.

TENDER MERCIES: compassion, the womb (as cherishing the fetus, tender, love).

When we were at our weakest...we were the most protected. When we were a fetus...in our mothers womb...we were encircle by a place of nutrition, warmth, concern, expectation. If you don't think attack comes against the fetus...beware the saline solution.

There was a movie starring one of my favorite actors by the name of Robert Duvall. The movie was TENDER MERCIES...and it illustrates how when we are at a place of vulnurability...that God can place us in a place of healing and hope. The promo says it this way..."Robert Duval as Mac Sledge...a down and out country singer. His struggle for fame was over. His fight for respect was just beginning. Alcoholic, former country singer Mac Sledge makes friends with a young widow and her son. The friendship ENABLES HIM to find inspiration to resume his career." To me...once again...God has used Hollywood to drive home a modern parable about the TENDER MERCIES and COMPASSION that God ENCIRCLES us with when we need Him...and need HOPE.

The BENEFIT is that when we are in a place of attack or hopelessness...he protects and gives us hope. When our minds are running a thousand different directions...when we have stepped out of the boat...and we are sinking fast...we can reach up...and Jesus is there to calm the waves and wind in our minds...

Now that's a pretty good BENEFIT.

NEXT TIME: Rolling Stones Theology versus The Benefits Package.

Love
Rodney "Will You Go Around In Circles" Boyd