Psalm for Sunday, September 13, 2026

 

Reflections

Psalm 103: 1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12   (Read)

"Not according to our sins 
does He deal with us."

Our psalmist sings the praises
of a divine and loving God, 

who surrounds us with 
compassion, pardons our sins, heals our ills.

He nurses no lasting anger, 

He has not dealt with us as our sins deserve.  Our duty is to remain faithful to the Lord, as we are His children, and to treat His anointed ones 

with love and compassion, 
as He would do.

We are to be merciful to our enemies 
by imitating the Father.  The Psalm 
tells us how:  

“Merciful and gracious is the Lord,

Slow to anger and abounding in kindness.”

Who can love their enemies, and do good 
to them?  It will be difficult if we allow our 
earthly nature to rule us.  Just as “God 
has not dealt with us as our sins merit,”

so must we have compassion on those

we may be inclined to condemn.

We cannot imitate God without a share 
in Christ’s divinity, by allowing the Holy 
Spirit within us to guide us.  Only then 
will we have the kind of compassion 

the psalmist speaks about.

As the Psalm says, God’s love towers over us

if we are his faithful.

If we love the Lord, it will show in our hearts,

and the old things will then pass away.

The Psalm says it well:

As far as the east is from the west, 

so far has He put our transgressions behind us.

Amen

Discussion Questions for Reflection

1.  Our Psalm speaks of a loving and compassionate God,
who does not deal with us according to our sins.   Are you able
to treat those who have harmed you in the same way?  Explain.

2.  The verses of the Psalm remind us of the power of the
Sacrament of Reconciliation, "As far as the east is from the west,
so far has He put our transgressions behind us."  Relate how the
Sacrament works for you to put your sins behind you.