“Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.”

That was David’s desire as he penned Psalm 103, to remember the Lord’s benefits to him.  David remembered forgiveness and he remembered healing. He also remembered the God “who redeems your life from the pit.” 

Redemption. As we approach Easter week especially, the word redemption has great meaning for those of us in Christ. Redemption requires a sacrifice. Redemption requires blood.

In the Old Testament, redemption meant the blood of an animal was shed. In the Book of Hebrews, it says that Christ “did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.”  [Heb 9:12]

We, as fallen people, were sold into slavery to sin. There was not a worthy sacrifice in all of creation that could buy us out of that slavery. We had, as a people and as individuals, disobeyed the laws of the very Creator that gave us life. Nothing worthy existed in this world that could satisfy the consequences of that disobedience.

So, God sent His Son, His dearly beloved Son, and through the sacrifice of His blood, His death at Calvary, our redemption from sin, from the law, and from the consequences of disobedience (death) were satisfied. Now we sing, “I’ve been redeemed by love divine, glory, glory, Christ is mine.”

Praise the Lord O my soul … forget not all his benefits … who redeems my life from the pit.