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Well, please turn with me in 
your Bibles to Psalm 103. Psalm 103. Psalm 103, I'll begin reading in verse 
one. A Psalm of David. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and 
all that is within me. Bless his holy name. Bless the 
Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives 
all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems 
your life from destruction, who crowns you with loving kindness 
and tender mercies, who satisfies your mouth with good things so 
that your youth is renewed like the eagles. The Lord executes 
righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. He made 
known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel. 
The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in 
mercy. He will not always strive with 
us, nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with 
us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our 
iniquities. 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 transgressions 
from us. 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. The mercy 
of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear 
him, and his righteousness to 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. Bless the Lord, 
you His angels, who excel in strength, who do His word, heeding 
the voice of His word. Bless the Lord, all you His hosts, 
you ministers of His who do His pleasure. Bless the Lord, all 
His works, in all places of His dominion. Bless the Lord, O my 
soul. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, 
we thank You for Your written Word. We thank You for the Psalms 
of David and the fact that You have given them to us for our 
benefit and for our encouragement. We pray tonight that Your Holy 
Spirit would be at work in our hearts and our lives, that You 
would guide us as we consider this psalm, that You would promote 
in us this desire to bless You, to speak well of You, and to 
exercise gratitude toward You for all of Your mercies and all 
of Your benefits given to Your people. As we remember our Lord's 
death in a specific way tonight through the supper, may we indeed 
praise your great and your awesome and your holy name for such a 
wonderful gospel, for such a wonderful means of salvation, how we thank 
you for the Lord Christ, for His life, His death, His resurrection, 
how we thank you for His current session at your right hand, and 
how we pray that even now, He would intercede for us, that 
we would know his blessing upon us, and that this time of worship 
would bring glory and praise and honor to Father, Son, and 
Spirit. Do forgive us now for our sins 
and our unrighteousness, and we ask in the name of the Lord 
Jesus Christ, amen. Well, David certainly had a lot 
of reasons to bless God or to speak well of God. And essentially 
that's what it means to bless Him. When God blesses us, that 
means He conveys good things or He gives us good things. When 
we bless God, it means we ascribe praise to Him. We speak well 
concerning His name. And as we do so, hopefully we 
will respond with gratitude and thankfulness to our God for who 
He is and for what He's done. There are several reasons in 
this particular psalm for us to bless God. Typically at our 
Thanksgiving dinners, we usually go around the table and persons 
will express one or two things that they're thankful for. Sometimes 
there's a bit of a lull within that sort of rehearsal of God's 
good gifts. I don't think it's because the 
people can't thank or don't think or rather neglect God in terms 
of things to be thankful for. Perhaps it's public speaking, 
perhaps it's sort of, you know, putting yourself out there and 
describing, for instance, those things that are very special 
in your life. Well, I suspect that if you had 
David over for dinner tomorrow night and you asked him for a 
list of reasons why he is thankful to God, he would rehearse something 
very much like Psalm 103. Now, the psalm breaks down into 
three sections. First, The reminder to bless 
God in verses 1 and 2. Secondly, the reasons to bless 
God in verses 3 to 18. And then finally, an exhortation 
to bless God in verses 19 to 22. It's intriguing. David starts 
the psalm by talking to himself. David ends the psalm by talking 
to the entirety of God's created order, because God is worthy 
to be praised, God is worthy to be blessed, God is worthy 
to be thanked and glorified, so David calls upon all creatures 
to do that very thing. Now, note in the first place 
this reminder to bless God in verses 1 and 2. He talks to himself. A Psalm of David. It says, Bless 
the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His 
holy name. Turn back for just a moment to 
Psalm 42. Psalm 42, you see something or 
you learn something about David. David was not only a man who 
at a Thanksgiving dinner would have a whole litany of reasons 
for thankfulness to God, but David was also a man who talked 
to himself. And David talked to himself in 
Psalms 42 and 43 in situations or in times in his life when 
things were not altogether great. In fact, if you look at Psalm 
42, 5, he says, Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are 
you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet 
praise him for the help of his countenance. He repeats this 
in verse 6. O my God, my soul is cast down 
within me. Therefore, I will remember you 
from the land of the Jordan. And then in Psalm 43 at verse 
5, why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted 
within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet 
praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God. So in difficult times, 
David talks to himself. He exhorts himself to remember 
God, to think fondly of God. In good times, David talks to 
himself and he reminds himself to bless the Lord. to speak well 
of the Lord and to entwine that with thankfulness and expressions 
of gratitude to the Lord. C. H. Spurgeon said, soul music 
is the very soul of music. The psalmist strikes the best 
keynote when he begins with stirring up his inmost self to magnify 
the Lord. He soliloquizes, holds self-communion, 
and exhorts himself as though he felt that dullness would all 
too soon steal over his faculties, as indeed it will over us all 
unless we are diligently on the watch. In other words, we need 
to rouse ourselves to a blessing of the Lord, and this is precisely 
what He does. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and 
all that is within me, bless His holy name. Now, notice He 
repeats this and adds to it. Verse 2, bless the Lord, O my 
soul, and forget not all His benefits. See, that's something 
else we learn about David. David knew what the psalm or 
the hymn writer would later write when he says, prone to wander 
and prone to leave the God that I love. David knew what it was 
to have remaining corruption. David knew what it was to perhaps 
forget to bless the Lord. And he doesn't want to let himself 
do this. And neither should we. It shouldn't 
be the case that one day out of the year we call it Thanksgiving 
and we express to God some form of public thankfulness. Each 
and every day ought to be Thanksgiving. Each and every day we ought to 
bless the Lord. Each and every day we ought to 
remind ourselves of His goodness, of His kindness, of His mercies, 
and of His grace. This is precisely Paul in Ephesians 
chapter 1. Blessed be the God and Father 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual 
blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. If you are not actively 
reminding yourself and actively engaging yourself in blessing 
God, then you will be forgetting Him. And it is simply unacceptable 
for the redeemed of God to forget God. And when we look at this 
particular section, it ought to cause us to reflect upon the 
book of Deuteronomy. David says, bless the Lord, O 
my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Turn to Deuteronomy 
chapter 6. Deuteronomy chapter 6. God knew 
and God spoke to the situation. realizing that amnesia would 
certainly lead to apostasy. In other words, if we forget 
to praise God, if we forget to thank God, if we forget to bless 
God, then apostasy is on the horizon. Notice in Deuteronomy 
6, beginning at verse 10, This is the danger of forgetting God 
with reference to affluence in the land. There is a danger of 
abandoning God because of surrounding idolatry and a danger of doubting 
God because of hardship. That's the nature of this exhortation 
in Deuteronomy chapter 6. And if you look at verse 10, 
so it shall be when the Lord your God brings you into the 
land of which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and 
Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did 
not build, houses full of all good things which you did not 
fill, hewn out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive 
trees which you did not plant, When you have eaten and are full, 
then beware. Notice verse 12. Lest you forget 
the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt from the 
house of bondage. David doesn't want that to happen. 
David doesn't want to forget God. David wants to call upon 
his own soul to bless the Lord. Bless the Lord and all that is 
within me. Bless his holy name. Forget not all his benefits. Because the tendency is and the 
proneness is for us to forget. It's a terrible thing, brethren, 
but there is a base in gratitude that the people of God can engage. We don't thank God, we don't 
rehearse His blessings, we don't come to the supper. If ever there's 
a great time for us to meditate on the goodness of God, it's 
in light of what Christ has done. This is an expression of our 
thankfulness to God and blessing of God. Notice in Deuteronomy 
chapter 8. And this isn't just one isolated 
sort of emphasis, but it's something that would affect or play Israel 
in the land. Notice in Deuteronomy 8, 11, 
beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping 
his commandments, his judgments, and his statutes, which I command 
you today. And then in verse 14, when your 
heart is lifted up and you forget the Lord your God who brought 
you out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage. If 
David, the man who is described as a man after God's own heart, 
has to actually talk to himself and remind himself to bless the 
Lord, if that man who was a man after God's own heart has to 
actually exhort himself to not forget God, then brethren, we 
lesser mortals ought to follow suit. We ought to rehearse the 
blessings of God. We ought to esteem the glory 
of God. We ought to consider the manifold 
mercies that He has conveyed to us, and we ought to exhort 
our souls not to forget Him. This is David's posture. One 
final text in the book of Deuteronomy. Notice in Deuteronomy 28. Deuteronomy 
28. Those who attend our Wednesday 
night Bible studies will know that Deuteronomy 28 is certainly 
foundational to the rest of the Old Testament. It is God's curses 
upon disobedience and blessings upon obedience. And as you might 
expect, when they went into the land and they engaged in idolatry, 
they reaped the curse of God. When they went into the land 
and they forgot God, they reaped the curse of God. And that is 
precisely what 28.47 indicates. Because you did not serve the 
Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart for the abundance of 
everything. Therefore, you shall serve your 
enemies. Lord God takes this seriously. We are saved not to be mute, 
we are saved not to be silent, but rather we are saved to proclaim 
the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into marvelous 
light. So back to Psalm 103, David calls 
upon himself to bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within 
me. Bless His holy name, bless the 
Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits. Now note, secondly, 
the reasons to bless God. Verses 3 to 5 highlight the gifts. Verses 6 to 7 highlight the recipients 
of those gifts, and verses 8 to 18 demonstrates the giver of 
those gifts. But notice the gifts received 
in verses 3 to 5. Who forgives all your iniquities? So we see it broken down into 
two categories for David. I bless the Lord for spiritual 
things, and I bless the Lord for temporal things. I bless 
the Lord for the forgiveness of sins. Now, brethren, at any 
Thanksgiving celebration or at any time in the life of God's 
people when they're reflecting upon things that they ought to 
be thankful for, this really should head the list, shouldn't 
it? This really should be number one. We were dead in our trespasses 
and sins. We were justly liable to the 
wrath and the fury and the judgment and the penalty of God. We were 
liable to damnation and hellfire and every bad thing. Things that 
make Deuteronomy 28, and the curses specifically, look like 
a walk in the park. We are subject to that by virtue 
of our connection to Adam but God, in His grace and mercy, 
delivered us. God, in His grace and mercy, 
transferred us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom 
of the Son of His love. Brethren, that's always a reason 
to bless the Lord, to express gratitude to God. Again, listen 
to Spurgeon. He says, he selects a few of 
the choicest pearls from the casket of divine love, threads 
them on the string of memory, and hangs them about the neck 
of gratitude. There's only one Spurgeon, isn't 
there? And then he says this, pardoned sin is, in our experience, 
one of the choicest boons of grace, one of the earliest gifts 
of mercy. In fact, the needful preparation 
for enjoying all that follows it. Till iniquity is forgiven, 
healing, redemption, and satisfaction are unknown blessings." It ought 
not to surprise us that when David calls upon himself to bless 
the Lord, that first thing, that first reason that evokes from 
him blessing to God is the forgiveness of sins. Christian, you have 
much to be thankful for with reference to this particular 
boon. You have much to rejoice in with 
reference to God in the consideration of this blessed thought. My sin, 
oh the bliss of this glorious thought, my sin, not in part, 
but the whole, is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more. 
Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Certainly, as 
a reason to bless God, forgiveness ought to head the list. Now notice 
the physical blessings in verses 3b to 5. He speaks of the fact 
of physical healing. He speaks of the protection from 
calamity. He speaks of the crowning with 
loving kindness and mercy and the provision of temporal goods 
in verse 5. In other words, it's not just 
spiritual blessing that God conveys upon his people. David says elsewhere 
in the Psalms that God loads us daily with benefits. Isn't 
that the case? You know, if you're asked to 
say, why are you thankful to God or why should you bless God? Brethren, David provides for 
us a great framework to hopefully provoke us into thinking likewise. Now, I realize that some will 
come to 3b to 5 and say, wait a minute, I had a particular 
malady and I prayed and the Lord didn't take it away. I had a 
particular affliction, and I prayed, and the Lord didn't take it away." 
Almost sounds like David is of the school of Benny Hinn. Almost 
sounds like he believes in the health, wealth, and prosperity. 
Almost sounds like he believes in the name it and claim it, 
and you'll never have a sniffle. You'll never have a limp. You'll 
never have a hitch in this life. I know that there are some that 
will evoke this or invoke this passage as a sort of justification 
for that mindset, but that ain't the point. The point is that 
any temporal blessing, any good thing, any benefit granted to 
us is granted to us by a benevolent God. And I would say there are 
a whole host of things that God has probably spared us from that 
we will never know. How many times should we have 
been hit by cars? How many of times should we have 
picked up a staph infection when we're at the hospital? How many 
times should we have been laid low because of some malady or 
other that the Lord God spared us from? You see, David comes 
to praise God with a comprehensive worldview. He sees God not only 
intimately in the spiritual blessings vis-a-vis the forgiveness of 
sins, but he sees God in God's preservation of David on the 
battlefield. He sees God in God's preservation 
of David on his sickbed. He sees God's hand in all of 
life, and that is the reason to bless the Lord. And David 
doesn't ever let go of that reality. Notice the recipients of these 
gifts described in verses 6 and 7. The Lord executes righteousness 
and justice for all who are, what, oppressed. God is a champion 
for the defeated. God is a champion for the lost. 
God is a champion for those who stand in need of vindication. 
God is the deliverer of those who are oppressed. And then in 
verse 7, he tells us it is the covenant people. It is the people 
of God. He made known His ways to Moses, 
His acts to the children of Israel. So the recipients of the gifts 
of God are those for whom Jesus died, because those are the ones 
who are, in fact, the people of God. Those are the ones who 
were indeed oppressed by sin. Those are the ones who have been 
vindicated by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in the glorious 
work of redemption. So the recipients of the gifts, 
and now David rehearses the glory of the giver of these good gifts. Notice in verse 8, he says, The 
Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in 
mercy. That's who God is. All that is 
in God is God. God is his attributes. God is 
merciful and gracious. Isn't that beautiful that David 
can say it that way? The Lord is. Man has to a certain 
capacity. Man does to a certain capacity. When the Bible tells us God is 
love, it would never say that about me. I have the capacity 
to love, but the defining characteristic of Jim is not love. Whereas with 
God, he is his attributes. And so when David rehearses this, 
he gives sort of this overarching statement concerning who God 
is in verse eight. He says, the Lord is merciful 
and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in mercy. And then 
what I believe David does is he teases that out. He fleshes 
that out. He amplifies it. He develops 
it. He demonstrates it in more detail 
in verses nine and following. So this is who God is. He is 
merciful. He is gracious. He abounds, or 
rather he is slow to anger and he abounds in mercy. And now note how David develops 
this. In the first place, His mercy 
is such that He does not strive with us. Notice in verse 9, He 
will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. Now, make no mistake about it, 
when you sin against God, you grieve the Holy Spirit. When 
you sin against God, you provoke your father. Just like in a family 
situation, when a child sins against the parent, the parent 
shows, demonstrates, or displays displeasure at the conduct of 
that child. Well, God does that. God treats 
us as a father treats his children. In fact, that's one of the aspects 
of mercy that we ought to appreciate in just a moment. But the Lord 
will not always strive with us. He will not always hold on to 
that anger. He will not always hide his smiling 
face behind a frowning providence. Our God is not that way. Notice, 
secondly, His mercy is toward the undeserving. That's the very 
definition of mercy. Grace is unmerited favor, isn't 
it? Mercy is unmerited favor to terrible 
human beings. if I could just give you the 
most basic sort of a definition. Mercy is when God looks upon 
a pathetic people and he shows them favor. A people that are 
not deserving, a people that are not only not deserving of 
good things, but deserving of every bad thing. Every sin deserves 
God's wrath and curse, both in this life and that which is to 
come, according to the Shorter Catechism. And yet God, in His 
mercy, in His grace, in His kindness, does not press those things upon 
us at every turn. God's grace and mercy is toward 
the undeserving. Verse 10, He has not dealt with 
us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our 
iniquities. Now, brethren, do you ever just 
stop here and thank God for that? Do you ever just ponder that 
reality? I think that, you know, it's 
in us to complain about what we don't have. Well, you know, 
I could use a little bit more of this. I would want some more of that. 
Or I could use some more of this particular thing. Do you ever 
just stop and consider what we really deserve and what God has 
spared us from? I'm not talking about car accidents 
downtown. I'm talking about hell and damnation 
and fires of hell and judgment. You see, God has been merciful 
to us. Notice, He has not dealt with 
us according to our sins. Turn to Psalm 130. Psalm 130, 
where this same sort of idea is present. Psalm 130, out of the depths, 
verse 1, I've cried to you, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice. Let your 
ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. Why is he 
in the depths? It's not the physical sufferings 
that David is undergoing at this particular juncture in his life. 
It's not Saul It's not the Philistines, it's not the very battlements 
that he has to engage in. What provokes David to cry out 
of the depths is David's own sin. And look at how David says 
this in verse 3. If you, Lord, should mark iniquities, 
O Lord, who could stand? You see, brethren, be very careful 
when you pray to God with reference to justice. We want grace. We want mercy. Justice means 
hell for each and every one of us. Now, certainly, it is good 
to pray for justice. May God's will be done on earth 
as it is in heaven. May you indeed show your justice 
throughout the land, certainly. The brethren, with reference 
to our case before God, a great big dose of grace and mercy are 
those things we ought to be seeking from the hand of our great King. 
But he says, if you, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who 
could stand, but there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared. And similarly, in Psalm 143, 
Pastor Kirkpatrick preached on this last Sunday night and highlighted 
that it's at least an allusion in some of those passages of 
Paul that speak to justification by faith alone. Notice in Psalm 
143, 1, a Psalm of David. Hear my prayer, O Lord, give 
ear to my supplications. In your faithfulness answer me, 
and in your righteousness. Do not enter into judgment with 
your servant, for in your sight no one living is righteous." 
How many of us pray that? How many of us actually say that 
with David? How many of us go to the throne 
of grace and say, please God, do not enter into judgment with 
your servant? I don't want you to enter into 
judgment with your servant, because your servant is a wretch. Your 
servant is vile. Your servant is a transgressor. 
Your servant has lacked conformity under your holy law. God, I want 
grace. I want mercy. I need loving kindness 
from on high. So back to Psalm 103, David highlights. who God is in terms of His mercy 
and grace. And then He gives us a play-by-play 
description of how that mercy comes to us. His mercy is such 
that He does not strive with us, verse 9. His mercy is toward 
the undeserving in verse 10. Thirdly, He says His mercy is 
infinite. Notice in verse 11. For as the 
heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward 
those who fear Him. Do you ever just stop at these 
things and go, praise God, this is good. I'm a terrible person, 
I need infinite mercy. I'm a lawless man, I need infinite 
mercy. I'm not just speaking about me, 
I'm kind of including all of us here. It's all saying there, 
but he's got a messed up case. So do you. May I just say to 
you in the most loving and non-triggering sort of way, you're in the same 
mess I'm in, and we ought to praise God for infinite mercy. 
It's infinite. Look at how David does this. 
As the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his mercy 
toward those who fear him. Brethren, we don't have just 
a little bit of mercy in God. We don't have just a little bit 
of grace in God. We don't have a God who's a miser, 
a God who's an Ebenezer Scrooge, weighing out the smallest shekels 
and apportioning them out in strict divisions. No, He's a 
God who's abundant. He is a God who is definitionally 
merciful. He is a God who is definitionally 
gracious. He is all that He is. All that 
is in God is God. And when He displays that mercy 
to us, it is mercy unbounded. And he goes on to say that his 
mercy, I don't know how else to say this, is thorough. Verse 
12, as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed 
our transgressions from us. You see what he's doing? He's 
highlighting the height of God's mercy. the breadth, the width, 
the depth of God's mercy. He is wanting us to come away 
from this appreciating the infinite mercy of God. But as far as the 
East is from the West, so far has He removed our transgressions 
from us. Again, do we ever ponder that? 
I know we struggle with sin. I know there is that remaining 
corruption. The reality of Romans 7 and Galatians 
5 are real in our own hearts and soul. The flesh lusts against 
the spirit. Spirit lusts against the flesh. 
These are contrary to one another so that you don't do the things 
that you want. Galatians 5, 17. Paul the Apostle in Romans 7, 
the good that I want to do, I don't do. The things I don't want to 
do, I find myself doing. So I know that we're all there. 
You know, we get these ideas on a Sunday that I'm going to 
read my Bible tomorrow, I'm going to be faithful, I'm going to 
love my wife, I'm going to be like Christ, I'm going to be like 
Jesus, wiser, you know, I'm going to submit to my husband, I'm 
going to make him waffles, I'm going to do all those good things. 
Not that that's the only expression of submission, but it's a good 
one. And they get all into that. So we have this active campaign 
against our remaining corruption, as well we should. But do we 
ever just stop and think, the Lord has taken my transgressions 
and he's cast them away? Have we ever just pondered the 
reality of Micah the prophet? Micah 7, 18, and 19. Who is a 
God like you? Now, that's what Micah means. The name Micah, you know, like 
Jesus means Yahweh saves, or Joshua means Yahweh is salvation. Certain names, I think Kelly, 
our oldest daughter, that word means warrior woman. I never 
knew that. Well, maybe I guess I did, but 
she seems to have that sort of spirit about her. But the name 
Micah means who is a God like you. When you stop and think 
about this God described, say, by David, who is a God like God? So Micah now takes his name, 
invokes his own name, or utilizes his name to ask this very pertinent 
question. Who is a God like you? And here's 
why he asks the question. What follows is indicative of 
why he says, who is a God like you? We might do this. Who's 
a wife like you who does all these great things? Who's a husband 
like you that does all these great things? It's the question 
that's a demonstrator, highlighter, put the spotlight on the person 
focused there. And this is what the prophet 
says, who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing 
over the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He does 
not retain his anger forever because he delights in mercy. 
Isn't that beautiful? God delights in mercy. Sometimes 
people might think, why do you preach the gospel every Sunday 
morning? Because God delights in mercy. Why do you witness 
to people on the street? Because God delights in mercy. 
Why do you tell people about Jesus? Because God delights in 
mercy. See, it's a God thing. You see? It's what God does. It's who God is. That's why it's 
always offensive when I get this idea or I hear these sorts of 
statements like, God really isn't about saving sinners. God really 
isn't about running like the father in the prodigal son and 
falling upon him and kissing him and putting rings on his 
finger. That's who God is. You may not like that. You may 
be a bit uncomfortable with that. A God that sort of runs from 
the porch and falls on this pig-smelling son. That might offend your delicate 
sensitivities, but that is our God. He delights in mercy, is 
what the prophet says. He will again have compassion 
on us and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into 
the depths of the sea. So brethren, I think the point 
that I'd like to encourage here is this. In all your striving 
against sin, in all of your... Now notice, I'm assuming that 
this is going on. In all of your pursuit after 
holiness and righteousness, in all of your striving to kill 
those things that rise up against you in terms of sanctification, 
never forget what David is able to say. David is able to say 
that God has removed our transgressions from us. When all is said and 
done, we may have issues, we may have struggles, we may have 
trials in terms of the daily battles in life, but never forget 
the war has been won. There may be mop-up battles along 
the way, and we may not always mop up as well as we ought, but 
the war has been won by our Savior. He has removed our transgressions. Notice as well, His mercy is 
tender. Notice in verse 13, as a father 
pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him. God isn't embarrassed with showing 
how he really is to us. And I think at times we get a 
little uncomfortable with such sorts of expressions. We say, 
well, wait a minute. We can't actually think that. 
Well, of course we can actually think that. Now, it's intriguing 
because I mentioned earlier Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy is basically a series 
of addresses on the plains of Moab before the children of Israel 
enter into the promised land. Remember, the first generation 
dies in the wilderness because they grumbled, they complained, 
they murmured. So Deuteronomy takes up the second generation. 
And essentially, on the plains of Moab, Moses gives them a series 
of exhortations to prepare them for life or tenure in the promised 
land. And one of the things God says 
in Deuteronomy chapter 1 is that, as a father carries his children, 
so the Lord carried you. And that's intriguing, because 
for the most part, I think Israel complained about their time in 
the wilderness. I mean, face it. It was the wilderness, 
right? They didn't have homes. They didn't have cities. They 
didn't have all the good benefits that they'll have later in the 
land of Canaan. So for Israel, it was probably a time of taxing, 
taxation. Not literally, but it was a taxing 
time. It was a trying time. It was 
a time of tumult. But it's just then that God says, 
I carried you like a father carries his children. What an indictment. Here they're complaining about 
what it was like in the wilderness. And God says, you know, if you 
actually want to interpret things properly, I was like a father 
unto you, carrying you through the wilderness. See, God uses 
that imagery. God uses that language so that 
we'll know who God is for us. And when it comes to sort of 
explaining God's mercy, I think verse 13 is one of those verses 
the people of God ought to keep close to their heart. As a father 
pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him. It's a blessed reality, isn't 
it? That's mercy. And then notice, His mercy is 
sympathetic. Verse 14, for he knows our frame, 
he remembers that we are dust. I think at times in that fight 
for sanctification and that pursuit of holiness, we can be hard on 
ourselves, and I suspect we ought to be. Probably in our situation, 
we probably need to be harder on ourselves than we are. You 
go back to the Puritan era and times where guys used to really 
take these things seriously. Maybe they would have needed 
to lighten up a little bit. But I don't think our issue is 
that we need to lighten up a little bit. I think we probably need 
to step it up a little bit. But in all our strivings after 
holiness, in all of our pursuings after godliness, in all of our 
seeking to be faithful to the Lord, may we never forget that 
He knows our frame. He remembers that we are dust. 
We need to keep that near and dear to our hearts. In other 
words, God's not like us as parents. Now, maybe this never happened 
in your home, but I think it happened in my home where you 
yell at your kid and you say, how in the world could you ever 
do that? How in the world could you ever do that? How in the 
world could I ever say that to a kid knowing my own heart and 
sin? That's the bigger issue, right? How in the world could 
you do such and such a thing? And I think we as parents need 
to be very careful at this particular point. How could you ever call 
yourself a Christian and do those things? Man, I'm glad God doesn't 
deal with us that way, because he'd always be right. But notice 
what the text says. He knows our frame. He remembers 
that we are dust. Now, Jesus chides the disciples 
for their having fallen asleep in the garden. But He doesn't 
smack them. He doesn't dispossess them. He 
doesn't cut them off. He doesn't say, well, no longer 
are you my disciples. No, Christ knows. The Spirit 
is willing, but the flesh is weak. Christ understood because 
He assumed our humanity with all the essential properties 
and all the common infirmities thereof, yet without sin. So 
Christ is able to identify His sleeping disciples and say, look, 
you couldn't watch with me for one hour? But he doesn't stop 
them from being his disciples. They failed. They failed at a 
crucial moment. Their friend needed his friends, 
and they were asleep on him. But what about Peter? Peter denies 
the Lord Christ three times. Does Jesus cut him off, never 
ever to have him again? No, he doesn't do that. In fact, 
he preemptively warns him that he's going to do this, and then 
affirms to him that when you return, strengthen your brethren. 
You see, God knows our frame. He knows that we're but dust. Keep that in mind. God's nicer 
to us than we are. I don't usually like using the 
word nice relative to God, but it seems to fit here. You know, 
everybody wants nice. God is nice. No, God's not nice 
as far as nice is concerned. But in this regard, I think it's 
legit. He's nice to us. He knows our frame. He pities 
us. That's the God and Father of 
our Lord Jesus Christ, who is all of this to us because of 
what Christ has done on the cross. And then notice, His mercy is 
enduring. Verses 15 to 18. 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. You see the temporariness of 
man, but, verse 17, contrast, the mercy of the Lord is from 
everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him and his righteousness 
to children's children to such as keep his covenant and to those 
who remember his commandments to do them. Again, Spurgeon writes, 
how vast the contrast between the fading flower and the everlasting 
God. How wonderful that His mercy 
should link our frailty with His eternity and make us everlasting 
too. From old eternity, the Lord viewed 
His people as objects of mercy and as such chose them to become 
partakers of His grace. The doctrine of eternal election 
is most delightful to those who have light to see it and love 
wherewith to accept it. It is a theme for deepest thought 
and highest joy. Well, brethren, I hope that you 
see David had his reasons for blessing God, and when we bless 
God, we ought to express gratitude and thankfulness for those things 
that we ascribe to Him. And then notice, finally, the 
exhortation to bless God. He makes this statement concerning 
the establishment of God's throne and the scope of His rule. We 
asked the question yesterday in our theology study, what's 
the kingdom of God? It's a big question. I think 
most of the guys that were there yesterday would say, yeah, it 
is a big question. I don't know that we ever answered 
it. But there's a sense where the kingdom of God is all comprehensive. 
It encompasses everything. And that's what verse 19 tells 
us. Yahweh has established his throne 
in heaven and his kingdom does what? It rules over all. Now, 
David understanding this, David conscious of this, moves from 
this soliloquy, that means speaking to himself, to calling upon the 
created order. Notice what David does here in 
verses 20 to 22. He says, bless the Lord, you 
his angels. David, don't you realize the 
packing order in terms of creation? It goes worm, and it goes cat, 
and it goes dog, and it goes man, and then it goes angel. 
Who do you think you are? Would you let a dog call upon 
a man and tell him to bless the Lord? Absolutely. Positively. It's the universal duty of all 
of God's creatures to remind one another to bless the Lord. 
And for David to call upon the angels to bless the Lord is perfectly 
consistent with what God reveals concerning himself and the responsibility. Bless the Lord, you his angels, 
who excel in strength, who do his word, heeding the voice of 
his word. Bless the Lord, all you his hosts, 
you ministers of his, who do his pleasure. Bless the Lord, 
all his works in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord, 
oh my soul. The reason for this is because 
God is altogether lovely. God is chief among 10,000. God 
is worthy to be blessed, worthy to be praised, worthy to be glorified, 
worthy to be honored. His people ought to engage in 
this blessed privilege so that then they will issue forth in 
gratitude, thankfulness, and praise unto God. Man specifically 
knows what it is to be forgiven of sin. The good angels don't 
know that because they never sin. The bad angels don't know 
that because they're never forgiven. The reasons that David gives 
specifically in verses 3 to 18 are specifically appropriate 
to man. fallen man, redeemed man in Jesus 
Christ. We have been forgiven, we have 
been watched over, we have been preserved by the God who is definitionally 
merciful and gracious. And that mercy is detailed by 
David in such a way that when we come to the end of the psalm, 
there's only one consistent response from all of God's people. Bless 
the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless His 
holy name. If you are not a believer tonight, 
the means by which you learn to bless the name of the Lord 
is the cross. In other words, it's not just 
take this home and think about it and then speak well of the 
Lord. Now, there's a sense where every creature, every single 
creature, ought to thank God for provision. We ought to thank 
God for food. We ought to thank God for water. 
We ought to thank God for shelter. We ought to thank God for safety 
and provision and all of the good things that he gives us. 
But in terms of blessing the Lord, the way that David does 
is not simply reflecting upon a list, but it's rather believing 
on a person, even our Lord Jesus Christ, that one in whom is forgiveness, 
that one in whom is redemption, that one who saves to the uttermost 
all who draw nigh unto God through him. The way to be a truly thankful 
person. is not by having a good October 
8th, but rather by finding life eternal in the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, let's close in a word of 
prayer, and may God indeed cause us to be a people who bless and 
praise Him. Father, thank you for this psalm. 
Thank you for these reasons to thank God. Thank you that David 
fills in the blanks and helps us to think through the implications 
of who you are and what you do in our lives. And God, these 
are certainly reasons to bless the Lord, certainly reasons for 
us to express gratitude. And God, help us in this, not 
just one day out of the year, but each and every day. We know 
that gratitude and thankfulness is an expression of a grace-based 
salvation. We're not thankful for the good 
things that we have done, but we're thankful for the great 
and glorious things that Christ has done on our behalf. We praise 
you that you made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that 
we might become the righteousness of God in Him. And as we eat 
this bread, as we drink this cup, as we proclaim the Lord's 
death till He comes, may we see this as the chief reason to bless 
God Almighty and to express our thankfulness to You. And we pray 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.