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You may turn in your Bibles to 
Psalm 103. Psalm 103. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving 
Day. I'm of the persuasion that each 
and every day ought to be a Thanksgiving Day for the people of God. We ought to call to mind. God's 
mercies and His grace and His kindness to us so that we would 
genuinely be a thankful people. We see this theme highlighted 
in the epistles of the Apostle Paul. He tells us to be thankful 
in all things. Well, I thought this morning 
we would look at the example of King David of Israel. Psalm 
103. The primary emphasis is upon 
thanksgiving for the mercy of God. I'll begin reading in verse 
1. 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. But 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 as 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. Amen. Well, it is 
important as we study or as we look to this particular song 
to remember what Verse one tells us it is a song of David. David is one of the most interesting 
men in all of Scripture. We see that he was a man after 
God's own heart. He went from shepherd boy to 
king over Israel. He went through his own sin. He had a period of declension 
and rebellion. from the living and true God, 
wherein he experienced great mercy and great grace. He had troubles. As soon as the 
Spirit of God came upon him, it was immediately from that 
point on that he had troubles. He initially had to flee or run 
from Saul, who was trying to kill him. Later on, in his own 
kingdom, his son Absalom raised up or tried to usurp his authority 
within the kingdom. I mean, David knew no shortage 
of trouble and of trial. He had no shortage of difficulty. So when we come to Psalm 103, 
we're not reading the outpourings of a man who just sits untouched, 
who sits in some ivory tower, just sort of writing devotional 
literature, but rather the things that he rehearses here were borne 
out in the furnace of great difficulty. And I think that that gives a 
realness to it and a living, abiding feeling to it that hopefully 
each and every one of us can identify with the song. Basically, we can break down 
into three sections. The first is a reminder to bless 
God in verses one and two, a reminder to bless God. You might wonder, 
why does a man have to remind himself? But if you're honest 
for just a moment, you will have to admit, yes, we do need to 
remind ourselves. Yes, it is a temptation for us 
just to enter into a day without first stopping. and blessing 
and praising God most high. The second section are reasons 
to bless God versus 3 to 18 reasons why it is helpful for us when 
we come to consider the blessing of the praising of God that we 
rehearse certain truths, because then we will worship in an intelligent 
and in an informed manner. And then the psalm ends with 
a universal summons to bless God, verses 19 to 22. So a reminder, reasons and a 
universal summons to bless God. Now, when we hear that word bless, 
we often think of it in terms of God giving us something. Lord, 
bless us, we pray. And usually that means give us 
health and happiness and safety and those sorts of things. Well, 
when we bless God, it means to praise Him. It means to ascribe 
worth to Him. It means to honor Him and adore 
Him. This is the Apostles meeting 
in Ephesians chapter one, when he says, 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. Paul is saying, 
speak well of him. Praise Him. Honor Him. Rehearse 
these truths so that you can return to Him worship that is 
fitting and appropriate to just who He is. Now, notice this reminder. David says, Bless the Lord, O 
my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. There is a self-conscious effort 
made here. It's almost as if David opens 
up his day timer and there it is, staring him right in the 
face. Don't forget, David, before you go out to engage in military 
activity, before you try and reign over this particular kingdom, 
you need to stop for a moment and you need to bless the Lord. 
You need to remind yourself of this. You people who think that 
you're too busy or me and all of us who think we're too busy. 
We need to stop and we need to remind ourselves to bless the 
Lord. Oh, my soul. And not just my 
soul, but all that is within me. We need to bless his holy 
name. 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. Brethren, worship doesn't just 
generally happen. It's not like you're just walking 
through the grocery store one day and you break out in worship. When we pattern a liturgy, when 
we have an order of service, it is to promote worship. It is to bring our minds to that 
place of solemn contemplation. We read God's word so we can 
hear who he is. We sing God's praises so we can 
return that to him. Worship takes effort. And as 
Spurgeon says, the psalmist strikes the best keynote when he begins 
with stirring up his inmost self to magnify the Lord. He says 
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. We're not that holy, brethren. 
We need to talk to ourselves in this particular matter. The 
Psalms are filled with that idea of talking to yourself. You ever 
been driving and you see somebody on a Bluetooth, you think they're 
talking to themselves and they look nuts. That's that device 
they put in their head and you just see them talking. You're 
sitting there going, boy, it's kind of odd. He's just talking 
away. But more than likely, he's got a Bluetooth and he's talking 
to somebody on the other end. Or perhaps you've been muttering 
sometimes under your breath or speaking or, man, I need to remember 
to pick up milk when I go to the superstore today. And somebody 
looks at you and they might think you're nuts. Well, as a general 
rule, talking to yourself is pretty normal. I think we all 
do that. But with reference to worship, 
we need to talk to ourselves. With reference to depression, 
we need to talk to ourselves. Psalms 42 and 43, the psalmist 
grabs himself by the collar and says, Why are you downcast, O 
my soul? It's as if he steps out of himself 
for a moment, points the finger and says, Why are you downcast? What's the matter with you? Hope 
in God. Trust in God. Realize His mercy. Martin Lloyd-Jones in his book 
Spiritual Depression says, have you not realized that most of 
your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening 
to yourself instead of talking to yourself? You're listening 
to yourself whine. You're listening to yourself 
grumble. You're listening to yourself complain. You're listening 
to yourself think about how bad everything is. Lloyd-Jones says 
you need to grab yourself by the collar and talk to yourself. 
You need to call down into your soul and say, bless the Lord, 
oh my soul, and all that is within me. Bless his holy name. And 
then notice what he goes on to say, bless the Lord, oh my soul, 
and forget not all his benefits. Amnesia, brethren, produces apostasy. Amnesia, forgetting who God is, 
promotes apostasy, turning away from God. Trace the history of 
Israel and you will see that very thing. When they were not 
focused on God, when they were not praising God and worshipping 
God, they fell away from God. Such is the case in the Christian 
life. You stop reading your Bible. You stop praying. You stop remembering 
all of His benefits. What's the next logical step? 
Apostasy. Defection. Rebellion. Forsaking. Turning away from 
the living and the true God. Don't think for a moment that 
there isn't a battle for your soul. Don't think for a moment 
there isn't a desire by the evil one to pull you down. And one 
of the surest ways to promote apostasy is by forgetting God. This is what David says. Bless 
the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits. Why does the Lord give us the 
Lord's Supper? So that we'll remember in a specific 
way His death at Calvary. When you eat this bread and drink 
this cup, Do so in remembrance of Me, Christ said. We need to 
remember. We need to think in terms of 
God's Word. We need to think God's thoughts 
after Him. If we do not sufficiently fill 
up our tank with the fuel of remembrance, we won't produce 
thankfulness. We won't promote praise and blessing 
and worship. You see the rub here. You see 
how easy it is for us to forget. You ever meet somebody or perhaps 
you yourself have come into some crisis and then you start thinking 
like an atheist. Man, I got this challenge, I've 
got this trial, I've got this trial and I don't know what I'm 
going to do. Brother, be still and know that 
God is God. Think about David. Think about 
the king on the run. Think about Absalom challenging 
God Most High by trying to take the kingdom for himself. God 
installed David upon Zion's hill. No man will try to withdraw him 
or take him down. David was a man familiar with 
trial and difficulty, and yet we see him say, 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. If you 
don't have a great memory, you can work to improve it. Put notes 
up. Write it down. We all compensate 
in this way. You know, you might forget to 
get something at the store, so you keep a list on the fridge. 
You might forget to do something, so you text somebody. If we want 
to remember something, brethren, we usually commit to do so. Well, 
with David, he wanted to forget not all of God's benefits. Because 
he knew that if he forgot those benefits, he wouldn't bless the 
Lord. He wouldn't praise the Lord. He wouldn't honor the Lord. 
He wouldn't glorify God. Now, notice the reasons to bless 
God. There's a lot of things in this 
song. We'll just touch on some of them briefly, but it's broken 
down into two main sections. Reasons to bless God first on 
a personal level and secondly, on a corporate level. The personal 
blessings are verses three to five. And then those break down 
even further into two categories, spiritual and physical, spiritual 
and physical. Notice the first with reference 
to the spiritual. He says in verse three, who forgives 
all your iniquities? It's a great place to start. 
Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all of his benefits. Think in terms of the cross. 
Think in terms of the pardon of sin. Think in terms of the 
blood atonement by which God has covered you. The removal 
of transgression. I don't care how bad your life 
is physically. If your sins are forgiven, be 
of good cheer. That's what kept David going. That's what kept Paul going. 
That's what kept the church going all these several thousand years 
is the reality that God forgives our iniquities. No one else can 
do that. God has a monopoly on forgiveness. 
The state can't do it. They can punish you for your 
crime. The family to a degree can at least give you some forgiveness 
so that there's harmony within you. But the family can't forgive 
so that you're well with God. It's God alone who forgives. 
It's God alone who pronounces that blessed assurance that your 
sins are forgiven you. Spurgeon 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. That beautiful language. We need 
a Spurgeon in our generation. I mean, listen to that. 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. He goes on to say, 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. What's David saying? Thank you, 
Father, for Jesus. Thank you, Father, that one will 
come in my line. One will come to live and die 
and rise again. One who will be of the order 
of Melchizedek. One who will accomplish all that 
the Father has laid upon Him. One will die at Calvary for the 
forgiveness of sins. This is a great place to begin. You think in terms of the forgiveness 
of sins. You ever meet somebody, I just 
really have nothing to be thankful for. That's blasphemy if you're 
a Christian. That's the kind of thing you 
should be afraid to say. I remember years ago looking 
at a book catalog for a bookseller in America, and there's a book 
called How to Read the Boring Parts of the Bible. I'd be afraid 
to put that sentence down on paper. I mean, probably in the back 
of our minds, we're not thrilled with the genealogies in 1 Chronicles. 
But most of us don't write books and go into print and be published, 
with a book title said, How to Read the Boring Parts of the 
Bible. Have you ever gotten to this place, Christian, where 
you say, I don't really have anything to be thankful for. I don't really 
have anything to bless the Lord for. Then you're not a Christian. You don't know that choicest 
boon of God's grace. You don't know the forgiveness 
of sins. You don't know what it is, though everything around 
you is falling to pieces. The reality is that Jesus has 
forgiven me. There's enough there to bless 
the Lord forever and ever and ever, world without end. Amen. That's why Newton wrote, when 
we've been there 10,000 years, bright shining as the sun, we've 
no less days to sing God's praise than when we first begun. Forgiveness. This holy God. who should send 
us to hell has forgiven us. John Eady said there is nothing 
on this side of eternal punishment that ought not to fill us with 
thankfulness. We really deserve eternal punishment. The fact that we're not there, 
we ought to be blessing the Lord. But the fact that he has forgiven 
us because of what Jesus Christ has done, we ought to be blessing 
the Lord. When we come here to sing on 
Sunday, it ought not to be muttering through some praise to God for 
his great grace. We ought to pray, God, give me 
that earnestness to praise you appropriately. You know, if you 
come home from work and you handed your wife one rose, she'd go, 
wow, that's nice. Thank you very much. But if you 
drove home with a truckload of roses, she'd do a backflip and 
praise you and thank you forever for what you've done. Well, in 
terms of blessings, brethren, forgiveness is the best. And 
we come and respond to God with some mealy mouth worship. Some 
half-hearted praise. Some going through the motions 
approach rather than saying with the psalmist, I was glad when 
they said unto me, let us go to the house of the Lord. Why? 
Because I get to join corporately with my my brethren and get to 
praise God for these choice blessings. Don't forget his benefits. And 
then he moves on to the physical. Notice in verse three, who heals 
all your diseases. David's not engaging in philosophy 
here. He's not engaging actually in 
theology and a discussion of all the particulars of God's 
sovereign providence. Yes, there are men in history 
who have gotten diseases whom God had not healed. That's not 
David's point. David is rehearsing his life. 
David is rehearsing God's blessing, God's provision. David is engaged 
in the act of praise and prayer. And when we operate likewise, 
we won't raise our fist at God and say, you know, there was 
a time back in 1998 where I was particularly suffering and you 
didn't come to my aid. No, you won't do that. You bless, you praise, you worship, 
you remember His physical healing in your life. He redeems your 
life from destruction. Sometimes I think as Christians, 
we're way too spiritual. And by that, I don't mean in 
a good way. I mean, even in this sermon, I've emphasized the forgiveness 
of sins. What a boon, what a blessing, 
what a praise. But also, God keeps you from 
being hit by cards. God keeps you from choking on 
a chicken bone. As Edward says, there are innumerable 
ways of men going out of this world. And the fact that you're 
drawing breath is an item for praise to our God. We're good 
at grumbling. We're good at complaining. We're 
good at groaning. We're likewise good at blessing 
and praising and thanking God. I'm convinced, brethren, the 
next time you feel like grumbling and complaining about your situation, 
go turn on your faucet. Go turn on your faucet and just 
get a glass of water. And think for a moment, how many 
people in the world can't do that? How many people in the 
world are absolutely dependent upon rains of fall so that they 
may have enough drinking water for a season? We have so much and complain 
commensurately. We have so much and grumble. What does David do? He heals 
all your diseases. He redeems your life from destruction. David, as I said, was a king 
on the run. He had issues. He had trials. He had problems. He had people 
genuinely wanting to kill him. Now, I don't think for a moment 
any of us can share that with David. You may be a bad person. You may have had a bad life in 
the past, but more than likely, you don't have a hit out on your 
name. You don't have somebody with a list that says, I got 
to take him out. I got to rid the earth of this 
parasite. I got to get rid of this scum. 
I got to deal the death blow to it. David did. The fact that 
David can take pen to paper at this particular point is a means 
of praise to God who redeems your life from destruction. What about the destruction that 
his sin brought on? What about the fact that when 
Nathan the prophet reproved him and he owns his sin before the 
thrice holy God, God says, I have made atonement for this sin. 
Oh, David, you deserve destruction. You deserve the lake of fire. 
You deserve eternal punishment in hell. But God has spared you. You see what David does? He praises 
as a result. He says, God crowns with lovingkindness 
and mercy. Who crowns you? With lovingkindness 
and tender mercies. Who satisfies your mouth with 
good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagles. Don't 
we praise God for the good things that He gives us? It was Matthew 
Henry in that passage where Ruth is eating with Boaz, and he says, 
dip your bread in the vinegar here. Enjoy it. Delight in it. I think it was Matthew Henry 
who said that God can make all food taste like dirt. As long 
as it nourished you, as long as it satisfied you, as long 
as it kept the machinery functioning, as long it was functional. But 
that's not God. God's given us mangoes. God's 
given us chicken. Contrary to what Peter says. 
They're tasty. This is not a foreign concept 
in the Scripture. What happens when the prodigal 
returns? The Father says, slay the fatted calf. Let's eat, let's 
rejoice, let's delight, let's praise, let's worship. One of the reasons that Israel 
was judged is because when they went into the land, they were 
not thankful to God. What does Paul say in 1st Timothy 
4 concerning those doctrines of demons, those men who forbid 
marriage, those men who forbid the eating of meat? Paul says 
every creature is given by God and it's good if it's received 
with thanksgiving. It's not wrong to enjoy that. It'd be wrong not to when a gracious 
God has given it to you. You see, David runs the gamut 
here in terms of reasons to bless and praise his God. He moves 
from the individual to the corporate. Notice in verses 6 and following, 
he praises God in verses 6 and 7 for his works. The Lord executes 
righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. Some Christians 
don't like this. Some Christians don't like the 
concept that God is angry with the wicked every day. Some Christians 
would like to excise the imprecatory psalms right out of our Bibles. The imprecatory psalms are those 
psalms wherein the psalmist prays that God will judge his enemies. 
That's easy for us to say who are not being oppressed. I remember, I think it was back 
in 1984, the state of California was going to execute Robert Alton 
Harris for criminal activity. I remember watching the television, 
the news reports, and the conflicting things going on. One man standing 
up and saying, it's wrong, it's barbaric, it's horrible, don't 
ever do such a thing. Somebody on the opposing side 
says, that's easy for him to say, his daughter wasn't raped 
and murdered. Christians shrink back from the 
reality that God executes righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed? That's hope. Brethren, it is a reality that 
salvation ultimately means destruction of all evil and wickedness and 
the opposition against God. That's why King Jesus must reign 
until all of His enemies are made His footstool. That's why 
King Jesus sways a scepter of iron. He will overwhelmingly 
bring justice to this world. Please don't be one of those 
Christians that gets embarrassed by the fact that God executes 
righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. Those 
souls under the altar in Revelation 6 cry out to God, how long until 
you bring vengeance upon those who killed our brethren? That 
is a biblical concept, a biblical theme. David says elsewhere, 
Do I not hate those who hate thee, O Lord? Again, we don't 
go out and hold up signs, how wicked you are, and we hate you 
and all that sort of thing. But there is a sense where the 
true Christian, being made in the image of God, hates those 
things that God hates. When we read in Proverbs chapter 
6, there are six things that the Lord hates. Yea, seven are 
an abomination to him. And it says, Hands that shed 
innocent blood. That doesn't suppose there's 
hands floating out there with scalpels. Those hands are attached 
to men operating in state-sanctioned clinics to murder babies. God 
abominates that. He despises it. He loathes it. We shouldn't stand around with 
signs saying God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your 
life. If you don't repent, God has a horrible plan for your 
life. God is angry with the wicked every day. The Lord executes 
righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. He goes 
on to speak of God's demonstration of his redeeming work at the 
Exodus. He made known his ways to Moses, 
his acts to the children of Israel. He made this known. It was clear. When they walked through the 
Red Sea, when God had walled up the waters, and they walked 
through with dry feet to the other side. What was the lesson 
that day? It wasn't, wow, nature's an odd 
thing. Boy, that was a strong east wind. I wonder how the scientists 
will try to describe this. I wonder what phenomenon caused 
this. No, as they walked through, they were blessing God. They 
were praising God. Because He was executing righteousness. 
Because He was delivering His oppressed ones. Because He was 
good to His Word and His promise that He would deliver them from 
that bondage. That was a theology lesson walking between that water. 
You ever stop and think about that? I mean, the water is walled 
up. You can see fish in there. Kids, imagine that. Imagine that. 
Water walled up and you can see all the life in there. You're 
walking there. This is amazing. This is incredible. What manner of God do we serve? 
What kind of a God is this? He is one that has made known 
His ways to Moses. He's revealed Himself. He has 
shown His acts to the children of Israel. And then when Pharaoh 
and his armies gave chase, they go in and what happens? Their 
chariot wheels fall off. I've always thought if I was 
a soldier in Pharaoh's army, I hope I'd have been said, are 
you sure about this? This doesn't seem like a good 
plan. We just witnessed 10 plagues. The last one, recorded in Numbers 
33. It's not recorded there. It's in Exodus. But I know in 
Numbers 33, Moses is rehearsing the itinerary of Israel. And 
he says, they went out from Egypt with all boldness, for the Egyptians 
were busy burying their firstborn whom the Lord had killed. I'm 
sorry, brethren, but if I had just buried my firstborn that 
Jehovah killed, I would be leery about jumping in between two 
walled up pieces of water. When the chariot wheel fell off, 
I think it would have been said, I told you so. This isn't looking 
good. And then the water collapses. 
Why? Because God executes righteousness 
and justice for all who are oppressed. He will vindicate his holy name. He will vindicate his holy church. He will deliver them from the 
devil. from their flesh, from this world. God most high will make good 
on all of his promises to consummate our blessedness. And then not 
only his works are celebrated, but his attributes, the characteristics, 
the perfections of God. Notice beginning in verse eight, 
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." He's considering 
the attributes of God. He's rehearsing who God is. He's saying God is Spirit. infinite, 
eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, 
justice, goodness, and truth. He's thinking Bible. Dale Ralph 
Davis says that biblical prayer seems to ponder God a good deal 
more than we are prone to do. Biblical prayer seems to ponder 
God a good bit more than we are prone to do. We often run into 
God's presence and say, we love you, God. We just bless you. 
We just want, we want, we want, we want, we want. Not so, David. Forget not all of his benefits. 
What's God about? Mercy. What's God about? He's slow to anger. What's God 
about? He's gracious. What's God about? He pities us. I wonder if David 
stopped for a moment and said, I can't believe this. I can't 
believe I'm actually writing this. Why would God pity us? Why? We don't show pity to others. We don't show pity to our children. 
We don't always remember their butt dust. And yet this high, 
lofty, holy, glorious, wrathful, just, righteous God looks upon 
miserable sinners and He's not angry with us forever. And He 
pities us. If ever there's a top ten list 
of Bible verses that we ought to cherish, I believe verse 13 
ought to be there. As a father pities his children. 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. What's the implication for that 
when it comes time to deal with God in prayer? Yes, revere Him. Yes, reverence Him. Yes, fear 
in His presence. Yes, admire His attributes. Yes, 
stand amazed at His great love. But come to Him. Draw nigh to 
Him. Approach Him with the boldness 
secured for you by Jesus Christ. Because He looks upon you as 
a son. He looks upon you as a daughter. 
In Jesus Christ, He pities you. In Jesus Christ, He knows you're 
afraid. You know, if you were to call 
me and say, wow, I did this sin again, I might say, man, I can't 
believe you did it again. I know in my own life when I commit 
a sin, I can't believe I did it again. God pities us. He knows our frame. He knows 
we're but dust. That shouldn't promote sin. It 
shouldn't promote lawlessness. It shouldn't promote license. 
It shouldn't be, wow, he already knows I'm going to sin. I'll 
go out and do it. No, not at all. But it should promote free 
access when you do sin. It should promote fresh access 
when you do sin. You should come back because 
every sin is to depart from God, repent and go back to God. He 
will receive you. He will take you in. He is indeed 
the father of the prodigal who, when that son was a long way 
off, he ran to him and he fell on him. He is the God of David, 
king of Israel, who said, I have made atonement for this sin. 
He is the God and Father of Paul the Apostle, who at one time 
was bringing up threats and hatred and persecution to the people 
of Jesus. Don't forget Paul either. This 
wasn't a man who was raised in a Reformed Baptist church and 
knew his catechism by the time he was ten. And he had a whole 
closet full of Al Martin sermons, and he liked to read Robert Raymond 
for fun. This was a man who tried to destroy 
the church of Christ. And what's Christ do? He forgives 
him. He pities him. He knows his friend, 
that he's but dust. You see what David is doing here. 
He does not deal with us as we deserve. He does not punish us 
according to our iniquities. He shows great mercy. He removes 
our transgressions. Don't you love the language there 
in verse 11? 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. This text reminds me of Micah 
chapter 7. Micah 7, verses 18 and 19. The 
prophet says, who is a God like you? That's the name, Micah. 
That's what Micah means. Who is a God like you? In Micah 
7, he uses his own name to address his father in prayer. This is 
his question. Who is a God like you? Pardoning 
iniquity and passing over the transgressions of the remnant 
of his heritage. Notice the question isn't asked. Who is a God like you punishing 
sin? Who is a God like you destroying sinners? Who is a God like you 
throwing men into hell? That follows. That's logical. That's proper. Isn't it? In a moral universe, when you 
sin against the moral one, you ought to deserve punishment. 
That's not the question of the scripture. What blows the prophet's 
mind, what causes him to use his own name and address to God 
is his pardoning grace. is His mercy, is His kindness, 
is His love. 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. Great statement there. Don't forget that one. God delights 
in mercy. You've sinned greatly. Well, 
realize this. God delights in mercy. You've 
sinned big. Remember this, God delights in 
mercy. It's beautiful. Do you delight in mercy? Do you 
delight in forgiveness? Do you delight in pardoning people 
who have offended you? Does it just come natural to 
you? Somebody comes and says, wow, I wronged you. I sinned 
against you. I've hurt you. I've misspoke. I've ruined your 
reputation and your character. Do you delight to forgive them? 
You forgive them because God in Christ has forgiven you. But 
it's probably not one of your top five activities. Wow, I got 
to show mercy today. Wasn't that great? Wasn't that 
beautiful? Wasn't that wonderful? What made 
you happy? I delight to show mercy. I've 
not met that person yet. I'm sure they're out there. I confess, I'm not that person. 
Wow, really? Yes. It's a no-brainer. God delights in mercy. Imagine conducting an interview 
with God. What do you hate, God? Well, 
I hate hands that shed innocent blood. I hate lying lips. I hate 
feet that are swift to run to evil. I hate those who sow discord. 
Yeah, that all makes sense. What do you delight in, God? 
To show mercy. Excuse me, what was that? You 
have a holy aversion to all things wicked, and yet you delight to 
show mercy. What a glorious God. Who is a 
God like you, the prophet asks. Then he goes on to say, he does 
not retain his anger forever because he delights in mercy. 
He will again have compassion on us and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into 
the depths of the sea. He pities us. He knows our frame. And then notice the contrast 
that is set up. Verses 15 to 17. 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. Here's what man is. The grand scheme of things, though 
you made them a little lower than the angels. So he has dominion 
over all the works of your hands, God, in this world. Here's what 
he's like. He is transient. He is fleeting. He is here just for a time. He's 
like the flower. It grows, it withers, it dies. 
The land has no memory that it was ever there. You realize that? 
You're going to grow, you're going to live, you're going to 
die, and you're going to vanish. Hopefully somebody will remember 
you somewhere along the way, but as a general rule, we don't 
have a lot of staying power. The contrast is clear, but the 
mercy of the Lord endures forever. As much as you might think 80 
or 90 years is a good long life, it's like that. Think about the 
mercy of the Lord. It endures forever. Spurgeon 
said how vast the contrast between the fading flower and the everlasting 
God. How wonderful that this 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. Oh, bless the Lord, David says. And then he ends with this universal 
summons to bless God. Verse 19 speaks of God's empire. The Lord has established His 
throne in heaven and His kingdom rules, notice, over all, over 
everything. God has sovereignty. God has 
supremacy. God is the Lord over all creation. And then notice what the psalmist 
does. David speaks to angels. Isn't this beautiful? What's 
he saying? This God is so great. Angels, bless Him. Hosts of heaven, 
bless Him. All you works of His, bless Him. Everything that has breath, bless 
Him. This God is so worthy. And so awesome and so excellent 
that everything ought to bless God most high. David is calling 
upon us here. David says, bless the Lord, all 
his works in all places of his dominion, which as we see rules 
over all. Bless the Lord, he says. Oh, 
my soul. We have been called upon by our 
brother David to bless God. not just on one Monday in October 
or one Thursday in November. The saint of Jesus Christ ought 
to be a thankful man, woman, boy or girl. Whether you have 
trial or tribulation or difficulty, there is always stuff in the 
arsenal to bless God for. You have been redeemed. You have 
been bought with a price. Jesus shed His blood for you 
and paid it all. That right there ought to cause 
us to bless. Shame on us that we aren't more 
thankful. Shame on us that we don't bless 
him more. Shame on us that oftentimes our worship service looks like 
a graveyard rather than a time of celebration and praise for 
our great God. Some would say, oh, it's those 
old hymns that you sing. I don't think so. Those old hymns 
are filled with dis-doctrine. If that doctrine doesn't fire 
us up to praise, it doesn't matter what songs there are. Brethren, 
worship is a time to rehearse God's mercies, to consider His 
blessings, to call upon Him, and to worship Him, and to consider 
who He is and what He has done. And the practical benefits of 
this attitude or disposition is that it keeps us in good company. 
Who's blessing the Lord? The people that love Him. The 
people that honor him, the people that praise him, the people that 
want him. Who's cursing the Lord? His enemies. You want to be with the cursers, 
the unthankful, the ones who have no gratitude, the ones who 
live in this world, who eat God's food, they drink God's water, 
they work in jobs that God has carved out for them. They breathe 
God's air, and all the while they suppress the truth and unrighteousness. They don't acknowledge Him. They 
don't praise Him. They don't honor Him. You want 
to be like that? He said, no. Well, then bless 
the Lord. Oh, my soul, and all that is 
within me, bless His holy name. This disposition keeps our eyes 
off of self. This disposition keeps our eyes 
off of self, doesn't it? Because when you're 
blessing the Lord, you're not complaining about how bad you 
have it. You're not grumbling about how 
everybody's against you. You're not blaming others for 
just what station you have in life. No, you're blessing the 
Lord. You don't have time to blame. 
You don't have time to look down on everybody else. You don't 
have time to be the persecuted one. You're just blessing the 
Lord. You're praising God. This keeps 
our eyes and our affections upon God, where they belong. You know, Paul tells us in Colossians 
chapter three to set our mind at the right hand of God, where 
Christ is. We need to seek those things 
which are above. Blessing God is a great means 
to that end. Blessing God and worshiping and 
praising him keeps our eyes and affections upon God. Blessing 
the Lord keeps us in a right disposition. The disposition 
of praise. The disposition of fear. Do you 
see that mentioned several times in this psalm? Verses 11, 13, 
and 17. God's eye is to those who fear 
the Lord. Who fears the Lord? The one who 
is blessing Him. The one who is praising Him. 
The one who is thankful to Him. The one who is worshiping Him. 
And it shows our dependence upon God. And then this mindset keeps 
us ever focused on the blood of Christ. It keeps us ever focused 
and tied to the gospel. That's what we need. We need 
to be gospel-oriented men and women. We need to be gospel-oriented 
Christians. We need to say with Paul, the 
life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of 
God who loved me and who gave himself for me. We need to think 
in terms of the cross so that we'll bless God. We need to think 
in terms of the cross so that we'll be thankful to God. Yes, 
tomorrow you're probably going to have a wonderful meal and 
you should thank God for that. We should thank God for every 
meal that we enjoy that comes from His hand because He doesn't 
owe us anything. But that supreme blessing, that 
supreme praising, that supreme act of worship and thanksgiving 
ought to be because of the doing and dying of Jesus. Because God 
sent his son into this world to die for us and to rise again. 
And if you're not a Christian this morning, who are you going 
to thank tomorrow? Who do you thank on Thanksgiving 
if you're not Christian? You thank the powers that be. 
You thank fate. You thank Costco because they 
made sure you had a nice big turkey. You thank Price Smart 
because they had a sale on utility birds. You write letters to the CEO 
of these companies. Thank you for the bounty that 
is on my table. You know where you learn thankfulness? 
You learn it at the cross. Because by nature, we are a thankless 
lot. By nature, we are selfish. By 
nature, we are obsessed with me, myself, and I. By nature, 
we reject God. We don't even like to retain 
the knowledge of God in our thoughts. So the only way to learn thankfulness 
is by faith in Jesus, by looking to the cross, believing the gospel. Therein, you will find what it 
means to be a thankful person. Well, let us pray. God, we thank 
you for your word and we thank you for this psalm and for the 
wonderful example of King David of Israel. How we thank you for 
your delivering him and for giving him the spirit so that he could 
pen these things for the life of the church. And I pray that 
we would take these thoughts home, that we would focus upon 
them, that each and every day would be a day of thanksgiving 
in our lives as we appreciate the glorious work of Jesus Christ 
on our behalf. I would ask now that you would 
go with us, that you would watch over us, and that you would bless 
your people with peace. And we pray through Christ the 
Lord. Amen.