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Please turn with me in your Bibles 
to Psalm 103. Psalm 103, I'll begin reading 
in verse 1. The 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 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. Our 
Father, we come to your word and we pray for the ministry 
of your spirit now. We thank you for what this psalm 
says concerning your character. We thank you that you pity us, 
that you know our frame, you know we're dust. We thank you 
that you are gracious and kind, that you have put the fear of 
the Lord in our hearts. We know it wasn't there by nature. 
In Adam, God, we are strangers. In Adam, we run from you. But 
you have saved us by your grace. You've called us out of darkness. 
You've caused us to see who you are. And we pray that this morning, 
as we go through this psalm, that we would be refreshed and 
cheered and encouraged that God in heaven we would indeed bless 
the Lord, that we would give all praise and all glory and 
all honor unto you, for truly you are worthy, Father, Son, 
and Holy Spirit. We ask that you would forgive 
us now for all of our sins and transgressions. We pray that 
you would purify us and cleanse us in the blood of the Lamb. 
We would all confess, God, that we have transgressed your holy 
law. We have not done those things that your word calls us to do. 
We have not lived in light of your scripture. And for this, 
we confess our sin and plead the mercy and the merit and the 
forgiveness of Jesus Christ, our Lord. And it's in his name 
that we pray. Amen. Well, tomorrow, obviously, 
is Thanksgiving Day here in Canada. We often thought that every day 
should be Thanksgiving Day in the life and heart of the Christian. We have much to be thankful for. I think as well, thanksgiving 
recognizes the grace principle. We understand grace, if we understand 
God's goodness, we understand God's kindness, we understand 
what this psalm testifies concerning God, thankfulness ought to be 
the response that we give to the High King of Heaven. This 
psalm breaks down into three major sections that I want to 
take up with us this morning. The first is the reminder to 
bless God. You see, as I said, every day 
ought to be thanksgiving. Every day isn't thanksgiving 
if we are honest with ourselves. We don't always think about the 
Lord. We don't always ponder His mercies. We don't always consider His 
greatness. And so the psalmist here teaches 
us something about talking to ourselves. So there is a reminder 
to bless God. Secondly, there are reasons given 
to bless God. In case you are wondering, why 
should we be thankful? Why should we speak well of Him? 
Why should we bless His holy name? Well, verses 3 to 18 describe 
in detail reasons to bless God on a personal and on a corporate 
level. And then the last section of 
the psalm is a universal summons to bless God in verses 19 to 
22. A universal call by the psalmist 
to all created beings to give praise and glory and honor to 
our God who has established his throne in heaven and whose kingdom 
rules over all. So that is a bit of a roadmap 
as to where we are going this morning. But notice first this 
reminder to bless God. David is speaking to himself. 
David is talking to himself. This isn't the first time in 
the Psalter that David does this. If you go back for just a moment, 
to Psalms 42 and 43. You see there, he talks to himself. There are instances, there are 
seasons, there are occasions in the Christian life when we 
need to just stop doing what we're doing, we need to grab 
ourselves by the scruff of the neck, and we need to talk to 
ourselves, we need to address ourselves, we need to think seriously 
and biblically about our place before the living God. So here, 
notice in Psalm 42 at verse 5, he says, Why are you cast down, 
O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? He's talking to himself. 
Why are you down? Why are you depressed? Why are 
you melancholy? Why are you troubled? Why are 
you perplexed? Why are you distressed in soul? 
And then he provides this blessed answer. He says, Hope in God, 
for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance. 
Again, dropping down into verse 11. Why are you cast down, O 
my soul? Why are you disquieted within 
me? Hope in God, for I shall yet 
praise Him the help of my countenance and my God. We need to think 
biblically. We need to live biblically. We 
need to think God's thoughts after Him. I read an interesting 
blog article this week on Heidelblog. It's the blog of R. Scott Clark. Great name for a blog, isn't 
it? If you're a Reformed believer, the Heidelberg Catechism, he's 
got the Heidelblog. He gets mad props for having 
a good name for a blog. But he quotes a man on there 
about Baal worship. Baalism is about experience. Baalism is about existentialism. Baalism isn't about approaching 
the living and true God in the spirit through the mediator and 
presenting our petitions, our praises, and our worship to Him. 
Baalism is about what do I get out of the experience. Baalism 
says things like, well, that was a boring service. Baalism 
says, well, I wasn't refreshed. Baalism says, I wasn't helped. 
I wasn't buoyed. I wasn't encouraged. Baalism 
is always seeking that thrill from on high. Well, we need to 
be biblicists. We need to be Yahwists. We need 
to be those who realize that at times and that at seasons, 
in our Christian experience, there'll be downtimes. There'll 
be trial. The Master said, in this world 
you will have tribulation. But we need to remember biblical 
truth. Do not be governed by experience. Do not be tossed to and fro by 
existentialism. Do not be bandied about by the 
feelings and emotions that so often times overrule us. This 
man says, why are you cast down? Oh my soul, why are you disquieted 
within me? And then he specifically applies 
the biblical remedy. Hope thou in God. For I shall yet praise Him, the 
help of my countenance and my God." Same thing in Psalm 43. Why are you cast out, O my soul? Why are you disquieted within 
me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my 
countenance and my God. So it's not just loony people 
or crazy people that talk to themselves. Godly men who rule 
Israel, who walk in the fear of the Lord, and who love the 
law word of God also talk to themselves. And here in Psalm 
103, it's a bit of a different application. He says, Bless the 
Lord, O my soul. Again, you would think we wouldn't 
have to remind ourselves, right? You would think that it would 
be natural for the creature to give glory, praise, honor, worship, 
thanksgiving, and adoration to the Creator. You would think 
that's a no-brainer. You ever had your child say something 
like this? You never do anything for me. 
Oh, really? Is that really true? Kids don't 
ever say that. You never give me anything good. 
Well, I call a bed good. I call clothing good. I certainly 
call shelter good. We might need to re-identify 
what goodness is all about. You know, if you've ever had 
a child say that, when I use these illustrations, I'm not 
necessarily indicating that one or all five of mine ever did 
that. So don't go out of the place 
saying, Butler's kids are wretches. They're terrible human beings. 
But if a child says that, you never do anything for me. Oh, 
how shall I list the ways? That a man of God has to take 
the time to grab himself by the scruff of the neck and say, bless 
the Lord, oh my soul, is an indicator that we are sinners. You see, 
all we like sheep have gone astray. There is none righteous, no not 
one. David is a redeemed sinner and 
he has to take the time out in this day and say, bless the Lord, 
oh my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. He needs 
to remind himself. He needs to recall the facts. 
He needs to understand the reality. He needs to have this soliloquy 
in his heart where he calls upon and rouses himself so that he 
may do his duty. 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. What is implicit 
in this statement? It is the tendency to forget. 
It is the tendency to not appreciate. It is the tendency to live our 
lives as if there is no God who constantly blesses us. It is 
the tendency and the temptation to live like practical atheists. to affirm God catechetically, 
but to live as if there is no God experientially. We need to 
bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. We need 
to bless His holy name. We need to remind ourselves to 
forget not all His benefits. We need to be students of the 
Scripture. We need to be students of providence. We need to understand 
that God, in His mercy and in His grace, has not dealt with 
us the way we deserve. It is a beautiful reminder to 
the people of God that we need to take seriously this issue 
of bless the Lord. Now when we speak of God's blessing 
us, we usually think in terms of multiplication of goods. God 
bless me with happiness. God bless me with more stuff. 
God bless me with more peace. God bless me with more money. 
God bless me with more cars. We think of blessing as a multiplication 
of things wherein God confers them upon us. Or if we're in 
an especially holy mood and we're thinking about spiritual blessings, 
we're thankful, God, you've given me justification, increased my 
sanctification, caused me to look forward to glorification. 
Those are spiritual blessings. benefits that the Lord God, in 
His mercy and grace, has conferred upon us. When the Scripture speaks 
of man blessing the Lord, we obviously don't give him goods. 
We obviously don't add to his garage. We obviously don't increase 
his wares. When the Scripture says, bless 
the Lord, it means this, speak well of him. praise Him, worship 
Him, adore Him, honor Him. This is Paul's point in Ephesians 
1. Paul's point in Ephesians 1 is 
not to prove sovereign grace in the triune scheme of redemption. Paul's point is to praise God. Ephesians 1, 3, 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. That's 
what Paul states, blessed be the God and Father. It's the 
same type of approach that Solomon employs. It's the same type of 
approach that David here employs. It's the same type of approach 
that Paul uses, that Peter uses. It's called a barakah, a pronouncement 
of blessing upon God for the good things that He has done. 
We praise Him. We worship Him. Shame on us if 
Thanksgiving Day comes once a year in the Christian home. Shame 
on us if we live without thanking God. Shame on us if we don't 
bless the Lord. Shame on us if we don't grab 
ourselves once in a while in the midst of our trials, in the 
midst of our difficulty, in the midst of our tribulation and 
say, wait a minute, bless the Lord, O my soul and all that 
is within me, bless His holy name. Do we forget that David 
was a man of flesh and blood like us? You know, I'm so busy, 
I don't have time to thank God. Well, ruling a kingdom isn't 
exactly lazy man's work, is it? I just love our approach. We've 
got more modern conveniences than ever have been. You say, 
wait a minute, I don't have the time to read my Bible. Remember 
that passage in Joshua chapter 1? Instructions for the conquest. Joshua as the general, as commander-in-chief 
of the Lord's army, here's what you need to do in order to ensure 
success when you go into the land. Make sure you have a cracked 
military. Make sure your weapons are polished. 
Make sure your horses are fit. That's not what he says. You 
know what he says, he says, meditate, the law of God, day and night. How dare I say I don't have time? What kind of time commitment 
is involved in commanding troops to go into Canaan and dispossess 
the land? I don't think that's a nine to 
five operation. I don't think Joshua had weekends 
and holidays off. I don't think he had a 4-10 work 
schedule. I don't think he had that situation where every other 
Friday you get the day off. He was a busy man. Yet God says, 
in order to ensure success, you better get your mind in the law. 
It's the same thing with David. How dare us say we're too busy? 
David says, 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. Do not forget. Rather, rouse 
ourselves to a contemplation of these things. What things 
specifically? Forget not all His benefits. 
This then goes into the reasons to bless God. Why should we speak 
well of Him? Why should we praise Him? Why 
should we honor Him? Why should we adore Him? The 
very asking of the question in some senses is almost like treason. But God supplies the answer because 
He's so kind. He's so good. Don't scratch your 
head tomorrow morning saying, what do I have to be thankful 
for? You ever have a Thanksgiving dinner where you say, before 
we start, everybody's going to mention one thing they're thankful 
for. Why does this take long? Why is this difficult? Do you 
know what we have in the Western world? If we can't rattle off 
20 temporal blessings right now, things like running water, flush 
toilets, hot water heaters, you think these things magically 
appeared? 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 we have to ask, why should 
we bless the Lord? David's going to tell us. He 
breaks it down into two broad categories. On an individual 
level and on a corporate level. Notice on an individual level, 
what heads the list? What's first and foremost? What 
is preeminent with David? Verse 3, who forgives all your 
iniquities? We got enough right there to 
drop onto our faces and praise God forever. Right? We don't even need to 
look at the temporal benefits. We don't even need to detail 
this list. We will because God has spoken. 
Who forgives, notice the text, all your iniquities. We don't 
preach half a savior. We don't preach 90% blood. We don't preach muster up something 
in yourself. We preach blood atonement. We 
preach the blood of the cross. We preach the forgiveness of 
all iniquities. We preach an A to Z. We preach 
a gospel that saves to the uttermost. We preach a Christ who lived 
and died and rose again so that we might have everlasting life. 
When David comes to remind himself of the blessings of God, what 
hits his list? Forgiveness. I mean, it's reprehensible 
if a pagan says, why should I thank God? It's reprehensible about 
a million times squared for a Christian to say, why should I be thankful? Shame on us. How often does Thanksgiving 
come to your house? How often does Thanksgiving rise 
up in your soul? How often do you just take a 
moment and say, wait a minute, soul, you need to think about 
eternal reality. We need to have a discussion 
here. We need to just get real. Do 
you understand that all your inequities are forgiven? If that 
doesn't put a smile on your face or in your heart, you may need 
the gospel the first time. I don't know any redeemed sinner 
who doesn't well up with joy at the thought of forgiveness. 
There's nothing better, is there? Is there? This is the chief boon. Pastor Kim highlighted this in 
Acts 13. What does Paul preach in Pisidian 
Antioch? Let it be known to you today 
that there is forgiveness of sins through this man, Jesus 
Christ. When David rises up in the morning 
and he says, bless the Lord, O my soul, bless the Lord, O 
my soul, and forget not his benefits, or forget not his dealings with 
you, he says, who forgives all your iniquities? C.H. Spurgeon 
said this, 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 says, pardoned 
sin is, in our experience, I'll throw myself in with Spurgeon's 
hour, pardoned sin is, in our experience, one of the choicest 
boons of grace. I'd probably say the choicest 
boon of grace. He probably wouldn't want to 
arm wrestle me over that. Maybe I could take him. I got 
him in a little bit of size. He had me in a little bit more 
size this way, but hopefully upper body ways I could arm wrestle 
him down. Not that I would want to with 
my dear brother. He says, it's 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, satisfaction are unknown blessings. You wake up tomorrow and you 
think about Thanksgiving Day or you're sitting at the table 
tomorrow and mom or dad says, what are you thankful for? I'm 
forgiven. I can go to sleep happily. I 
can rest secure. What better verdict than to walk 
into the courtroom? What better verdict than to have 
party? 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." What's the hymn 
writer say? Praise the Lord, praise the Lord. You see, as you appreciate theology, 
as you appreciate soteriology, as you appreciate the grace principle 
throughout the scripture, the response, the only response, 
is David's. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and 
all that is within me. Don't just go through lip service. Well, it's Thanksgiving Day, 
I gotta say. No, all that is within me. God has saved me with 
all that is in Him. God has sent His Son into this 
world and pleased the Lord to crush Him, putting Him to grief. When Isaiah is prophesying about 
the establishment of the kingdom in Isaiah 9, 6, and 7, what does 
he undergird as the source of power? The zeal of Yahweh of 
hosts shall perform this. And shall we approach Him in 
thankfulness with anything less than earnest and with zeal and 
with affection and with desire? Brethren, bless the Lord, O my 
soul, and all that is within me. Bless His holy name. He speaks 
of the spiritual blessing. He speaks of physical blessing. 
Notice, verse 3, who heals all your diseases. Again, this isn't 
a maxim or a principle to be taken out on its own. It doesn't 
mean you're never going to get a cold. It doesn't mean you might 
not contract cancer. It doesn't mean there aren't 
severe trials and difficulties. As a general rule, as the testimony 
of God's faithfulness, as God's general pattern, He is this way 
to His people. He sustains. He blesses. He encourages. And even if you are given cancer, 
there is grace supplied in abundance so that you could deal. I always 
wonder about that. Oh, the presence of cancer and 
the goodness of God. You take God out of the world? 
That doesn't absent the world from cancer. At least God gives grace to people 
to deal with these trials, with these challenges, with these 
issues. Notice though, it's not ungodly 
to praise the Lord for physical health. We don't want to be super 
spiritual. He's forgiven me of sins, you 
know, that's all I need. Yeah, that's great, but David 
doesn't stop there. Dale Ralph Davis tells of an 
event when he was with some children. And what was happening is they 
were asked to thank the Lord for blessings. What are some 
things that you need to thank God for? Well, forgiveness, and 
the church, and all these spiritual things were coming out, and that's 
good. And then young Sammy or whoever the kid was said, I'm 
thankful that God kept Uncle Elmer from going into that ditch 
when he slid his car. Wait a minute, we're just talking 
about the spiritual things here, not Uncle Elmer. David talks 
about Uncle Elmer. David cares about Uncle Elmer. 
David sees God sparing Uncle Elmer as a reason to praise God. 
I don't even know if it's Uncle Elmer. You get the point, right? Do you know how many things God 
has probably kept us from? Do you know how many times if we 
actually knew? 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. Yeah, just think 
about this idea. I don't know what to thank God 
for. Do you realize how much of the world isn't going to have 
turkey tomorrow? And not just because it isn't 
Thanksgiving there. That's just in Canada. Do you realize what a boon running 
water is? Really? Not having tapeworms? Not dying because we get a fever? 
Not dying because we get appendicitis? It's easy to complain about the 
system, isn't it? How many times has God used that 
system to keep us alive? How terrible. God praise Him. How dare us not bless Him? David says forgiveness and he 
says food. He satisfies your mouth with 
good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagles. You're 
not sluggish in a day. You've got energy for your labor. 
You've got delight in your work. Why? Because God put bacon and 
eggs on your table this morning. Bless Him. Praise Him. Adore Him. Honor Him. I sometimes think if we blessed, 
praised, honored, adored, and thanked a tenth of how much we 
complained, it would be amazing. And a tenth, I'm being generous. 
I'm using the tithe principle there. We complain a lot. Maybe you 
don't. Maybe this is a preacher's week. 
At least the world I live in. that I'm part of, unfortunately. People I traffic with, I mean, 
yeah, there's concerns, we ought to have that, we ought to express 
it, but we ought to overcompensate the blessing of the Lord to the 
grumbling and the complaining. physical healing, protection 
from calamity, crowning with loving kindness and mercy, temporal 
provision, who satisfies your mouth with good things. How many of us pray in the morning, 
give us this day our daily bread, and at the end of the day thank 
Him that we had the bacon and eggs, we had the ham sandwich, 
we had the whatever. Thank you, Lord, for providing. 
Thank you that you answered prayer. Have you ever met that? Oh no, 
God never answers prayer. You're eating every day, aren't 
you? So I think as we work our way 
through this psalm, there's a fundamental problem that man has. We actually 
think God owes us. We actually think God owes us 
good. David said, God doesn't owe us good at all. We'll see 
that in just a moment. Notice, on a corporate level, 
verses 6 to 18, we need to bless the Lord. Here's the reasons 
why on a personal level. Notice, who forgives all your, 
who heals all your, who redeems your, who crowns you. Those are 
very individual, very specific, very particular, very individualized. These are things that you can 
point to in your own life, spiritually speaking, temporally speaking. God has blessed you. He's given 
these gifts. Therefore, bless Him with all that is within you. 
But then notice on a corporate level, how does God function 
macrocosmically? How does God function on the 
big scale? How does God function on the big picture? He highlights 
this. Notice first His works. His works, 
verses 6 and 7. The execution of righteousness 
and justice. Why should you bless the Lord? 
Oh my soul, why should you bless His name? because He executes 
justice and righteousness. He is a good God. He is a precise 
God. He is going to vindicate His 
own holy name. He is going to right every wrong. 
He is going to wipe away every sorrow. He has promised a place 
where there's no more tears. For God, righteousness and justice 
are absolutely crucial. You may not suspect that looking 
at civil government. You cannot make that observation 
looking at God's government. He cares about these things. In fact, in Psalm 89, you know 
what the foundation of God's throne is? It's not love and 
grace. It's justice and righteousness. That is the foundation of God's 
throne. Not to say that grace and love 
aren't important. But in describing the foundation 
of that throne, it is righteousness and judgment, justice. Notice 
the manifestation of redemption. Verse 7, he made known his ways 
to Moses. I take that as a reference to 
the Exodus. You search the Psalter, you search 
the Old Testament, you search the New Testament. The Exodus 
from Egypt serves as the pattern, as the paradigm, as the supreme 
example of God's redemptive love for his people. I realize that 
the Exodus is taken out of its context. It is being taught that 
it's just having to do to make the downtrodden and poor happy. 
No, it speaks of the redeeming power of God Most High. And not 
only the manifestation of redemption, but the revelation of Himself. 
Why should we bless the Lord? Because He's made Himself known. Right? Look at what it says, 
He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel. What is the text testifying to? His self-revelation. He's not 
left us to our own way. He has spoken in the Old and 
the New Testaments. If you have nothing else to thank 
God for, thank Him for that Bible that is in your lap. that He 
has spoken to you, that He has revealed to you the gospel, that 
He has revealed to you His ways, that He has revealed to you His 
works. These are reasons to bless Him. You know, we just take it 
for granted. When I wake up in the morning, 
my Bible's going to be there. Just take it for granted. When 
I come here on Sunday, there's going to be Bibles. Take it for granted 
that when I click on Sermon Audio, I'm going to get a good biblical 
sermon. That's a blessing from God. The prophet Amos, God said, 
here's what judgment I will send to Israel. There will be a famine, 
not a famine of bread and meat, but a famine of hearing the word 
of God. Do we ever count ourselves as 
blessed as we are to have Bibles, to have the revelation of God? 
The fact that Hebrews 1 says God Yes, we hang our soul on the 
merits and the mercies of Christ at the cross. It is that spoken 
word that reveals that to us. The psalmist says that God has 
magnified his word above his holy name. That's huge, isn't 
it? That's massive. What does God 
think of His Holy Name? Well, there's a commandment in 
the Decalogue to protect that Holy Name of God. The third word 
speaks to that. The Psalter says that God has 
magnified His Word above His Holy Name. I think the idea is, 
is to reject the Word is to despise His Name. To treat lightly the 
Word is to treat lightly the Name. God has revealed himself 
to us, brethren, in the Old and the New Testaments, and that 
is a reason to bless the Lord. Praise God I have a Bible. Praise 
God I'm not in some old Soviet regime where I would be punished 
for having a page of Leviticus. Praise God that we have the Scriptures. Praise God I'm not in a Muslim 
country where it's forbidden to have a Bible. I remember in 
the 80s, that's when I was in the US Air Force. Not that I 
had any concern for the things of God at that point, but I was 
stationed in England and there was a list that was given to 
airmen that were going to go to Saudi Arabia for temporary 
duty. You know what was forbidden to 
be brought into Saudi Arabia in the 80s? It was the Bible. I remember seeing that, not again 
being a biblical Christian going, wow, I mean, I've developed some 
more thoughts about this whole situation since then, to be sure. 
It just struck me odd. We have Bibles everywhere. We got Bibles everywhere. Do 
we thank God? Do we bless the Lord? Thank you, 
Lord, you've spoken. Thank you, Lord, you've not left 
me to myself. Thank you, Lord, you've given me your word. That's 
what David says. He speaks of his works. He speaks 
of his attributes. Notice verses 6 and following. I'm sorry, verses 8 and following. He speaks first of God's mercy 
and grace, verse 8. The Lord is merciful and gracious, 
slow to anger and abounding in mercy. Bless Him for that. Praise 
Him for that. You know why we teach theology? 
You know why we speak of the attributes of God? Because each 
of those attributes ought to serve as a vehicle to bring you 
to praise and bless and glorify and honor the Lord. Not just 
so we can be theologians, put down our minions, Beat up on 
those who don't see things the way we do. No, if these attributes 
of God don't infest our worship, then what are you doing with 
them? Good, you can beat up an Arminian 
and win an argument. Are you blessing God? Are you 
praising the Lord? Are you honoring Him? Are you 
adoring Him? Are you worshiping Him? What 
do you think God's more pleased with? Your pride and your arrogance 
slaying people with your biblical knowledge or your humility and 
dependence reflected in your worship and praise and adoration 
to him? I'm guessing the latter. Davis says, biblical prayer seems 
to ponder God a good deal more than we are prone to do. Biblical 
prayer seems to ponder God a good deal more than we are prone to 
do. His mercy, His grace. Notice 
His long-suffering. We've already seen at the end 
of verse 8, slow to anger and abounding in mercy. Notice in 
verse 9, He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His 
anger forever. This is repeated or this is stated 
in Psalm 30 in verse 5. Spurgeon comments here, he says, 
he bears no grudges. The Lord would not have his people 
harbor resentments, and in his own course of action he sets 
them a grand example. When the Lord has chastened his 
child, he is done with his anger. He is not punishing as a judge, 
else might his wrath burn on. But he is acting as a father, 
and therefore after a few blows he ends the matter and presses 
his beloved one to his bosom as if nothing had happened. Or 
if the offense lies too deep in the offender's nature to be 
thus overcome, he continues to correct, but he never ceases 
to love. He does not suffer His anger 
with His people to pass into the next world, but receives 
His erring child into His glory. Praise Him that He is slow to 
anger. Praise Him that He is abounding 
in mercy. Praise Him that He will not always 
strive with us, nor will He always keep His anger forever. Praise 
Him for these things. You don't wake up in the morning 
and say, man, I've got so much to do today. Stop for a moment 
and say, praise God, He has not dealt with me the way I deserve. 
That's the next section. Notice His forgiveness, verses 
10 to 14. This is developed, again, on 
a corporate level. It is repeating or rehearsing 
what is true on the individual level. Notice His forgiveness, 
verse 10. He has not dealt with us according 
to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. 
Isn't that a beautiful statement? Again, I alluded to this earlier. 
I think if you ask most people, if they're honest, they'll say, 
yeah, God owes me a lot. If they're honest, they're going 
to vocalize it. They're going to actually deal 
candidly. Yeah, I believe God owes me food every day. God owes 
me happiness every day. You know, if the Constitution 
of the United States of America says life, liberty, and the pursuit 
of happiness, certainly God ought to provide those things, right? See, we always forget this one 
little problem when we do up this equation in our mind of 
what God owes us. Sin. See, we've compromised. We've repudiated. We have shifted the balance of 
power, if you will. He has not dealt with us according 
to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. 
Next time you're wondering what you ought to be thankful for, 
be thankful you're not in hell. You know, Pastor, when you say 
that, it sounds pretty harsh. Be thankful you're not in hell. 
A love and lamentations. The prophet Jeremiah says this, 
why should a living man complain? A man for the punishment of his 
sins. The ESV gives it a little bit 
of a tweak to make the meaning clearer, I think. Why should 
a living man complain a man about the punishment of his sins? Why? Why should a man who's been convicted 
of a crime complain about his sentence? What would you do if 
you saw that? You happen to be privy to a courtroom 
scenario. The guy has committed a horrific 
crime. The judge has brought down the hammer. He says, I sentence 
you to 25 years in prison. He says, that's just not fair. 
You're thinking, boy, is that fair. Boy, you got off easy. 
Perhaps it was a capital crime. He deserves the death penalty. 
Yet he's getting 25 years with the chance of parole in 15 if 
he's on good behavior. You're sitting there going, this 
is a no. I still get this system. But he's saying, that's not fair. 
25 years. You're saying, you're kidding 
me? I think that's the point of the prophet in the book of 
Lamentations. Why should a man complain? Why 
would you complain? Why would you grumble in view 
of your sins? The emphasis of the text is He 
has not given us what we genuinely deserve. Lest we confine this 
to the book of Lamentations, it's interesting, in Ezra 9, 
it says, After all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and 
for our great guilt, since you, our God, have punished us less 
than our iniquities deserve, and have given us such deliverance 
as this. We have had cause to notice this 
in our studies on Wednesday night in the book of Deuteronomy. Some 
opponents of the Bible look at the Bible, look at the Old Testament 
especially, and say, oh boy, God was just full of wrath and 
fury and anger and judgment and justice. Nothing could be further 
from the truth. God bore long with those people. God suffered long with those 
people. There's a scene, an instance, 
if you will. It's after Ahab and Jezebel take 
care of Naboth so they can get his vineyard. It's a wretched 
scene, a horrible scene. Ahab's this passive, spineless 
wimp. Jezebel says, we are going to 
get that parcel of land. Naboth doesn't want to sell its 
tribal allotment. Naboth has entitlement. It is 
Naboth's land. No, King Ahab, I don't want you 
to grow your vegetable garden in my life. It's legit, isn't 
it? Ahab's whining, Ahab's grumbling, 
Ahab's crying, Ahab's murmuring. Jezebel says, you know what we're 
going to do? We're going to get that parcel of land. We're going 
to get false witnesses. We're going to stir them up. 
They're going to say that Naboth blasphemed. They're going to 
say horrible things about Naboth. When this is heard, they will 
execute Naboth. Thus, you get your piece of land. It's terrible. Do you know what's 
amazing at the end of that whole scenario? There's a glimmer, 
a glimmer of repentance on the part of Ahab. You know what God 
says to the prophet? Did you see that? His heart was 
softened. This isn't to depict God as some 
fickle being, but to set forth the reality of his patience, 
his long suffering, his bearing long, How long would you have 
forbore or forbared the children of Israel? How long would you 
have listened to their grumbling? How long would you have listened 
to their complaining? Certainly, the divine pen in the hand of 
David says he has not dealt with us according to our sins nor 
punished us according to our iniquities. He is full of forgiveness. Notice he shows great mercy. 
Verse 11, For as the heavens are high above the earth, so 
great is his mercy toward those who fear him. Notice in verse 
12, he removes our transgression. As far as the east is from the 
west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. And you 
say you have nothing to bless the Lord for? You say you have 
nothing to be thankful for? You say you have nothing to praise 
God for? There's actually going to be 
a lull in the prayer meeting? There's actually going to be 
a pause and a hesitation at the table. You're actually not going 
to be able to tell someone why you ought to bless the Lord. 
Are you kidding me? Bless the Lord! Oh my soul! You see, you need to talk to 
yourselves, brethren. You need to be in the Bible, 
brethren. You need to remind yourself, brethren, of God's 
works. You need to remind yourself of 
God's attributes. You might need to store in your 
mind a helpful little companion to the attributes of God in terms 
of the Westminster Catechism. You need to understand God is 
spirit. He's infinite. He's eternal. He's unchangeable. 
And His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, 
and truth. Now let us praise Let us worship! Let us adore! Let us honor! Let us glorify! You see, that's why you need 
to understand your Bible and good theology. He removes our 
transgressions. He pities us as a father. Verse 
13. Don't you just love that text? Doesn't it melt you? Doesn't 
that text melt you? Doesn't that text make you just 
want to lay down near God? Oh, he's preaching Baalism now. 
No, he isn't. He pities us as a father. Do 
you understand that? Do you get that? How do you pity your child? God 
does it a million times better. No, not even a million. That's 
quantifiable. He does it infinitely better. You think you have pity? Remember 
Jesus' words in Matthew 7? If you then, being evil, know 
how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will 
your Father, who is in heaven, give good gifts to those who 
ask Him? He pities us. That's enough to 
praise forever. He knows our frame. He remembers 
that we are dust, according to verse 14. Isn't that beautiful? I wish we were 
all more like God. I really do. I wish we were all 
more like God, that we knew each other's frames, that we would 
remember that others are dust, that we would pity, that we would 
have compassion, that we would be filled with mercy. I'm not 
saying you, I'm saying me. These are the attributes for 
emulation and imitation. And then he contrasts God's everlasting 
mercy with the temporary state of man. Verse 15. Here for a 
reason. Here's what God is in His attributes. Here's what God is as He forgives. 
Here's what God is as He relates to you. Here's what God is in 
His mercy and His graciousness and His forbearance and long-suffering. 
You need to understand as well, he's immutable, he's unchangeable. 
He's not this one day and this way on Thursday. He's not this 
on Sunday and this way another day. Notice, as for man, his 
days are like grass, as a flower of the field so he flourishes, 
for the wind passes over 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, to those 
who remember His commandments to do that. You see the specific 
contrast set up. Do not think that God is transient 
in these attributes. Do not think that God is temporary 
in His works. Do not think for a moment that 
He's here today and gone tomorrow. But rather, man is like that. 
Man is temporary. Man is fleeting. Man is like 
the grass. But God's mercy is from everlasting 
to everlasting. That means on the Lord's Day. 
That means on Wednesday. That means on Friday. That means 
in every day in between. God does not change in terms 
of who He is to His children. Bless Him. Praise Him. Thank 
Him. You know your own temporary, 
transient heart? One moment holy, one moment not 
so. One moment happy, one moment 
not so. One moment kind, one moment not so. Go through the 
list, the fruits of the Spirit. One moment joyful, one moment 
not so. One moment patient, one moment not so. That's not God. 
That's not God. Let's the Scripture testify concerning 
our Lord, Jesus Christ. The same yesterday. and today, 
and forever. That's the kind of God you and 
I need. That's the kind of God we ought to bless, we ought to 
praise, we ought to worship. Spurgeon again, how vast the 
contrast. If you don't have Spurgeon's Treasury of David, you really 
should obtain them. It's his commentary on the book 
of Psalms. It's also available free on Esword. I get no kickback. It's free. So you can go download it to 
your heart's content. Also John Gill's commentaries, 
Matthew Henry, lots of good stuff on that Esword.com. 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 all eternity, the Lord 
viewed his people as objects of mercy and as such chose them 
to become partakers of his grace. The doctrine of election, or 
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. Amen. The psalm ends with a universal 
summons to bless God. He's established his throne in 
heaven. His kingdom rules over all. So what is the duty of every 
created being? It is to bless him. It is to 
marvel. It is to praise. It is to adore. 
Notice, David, king of Israel, calling upon the angels. Bless 
him. Don't you love that? David, king 
of Israel. You hosts, bless him. You ministers 
of his who do his pleasure, bless him. Bless the Lord, all his 
works in all places of his dominion. And then he ends the psalm where 
he began. Bless the Lord, O my soul. It doesn't do any good 
for David to issue a challenge to the angels, to the hosts of 
heaven, and to the ministers of God if he himself forgets 
to bless his Lord. Brethren, I believe this psalm 
and its ethic does five things. That's not a does five things, 
so close your eyes and close your heart and go to sleep. This 
is a quick five things. First, this psalm, rightly applied 
in the life of the believer, first of all, keeps us in good 
company. This psalm, rightly applied in 
the life of the believer, keeps us in good company. The angels, the servants, the 
hosts, the ministers, David, when he travailed on earth, did 
this thing. They blessed the Lord. They praised 
God. They honored Him. They worshiped 
Him. They adored Him. You want to 
know how you can be more holy? You want to be more like that 
man who was after God's own heart? Then worship the Lord. Praise 
the Lord. Adore the Lord. Honor the Lord 
and glorify the Lord. It keeps us in good company. When all around us are bickering, 
complaining, whining, getting sidetracked, let us join those 
who bless the Lord, who do it with the right heart. Secondly, 
this psalm and its ethic, rightly applied in the life of the believer, 
keeps our eyes off of self. That's always a good thing in 
my book. Who's your biggest enemy in the Christian life? Yeah, 
it's probably the devil. Okay. It's probably you, too. 
We got that unholy trinity, the world, the flesh, the devil. 
Who's always with us in that unholy trinity? wingo by an island. I mean, it's quite costly, but 
we can cut off the world. The devil is not omnipotent, 
he's not omniscient, and he's not omnipresent. There could 
be a time on Thursday afternoon where he's not messing with you. 
Who's always there? Who's the on-board struggle? 
Who will you not be rid of until you cross the river Jordan and 
enter into Immanuel's land? The flesh. So when we adopt the 
ethic of this psalm and we're, bless the Lord, talk to yourself 
long enough to get yourself doing what you're supposed to do and 
forget about yourself. Bless him, praise him, worship 
him, honor him, glorify him. Thirdly, The ethic of this psalm 
rightly applied in the life of a believer keeps our eyes and 
affections upon God. I know that's closely related 
to this one where we're not focused on ourself, but both things are 
crucial. We can go a day without thinking 
about ourselves, but are we necessarily thinking about God? You see, 
both things are crucial in the Christian life. Paul puts the 
ethic this way in Romans 13, 14. He says, but put on the Lord 
Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its 
lust. There's both a put on and a put off in the Christian life. 
There is both a don't look at yourself and a look at God in 
the Christian life. There's no neutrality that is 
somehow blessed and good and a wonderful state to be in. No, 
this keeps our eyes and affections upon God. James instruction in 
James 5.13, is anyone among you suffering? What's his reply? What do you think his reply is? 
Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Yes, what 
James says, let him sing psalms. You see, James says whatever 
state, whatever condition, whatever trial, whatever blessing you 
find yourself in, you should still be with God. Isn't that 
a good thing? Fourthly, The ethic of this psalm, 
rightly applied in the life of a believer, keeps us in a right 
disposition. Not only keeps us in good company, 
not only keeps our eyes off self, not only keeps our eyes and affections 
upon God, but it keeps us in a right disposition. We ought 
to be a praising people. We ought to be a worshiping people. 
We ought to be a blessing people. Not the holy roller sorter, where, 
you know, I just lost an arm, praise the Lord. That's not, 
that's disingenuous. But the general tenor of the 
Christian's life is one of joy in the Lord. As well, it produces 
or provides or promotes the disposition of fear. You see that in this 
psalm? To those who fear Him. When we're 
blessing the Lord, we're rightly related to the Lord the way we 
ought to be. Fear is the net effect. We relate to God in fear. Again, not the slavish fear, 
hiding under the piano fear, but the reverential awe, the 
soul of godliness, the realization of who He is and who we are before 
Him. That's the fear of the Lord that leads to life. And then 
it does put us in a place of utter dependence upon the Lord. 
We are pitied as children. We function as children. And 
then the fifth practical benefit of the ethic or the applying 
of this psalm is that it keeps us ever mindful of the blood 
of Jesus Christ. When you read this psalm, if 
you don't thank Christ, then you need to repent. Right now. I'm being mean here. Where is the source of our forgiveness? Let it be known to you that forgiveness 
of sins is preached through this man. You see, the ethic of this 
psalm, rightly applied, will keep us near the cross where 
we need to be. You see, 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, should 
lead the new covenant believer to Ephesians 3. I'm sorry, Ephesians 
1. Should lead the new covenant 
believer to consider the sovereign grace of God and His electing 
purposes, in Ephesians 1. His predestination. should lead 
us to Ephesians 1 to consider, in whom we have redemption through 
his blood, verse 7. And it should lead us to Ephesians 
1, 13 and 14, where it highlights the work of the Holy Spirit in 
being the seal and guarantee of our redemption. You see, the 
ethic of this psalm rightly applied in the life of the believer will 
keep one near the cross. That's where you need to be. 
Jesus, keep me near the cross. Constantly, consistently, perpetually, 
and always. You take this psalm in the heart 
of the New Covenant believer, it ought to bring you day by 
day to the foot of the one who lived, who died, and who rose 
again for your salvation. If you do not know that Savior, 
if you cannot bless the Lord the way David describes here, 
if you have not received the forgiveness of sins, the instruction 
to you is the same. Go to the same cross, go to the 
same Savior, go to the same Lord, believe his gospel, and you shall 
be saved. Then take Psalm 103 and make 
tomorrow a real Thanksgiving Day. Actually, don't wait for 
tomorrow. Make today a real Thanksgiving Day. Praise God, from whom all 
blessings flow. Well, let us pray. Our Father 
in heaven, we thank you for this, your word. We thank you for your 
grace and your mercy. We thank you for forgiveness 
and for spiritual blessing, and we thank you for those temporal 
blessings that you give us as well. The psalmist says, in another 
place, you load us daily with benefits, and we testify that 
this is indeed the truth. God, forgive us that at times 
we don't bless you as we ought. Forgive us that at times we don't 
talk to ourselves in a godly way as we should. and do forgive 
us and cleanse us and cause us to reflect upon this psalm and 
to be those who come before your throne of grace to sing your 
praises and to glorify your holy name. And we ask through Jesus 
Christ our Lord, amen.