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.
Opening Prayer
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.
Introduction
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.
Reminder to Bless God
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.
Talking to Ourselves Biblically
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.
What It Means to Bless God
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?
Reasons to Bless God
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.
Individual Blessings: Forgiveness First
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.
Physical and Temporal Blessings
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.
Corporate Reasons to Bless God
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.
God's Attributes: Mercy and Longsuffering
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.
God's Forgiveness and Fatherly Pity
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.
God's Everlasting Mercy vs. Man's Frailty
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.
Universal Summons to Bless God
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.
Application: Five Benefits of This Psalm's Ethic
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.
Closing Prayer
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.