Scripture Reading
Psalm 103. The focus of the psalmist in this particular psalm is thanksgiving for the mercy of God, a good theme for us to consider on this Lord's Day Sabbath this evening as we enter into a new week. Certainly, as God's people, we ought to manifest a disposition of thankfulness. That was the reason for the reading in Colossians 1, several times in that brief epistle, the apostle Paul. tells the people of God.
They are to be thankful, certainly as those who have received the grace of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We ought to be a thankful lot, and we ought to return praise to our God. I'll begin reading in Psalm 103 at verse 1. A Psalm of David.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name.
Forgetting God's Benefits
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 lovingkindness and tender mercies, who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. 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. Well, let us pray.
Opening Prayer
God, we thank you for the written word. We pray now for the Holy Spirit, the Giver of the Word. We ask that He would help us to understand these things and move us to a thankfulness, a disposition of gratitude to the God who has saved us by His grace and for His glory. May we be an appreciative people in light of a crucified and risen Savior.
May we indeed be able to look through the trying times in which we live and see enthroned at the right hand of the majesty of God on high, our King of kings and our Lord of lords. Cause us as your people to reflect your goodness and cause us as your people to manifest thankfulness to you. And may others see this and may others be struck by this, that we are a people who acknowledge the graciousness and the mercy and the kindness of our good God. And we pray that you would be with us now, forgiving us of all of our sins and our transgressions, and encouraging our hearts by your grace and for your glory.
And we ask these things through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Introduction
Well, I believe this psalm breaks down into three primary parts. The first is the reminder to bless God in verses 1 and 2. David speaks to himself. David talks to himself.
In these days of Bluetooth, this is a good thing. Bluetooth enables us to be able to talk to ourselves without people thinking we're nuts. Because if they see us talking to ourselves in our vehicles, typically they suspect that we're on the phone. But those of us who have made it a practice of talking to ourselves for many years are thankful for that welcome relief, that not everybody thinks we're nuts because we're moving our mouths in a car where we're the only ones.
But David reminds himself. David calls upon himself to bless God, verses 1 and 2. Secondly, he provides reasons for himself to bless God. In other words, not only does he remind himself, but he gives him the fodder necessary to provoke and promote that blessing of God.
And then in the third place, there is a recognition of the Kingdom of God in verses 19 to 22. It's very intriguing. He starts off by talking to himself. He starts off by reminding himself.
And then in verses 19 to 22, after highlighting the sovereignty of God Most High, he calls upon the entire created order to bless the Lord along with Him. So what begins as a soliloquy, what begins as talking to oneself, becomes a means by which David then calls upon angels, the hosts, the ministers, all of God's works to bless His holy name. Now certainly the word bless, as we understand it, when it comes from God to us, when He blesses us, that means He prospers us, He makes us happy, He multiplies good things to us. When we bless God, it means to speak well of Him.
It means to magnify His name. This is the thrust in Ephesians 1, where the Apostle says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. So as God blesses us, we then bless Him. We don't give Him things.
We don't add to Him in any sense or shape whatsoever as if we could possibly add to God, but we ascribe praise to Him. And at the root of all of this is a thankful heart, a heart of gratitude for what the Lord has done in the lives of His people.
Reminder to Bless God
So let's look first at this reminder to bless God in verses 1 and 2. It's a psalm of David. The inscription there tells us as much. Now that's the first verse in the Hebrew Bible.
Unfortunately, at least my new King James doesn't number those superscriptions. That psalm of David is actually verse one. It is inspired scripture. You may have a chapter heading there that says, praise for the Lord's mercies.
That's not inspired. But the psalm of David is inspired. It ought to be read. It ought to be heard.
It ought to be listened to. So it's David, that man after God's own heart, who is speaking praise to the Lord. Notice, he says, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. It's a very intriguing statement.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. In other words, God is so worthy and so excellent and so glorious, it's not just a part of us that ought to respond. It's not just a Sunday part. It's not just a heart part.
It's not just a little part. It's not just the religious aspect. But he says, bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. The Lord God Most High has redeemed us.
The Lord God Most High has saved us. The Lord God Most High has indeed forgiven us of our sins, and as a result, the people have got up to bless the Lord, not with just a part, not with just a piece, not with just a little bit, and not just on one day, but all that is within us ought to bless his holy name." He practices this talking to himself elsewhere in Psalms 42 and 43. There he says, why are you cast down, O my soul? Hope thou in God.
David was no stranger to these soliloquies, to this self-discussion, to this encouragement and exhortation from himself to himself. C.H. Spurgeon says, soul music is the very soul of music. The psalmist strikes the best key note when he begins with stirring up his inmost self to magnify the Lord.
He soliloquizes, holds self-communion, and exhorts himself as though he felt that dullness would all too soon steal over his faculties, as indeed it will over us all unless we are diligently on the watch. This is a helpful remedy to protect ourselves from falling prey to a laziness, to a slothfulness, to a forgetfulness. This may need to be practiced in public worship. We may need to talk to ourselves.
If you start opening your mouth and you start doing that, and I know there's not Bluetooth here, I might think you're a little nuts. But we might need to talk to ourselves and say, we're not supposed to think about tomorrow. We're not supposed to be thinking about the debate tonight. We're not supposed to be thinking about this contract this week.
We're supposed to be paying attention, because God the Lord has promised His blessing wherever people gather together and wherever the preaching of the Word comes. We need to rouse ourselves to attentiveness, and we need to rouse ourselves to a commitment to our Lord. Martin Lloyd-Jones says, have you not realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? I love that.
David talks to himself. Lloyd-Jones says, have you not realized the most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself rather than talking to yourself? Now, certainly you'd say, well, if I'm talking to myself, I must be listening to myself. But the priority is noteworthy.
We need to talk to ourselves. We need to rouse ourselves. We need to say, bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. And in case David didn't get it the first time, David repeats it in verse 2.
He says in verse 2, bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits. Isn't that something? David acknowledges the propensity or the tendency within the heart of a redeemed sinner to forget the Lord's benefits. Is it possible that we fall prey to that?
Is it possible that we're not a more thankful people? That we don't exercise this gratitude more faithfully and diligently? That we don't rouse ourselves up in the totality of our redeemed humanity to bless the Lord because we fall in prey to that? We have forgotten the Lord's benefits.
Perhaps in the mind of David is what God commanded Israel. Deuteronomy chapter 6. You can turn there. It's very important because I think the command is there for a reason.
Well, all commands are there for a reason, but certainly the Lord saw the potential. If Israel forgets God, if Israel forgets His benefits, then Israel is going to go astray. Notice in Deuteronomy chapter 6, specifically at verse 12. Well, beginning in verse 10.
So it shall be when the Lord your God brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build, houses full of all good things which you did not fill, hewn out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant. When you have eaten and are full, then beware lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage." You see the temptation. You see the possible trajectory. They reap the benefits of the kindness of God, they enjoy the vineyards, they enjoy the houses, they enjoy the stuff, and they forget the giver.
They forget the reality that it was the Lord who handed these things to them. And there is a beware here. Beware of forgetting this goodness of our God. Notice as well, Deuteronomy 8, verse 11.
Same idea, beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes, which I command you today. You see the close connection there. Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes, which I command you today. You forget God, and you engage in covenant breaking.
You remember God, and hopefully you'll serve Him, adore Him, honor Him, and bless His holy name. Look at those covenant curses in Deuteronomy 28. We've said much about those in recent days in our morning worship. But specifically, Deuteronomy chapter 28, verse 47.
One of the aspects of the unfaithfulness of Israel is described in 2847. Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart for the abundance of everything, therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you in hunger and thirst and nakedness and in need of everything. And he will put a yoke of iron on your neck until he has destroyed you. Look at that.
Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart for the abundance of everything. Because they forgot. because they thought that their hands had provided this. It's because they thought that they somehow were worthy of this, or that they somehow deserved this. And because they forgot God, they did not serve God with joy and gladness of heart.
So back to our psalm, David rouses his soul. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits. Brethren, you need to recognize in your own heart there is a tendency, a propensity, and yea, maybe even the reality of a forgetfulness of who God is. We need to rouse ourselves.
We need to speak to ourselves. We need to take the psalm and make it our own.
Reasons to Bless God
Now note the second place, the reasons to bless God. The end of verse 2, he says, forget not all his benefits. It seems fitting that David will now list his benefits. It seems fitting and appropriate that David will now tell us, or tell himself, what God has done.
These are the reasons why you ought to bless the Lord. These are the reasons you ought to praise the Lord. These are the reasons you ought to worship the Lord. This is the stuff that thankfulness feeds upon.
And note in the first place the spiritual blessing. After saying, forget not all his benefits, we move into the reasons to bless God in verses 3 to 18.
The Gifts Received
Note that chief boon in verse 3. Who forgives all your iniquities? We could just stop right there, couldn't we? David could have stopped right there.
Well, he wants to magnify the mercy behind this forgiveness. That's the bulk of the psalm. It is to magnify God for His mercies to David. Think about that.
He says, who forgives all your iniquities? You know the Heidelberg Catechism. Many of you grew up memorizing it or going to classes and hearing it taught and expound it. There is a pattern or a structure involved in that catechism that reflects redemptive reality.
The first section deals with guilt, our guilt before a holy God, our sin before a holy God, our breaking of His law, the reality that we don't keep His law, that we don't love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, that we don't love our neighbors as ourselves. Guilt is the first section. And then it moves on to grace. How God overcomes the guilt of man, the sin of man, the transgression of man, by His gracious activity in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The application of redemption comes to vile, guilty, helpless sinners. It doesn't come to the upright, it doesn't come to the polished, it doesn't come to the well-performed, it rather comes to guilty sinners. Guilty, vile, helpless we, spotless Lamb of God was He. Full atonement, can it be?
Hallelujah, what a Savior. And then after guilt and after grace, then comes what? Gratitude. That is the redeemed sinner's response to the goodness of our God.
Gratitude. We thank the Lord. We praise the Lord. We bless the Lord.
We obey the Lord in all that He says by the Spirit and according to His will. Spurgeon comments on this aspect of forgiveness. He says he selects a few of the choicest pearls from the casket of divine love, threads them on a string of memory, and hangs them about the neck of gratitude. Isn't this why we love Spurgeon?
That's a beautiful statement, isn't it? It's just so wonderful. He selects a few of the choice's 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, one of the chiefest boons of grace, one of the earliest gifts of mercy.
In fact, the needful preparation for enjoying all that follows it, Till iniquity is forgiven, healing, redemption, and satisfaction are unknown blessings. So David starts with this conspicuous reference to the spiritual aspects of God's dealings with him. But he doesn't stop there. Notice he goes on.
Verse 3b, who heals all your diseases. Now, I don't think that's a general maxim that every single person ought to apply that's a believer in Christ. In other words, if you have cancer, you have some terrible malady, you can't come to Psalm 103, verse 3b, and say, well, God hasn't healed my disease. This isn't a Benny Hinn proof text.
This isn't the health, wealth, and prosperity proof text. This is probably true in David's life, and certainly it is a general principle in terms of God's faithfulness in his dealings with his people. But we do err and we do come into some grief when we take these things and we press them and we prosecute them and we say that God is not fit or God is not legit with reference to His promise here. Now David is pronouncing a general maxim, who heals all your diseases.
Again, the experience of Israel was such. They were protected by God while they were in Egypt from all of the various diseases that were in Egypt. God brings them out and he tells them that those particular things, dysentery and elephantiasis and all those wretched, horrible things that were in Egypt, they're not going to be upon you in the land of Canaan, the land of promise that you inherit by God's grace and mercy. Notice, not only the fact of physical healing, but he says in verse 4, who redeems your life from destruction.
The protection from calamity. I wonder at times how many times we've been spared from a horrible car crash. Do you ever wonder that? How many times we should have bought it, humanly speaking?
How many times has God delivered us? How many times has God redeemed our lives from destruction? Again, David knew this very, very intimately, because David was hunted like a dog by Saul. David knew what it was to be on the run.
David knew what it was to be in danger. Toils, trials, tribulations, and twice in David's history, inscripturated for us, he says that Yahweh has delivered me from every adversity. prior to his incident with Bathsheba, and even after the incident with Bathsheba and Uriah. Twice in his history, David says, the Lord has delivered me from every adversity. He has delivered us as well.
He has preserved us. He has kept us. He keeps us safe. Notice in 4b, who crowns you with lovingkindness.
That's that chesed, that steadfast love, with lovingkindness and tender mercies. He crowns us. He doesn't just put a sock on our feet with it. He crowns us with these things.
The tender mercies of God. The loving kindness of God. He causes to fall upon us richly. You see, we need to appreciate that.
And I think that this psalm promotes an appreciation of that. That God, in His dealings with sinners, is not miserly. He's not scrooge-like. He doesn't just apportion out a few units.
But rather, He is abundant. The psalmist says that. He is abundant. He begraces us.
This is Paul's language in Ephesians. The God of heaven and earth has bestowed largely upon us. And this is what David is rehearsing as he blesses the Lord. And then notice in verse 5, the provision of temporal goods.
Verse 5, Who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagles. Similar to what Jesus teaches us to pray, doesn't he? Give us each day our daily bread. David says this is the case.
David says that this happens. He satisfies our mouth, not just with things. I love that Matthew-Henry quote. I think it's at the time when Boaz invites Ruth to dip her bread in the vinegar, to make it tasty.
And Matthew-Henry says something to the effect that, you know, she could have just had the bread. She could have just had the nourishment and the sustenance, but no, you have the taste with it. You savor the goodness of it. That's our God, brethren.
Everything could have tasted like dirt. Everything could have provided the exact appropriate portions of protein and carbs and fiber. We could have got daily biscuits that would have satisfied our nutritional requirements. But we would never have had a steak, grilled onions.
We never would have had a mango or an avocado. We never have those blessings from on high. You see what David is saying? God gives you these good things, and you're not going to bless Him?
You're not going to thank Him? You're not going to say, God Almighty, I love you, and I want to return praise to you, because you've given me not only that which is necessary to sustain life, but it's delicious, it's enjoyable. I, a wretched sinner that deserves the damnation of hell, get to feast like a king in this lower world. Praise God is what David is saying, from whom all blessings flow.
So those are the gifts received, verses 3 to 5.
The Receivers of the Gifts
Notice the receivers of the gifts highlighted in verses 6 and 7. The Lord executes righteousness and justice for who? For all who are oppressed. We're oppressed, brethren.
We're oppressed by the world, by the flesh, by the devil. The most dangerous being, the flesh. There's a time and a sense where we could go hide on an island and be away from the ravages of the world. The devil isn't an omniscient, omnipotent being, so there may be a season or a time when he's not actually messing with us.
But we've always got this flesh, we've always got this remaining corruption, or if we're outside of Christ, we have this reigning corruption. And the Lord comes to deliver these mercies and these graces and these benefits and these kindnesses to those who are oppressed. The people of God, described in verse 7, He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel. So the reasons to bless God involve the gifts received, verses 3-5, the receivers of the gifts, verses 6-7, and now note, His emphasis is on the giver of the gifts in verses 8-18.
The Giver of the Gifts
This is the reason we bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. This is the reason we bless the Lord, and forget not all His benefits, because He's this God, portrayed here for us in verses 8 to 18.
God's Mercy Examined
Notice, in the first place, He is the merciful and gracious God. Verse 8. The Lord is merciful and gracious. Those words are very parallel, aren't they?
Mercy and grace. They're very closely connected. Mercy and grace. Grace, as I'm sure you've heard, ad nauseum, is unmerited favor.
It is God's gift to the recipient. Mercy seems to contain the nuance that this gracious gift comes to one who deserves punishment, to one who deserves wrath and curse and damnation, but God deals with them mercifully. God shows him pity. God shows him compassion.
Mercy seems to include not only the guilt, but also the misery because of sin. I almost called him the apostle because he sounds like Paul here, but what David says in verse 8, Yahweh is merciful and gracious. This is who He is. God is His essence, God is His attributes.
He is merciful and gracious. And note what He says concerning this in verse 8. He is slow to anger and abounding in mercy. Don't you love that?
I've already pointed it out. But our God doesn't just show us mercy, He abounds in it. He abounds in it. He doesn't look at us and say, okay, you get, you know, two portions today because I'm really upset with you.
No, he's slow to anger and he bounds in mercy. Do you understand that's your God? I think this is a tough lesson for the people of God to get. You mean I can come back to him even when I've sinned?
To whom shall you go when you've sinned? It's like Peter to Jesus in John 6, when the Lord says, are you going to leave me too? And Peter says, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
This is where we must go. It is to the God of heaven and earth, who abounds in mercy. Again, Spurgeon. 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." Beautiful, isn't it?
After a few blows, he ends the matter. He gives us the blows because he's a father who loves us. Right? You spare the rod, you hate the child, according to Solomon.
Well, God loves the child, so he gives him the blows. The blueness of the wound scours away evil, according to Solomon, in Proverbs 20. But after a few blows, he ends the matter and presses his beloved one to his bosom as if nothing had happened. Now, lest you say, well, that's just Spurgeon with his poetic ability, musing and meditating and contemplating.
How do you know this is the case with reference to the Scriptures themselves? Just look at Luke 15. Just look at that account of that prodigal son. Just look at that account of that young man who's smelling like pig, smelling like sin, looking like filth, says, I know what I'll do.
I'll go back to my Father and I'll cast myself upon His mercy. Now brethren, I do not believe the young man is converted here. He is not saying, I'm going to go and confess my sin and forsake it and live a life of righteousness and godliness. He wants a hot meal.
He wants to be treated as one of his father's servants. He knows this much about his father that his father hires day laborers. And if the son, with this mercenary spirit, comes back to him and says the right things, then maybe he will get the place or position of a hired servant, and he'll at least get to eat food each day. That's the context.
That's the situation. And yet, when he's a long way off, the father sees him, the father runs to him, the father falls on him, the father kisses him, the father takes him back to his house, the father orders that a ring be put on his finger and orders that a robe be put on his back. He orders that a fattened calf be slain so that they can celebrate and rejoice. You see, if you ever question the abundant mercies of our God, you're not reading the right Bible.
You need to read the Scriptures, because it displays for us not a miserly God, but a very gracious God who abounds in mercy. Spurgeon goes on, 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. And he does not suffer his anger with his people to pass into the next world, but receives his erring child into his glory. Praise God that he is the God of Psalm 103.
So David sets forth that reality, the attribute of God, or the attributes of God vis-Ã -vis His mercy and His grace. Now, look at what he does in verses 8 to 18. He magnifies. He says, let's just put mercy under the microscope now and let's parse it out.
Let's dissect it. You kids, when you're growing up, you take frogs and cut them up and put them under microscopes and you check them out further. You investigate it more comprehensively. You've got your pencil and you've got your notepad, or probably now you've got your iPhone or your computer or your tablet or whatever it is you're recording notes with, but you want to investigate the inner workings of that frog even more.
This is what David's doing here. I've mentioned His mercy. I've mentioned that He abounds in His mercy. Let's just explore this mercy.
Why would this be important for David? Why would David want to throw the mercy of God under the microscope, as it were, and give it a further inspection? Because David is blessing the Lord. Because David is praising the Lord.
Because David is expressing his gratitude and thankfulness to the Lord. And as David rehearses not only the Lord's kindness, he rehearses his own sinfulness. And David knew that mercy firsthand. David knew that mercy experientially.
David knew it when he was first brought out of darkness into marvelous light, and he knew it every step of the way. He knew it when he fell into sin with Bathsheba. He knew it when he fell into sin by murder. He didn't fall, he jumped into these sins.
And when he murdered Uriah. And when the prophet Nathan comes to reprove him, David understands this, and he says, I have sinned against Yahweh. And the prophet says, God has put away your sin. He knew mercy, he understood mercy, and he saw that he stood by mercy.
Notice David's rehearsal of the manifestation of God's mercy in verses 9 to 18. Just before we get to these particulars, Ralph Davis makes this observation. He says, biblical prayer, this is what Psalm 103 is, 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.
In other words, as we look at David, and we can see him here in his prayer closet, what's he doing? He's pondering God. You think perhaps there's a connection there? The more that we ponder God, the more that we'll praise God?
The more that we know of God, the more that we'll worship God? In other words, is there a connection between theology and doxology? Absolutely, positively. When we rehearse the attributes of God in the prayer closet, when we consider His abounding mercy to us in our misery, and in our sin, and in our wretchedness, when we see the power of God delivering us, when we see the power of God preserving us, when we see the power of God feeding us on a daily basis, then hopefully we respond the way that David responds.
Aspects of God's Mercy
Note in the first place, his mercy is such that he does not strive with us. Verse 9, he will not always strive with us, nor will he keep his anger forever. Brethren, I think as parents we ought to model our parenting after what we find in Psalm 103. If your child has been chastened, if your child has been disciplined, if you have forgiven him, then forgive him.
Don't brood and emotionally punish him for six more months and make him feel bad because of what he's done. That's not what God does. Penance is Romish. Forgiveness is Bible.
We don't have to walk around beating ourselves on the back. The Lord Christ took the punishment due for our sins. The Lord Christ bled on our behalf. The Lord Christ was buried, and the Lord Christ was raised on the third day, such that we don't have to put ashes in our soup to atone for our sins.
We don't have to erect poles and sit in the wilderness in order to atone for our sins. The Lord our God does not strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. Notice, secondly, His mercy is toward the undeserving. Verse 10, He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities.
In some sense, it's tautological. A tautology is when you say the same thing over again. And in a sense, that's what this means. His mercy is toward the undeserving.
Well, by definition, mercy comes to the undeserving. In other words, the one that is shown mercy deserves wrath, deserves hell, deserves judgment, deserves condemnation. But God doesn't visit that upon him. So we can say, with verse 10, that mercy is definitely toward the undeserving.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins. Isn't that your reality? Don't you understand that? Haven't you mused on that many times yourselves?
You know, we hear of certain things going on in this world, and oftentimes as Christians, we're quick to go, wow, that's terrible, without reflecting upon ourselves. We have sinned a great deal against a holy God, and He doesn't deserve, or He hasn't, we don't deserve this mercy. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor has He punished us according to our iniquities. Notice as well, His mercy is infinite.
Verse 11, God is His attributes. God is His attributes, and His mercy is infinite, as God is infinite. Note verse 11, for as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him. I don't think heavens there means, you know, Pluto.
Once you get to Pluto, then the mercy ends. You know, you're good until Pluto. Well, I don't know, Pluto is not a planet anymore, so whatever, the next to last, I know the planets, I don't want to rehearse them though, Neptune, right? That's the almost last one now.
The heavens means the heavens of God. His mercy is infinite. It doesn't wear out. There's not a cap.
There's not a limitation. You've used it all up, you've exhausted the mercy of God, no more for you, too bad for you, out you go. His mercy is infinite. As the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him.
Notice as well, His mercy is thorough. Verse 12, as far as the East is from the West, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. It's thorough. He doesn't leave some there.
He doesn't leave some unatoned for. He doesn't leave some unforgiven. But as far as the East is from the West, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. Notice as well, His mercy is tender.
I think I love verse 13. It's probably not, I don't think I love it. I do love it. But in my mind, this is one of those, those boons above the boons with reference to Psalm 103.
As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear him. Don't we need pity? I mean, we're pitiable creatures, aren't we? We're wretches.
And the fact is, our God pities us. Look at Deuteronomy 1 for just a moment. Deuteronomy chapter 1. Beautiful image of what God is to Israel.
Deuteronomy chapter 1. specifically verse 26. Nevertheless, you would not, I'm sorry, verse 29. Then I said to you, do not be terrified or afraid of them. The Lord, your God who goes before you, he will fight for you according to all he did for you in Egypt before your eyes and in the wilderness where you saw how the Lord, your God carried you as a man carries his son in all the way that you went until you came to this place.
Do you know how many times the children of Israel whined and grumbled and complained when they were in the wilderness? Do you know that in the wilderness this was a season of God's great blessing, God's great provision, God's great protection? In the wilderness where you saw how the Lord your God carried you as a man carries his son in all the way that you went until you came to this place. Aren't these images in our Bibles to promote in our hearts an appreciation for the fatherhood of God, that He is what is described in Psalm 103, 13, as a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him.
His mercy is sympathetic, verse 14, for He knows our frame. He remembers that we are dust. He knows our frame. He remembers that we are dust.
I think at times, brethren, we need to rehearse this And we need to recall this, and we need to understand this, and we need to roll it in our minds and our hearts, because we forget who God is. We forget the reality set forth in Psalm 103. And instead of blessing the Lord, instead of praising the Lord, instead of thanking the Lord, we ask questions like, where is the Lord? Why is the Lord doing this?
Well, the Lord is in this for your good. He pities you. He knows your frame. He knows that you are but dust.
And then notice finally, with reference to the mercy of God in the microscope, His mercy is enduring. Verses 15-18. As for man, his days are like grass. As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
For the wind passes over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But, the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him. Man comes and man goes, but the mercy of God is enduring. and His righteousness to children's children, to such as keep His covenant, and to those who remember His commandments, to do them." Spurgeon again, how vast the contrast between the fading flower and the everlasting God. How wonderful that His mercy should link our frailty with His eternity and make us everlasting too.
From old eternity, the Lord viewed His people as objects of mercy, and as such chose them to become partakers of His grace. The doctrine of eternal election is most delightful to those who have light to see it and love wherewith to accept it. It is a theme for deepest thought and highest joy. That mercy endures forever.
So those are the reasons to bless.
Recognition of God's Kingdom
After the reminder to bless, finally and quickly notice The recognition of the Kingdom of God, verses 19 to 22. He speaks of the establishment of the throne of the Lord. Verse 19a, Yahweh has established His throne in heaven. He notes the scope of His rule in verse 19b, and His Kingdom rules over all.
Comprehensive sovereignty, absolute universal lordship. There's not one square inch that's not under the direct control of our sovereign God. That right there is a reason to bless, a reason to praise, a reason to celebrate, and a reason to adore Him. But then He moves from that, to call upon a universal summons to bless God.
Verses 20 to 22. Bless the Lord, you His angels, who excel in strength, who do His work. Think about this. David, creature.
Angels are creatures, but they're of a higher order of creature. So the lower order David says to the angels, you need to bless the Lord. That's not arrogance on David's part. That's a recognition of the infinite worth and exceeding value and the glory of God most high.
Not that the unfallen angels needed to be reminded by David. They're just saying, absolutely, we'll bless him. We will bless Him because He's worthy. That is their job, to bless God.
Bless the Lord, you His angels who excel in strength and who do His work, 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 and all places of His dominion. And then he ends where he begins, bless the Lord, O my soul.
He's gone full circle. He has rehearsed the reasons, he has recognized the kingdom, and he calls upon all the inhabitants of the earth, all the created order, to bless God. And he ends with reminding himself once again to bless the Lord.
Application
Well, in conclusion, I think there are several things, and I don't mean a several half-hour several, but just a quick several things that we ought to consider with reference to Thanksgiving. In the first place, Thanksgiving keeps us in good company. Thanksgiving keeps us in good company. I don't mean particularly that tomorrow.
I hope you're in good company. I hope it's not misery and turmoil and chaos and throwing turkey legs at each other. But the idea is that Thanksgiving keeps us in good company. In other words, when we're thankful to God, we're where we're supposed to be.
We're with the men like David. We're with the men like Paul. We're with the men like Peter. We're with the men that instead of grumbling and whining and complaining, we're blessing the Lord.
We're in good company in terms of the angels. If the angels never tire and never cease of saying, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, then certainly we ought to join in their company and praise the Lord God as well. It keeps us in good company. When all around us are bickering, complaining, whining, and getting sidetracked, let us join the created host and bless the Lord.
I thought about this this morning, got up early, and I was sitting there, and I heard a bird tweeting outside. It wasn't a crow. Crows seem to do their thing, no matter what the situation is. But it's been particularly, you know, rainy weather over the last few days.
I think you could explain yesterday as rainy weather. And I heard this one soul bird singing away. And I'm not a bird guy, it's not something, I didn't have a moment, but I just thought, you know, that's kind of like a Christian who's thankful. Because everybody else in the world is whining, rumbling, complaining, sniveling.
That one lone Christian is singing praise to God. When the world's falling apart, the world looks like a mess, there's all kinds of things going on, but there's that one bird chirping, singing, and praising the God of heaven and earth. I think Christians are like that, the thankful ones. You know them, you've met them before.
They're thankful. They sound like a bird when all the other birds are doing whatever it is they do when the rains come. Brethren, thanksgiving keeps us in good company. Secondly, thanksgiving directs us to God and keeps our eyes off of self and sin.
In other words, if we are thanking God, or if we are blessing the Lord, or if we are composing Psalm 103, guess what we're not doing? When David was writing Psalm 103, he wasn't going into Bathsheba. When David was writing Psalm 103, he wasn't having Uriah murdered on the field of battle. This aspect of gratitude directs us to God and keeps our eyes off of self and sin.
One of the reasons why salvation is by grace is to provoke and promote thankfulness on the part of the recipients. You see, if it wasn't by grace, we would be applauding ourselves. We would be like Tyre, boasting in our beauty. We would be like Tyre, boasting in our accomplishments.
We would be like all those devilish fiends that take pride in themselves. But thankfulness directs us to the one who is worthy. As well, thirdly, thanksgiving keeps our eyes and our affections upon God. Very similar to number two, but in some sense a shade different.
Two, directs us to God, keeps our eyes off of self and sin. Three, thanksgiving keeps our eyes and affections upon God. That's where they're supposed to be. That's what we're supposed to be about.
That's the point. In 1 Peter, He calls you out of darkness into marvelous light. Why? So you can lay around on the couch eating Cheetos?
No. He's called you out of darkness into marvelous light that we may proclaim His praises, that we may proclaim His excellencies. That's one of the reasons you've been saved. Yes, so that you don't go to hell.
Yes, so that you don't suffer the wrath and judgment of God. But yes, so that in Philippians 2 you are shining as lights in a crooked and perverse generation. In fact, turn there to Philippians chapter 2 and note this particular connection. Philippians chapter 2, specifically, I just referred to it, verse 15.
You may become blameless and harmless children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast or holding forth the word of life so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I may not run or have not run in vain or labored in vain." Now note verse 14, do all things without complaining and disputing. So that's the antithesis of verses 15 to 16. If you're doing all things with complaining and disputing, you're not going to be blameless and harmless. You're not going to be these children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.
You're not going to be those shining as lights in the world. There is a close connection between the two parts of the verse. Do all things without complaining and disputing that you may be this sort of person. Guess what complaining and disputing keeps you from being?
Guess what complaining and disputing keeps you from doing? It keeps you from being the sort of man or woman that Paul envisages here in verses 15 and 16. So Thanksgiving keeps our eyes and affections upon God. Fourthly, Thanksgiving promotes the proper disposition for God's children.
It puts him in a posture of praise to the Lord God. It promotes the fear of God in his heart. And as well, it promotes dependence upon the Lord God. And then finally, Thanksgiving keeps us ever mindful of the blood of Jesus Christ.
You ever get that? You know, you say to someone, one of the practices in our home is when we sit down to eat, you know, name one thing that you're thankful for. Really, just one thing? I mean, we got...
Do we have time? We got so much to be thankful for. And in some sense, I have this, you know, innate opposition to a Thanksgiving day. Not because I'm anti-turkey or ham or anything like that, but I just think every day ought to be Thanksgiving for a Christian.
I think every day ought to be, bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all His benefits. So many times we forget His benefits. So many times we just live as if there are no benefits.
So many times we forget the reality that Christ our Savior shed His blood on our behalf. Certainly that's the position we're in when we opt for sin. We're forgetting His benefits, or we're purposefully shutting His benefits out so that we're not conscious of God, so that we'll pursue this act of wickedness or treason. Brethren, take a Davidic disposition and bless the Lord.
Forget not His benefits. Rouse your soul to a daily thanksgiving, not just October 10th, but each and every day, the believer ought to rise and praise God Almighty for His goodness, His grace, and that attribute that is on full display in Psalm 103. His mercy. Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Our Father, we thank You for this, Your Word, and we thank You for this amplification of the mercy of God. And I pray that You would help us to bless Your holy name, help us not to forget Your benefits, help us to remind ourselves, and help us to join that wonderful chorus of those who do indeed bless the Lord Most High. Go with us and watch over us and grant us grace to serve you as the Apostle says there in Philippians chapter 2. And we pray these things through Christ our Lord.
Amen.