Turn to the 103rd Psalm. This is the psalm, before I read
it, let me make this comment, David doesn't ask for anything
in this psalm. And if you read this psalm, you'll see the reason
why he doesn't ask for anything. He's already got everything.
Keep that in mind as we read this psalm, Psalm 103. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
all that's within me. Bless. His holy name. What do God is I read this song. This will come from each one
of us. Bless the Lord, oh, my soul.
And forget not all his benefits. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities. Who healeth all thy diseases. who redeemeth thy life from destruction,
who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies, who satisfieth thy mouth with
good, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's. The Lord executeth
righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed, He made
known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel. The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always
chide, neither will he keep his anger forever, for he hath not
dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to
our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above
the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As
far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions
from us. Like as a father pitieth his
children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. for he knoweth our frame. He
remembereth that we're dust. As for man, his days are as grass,
as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth, for the wind
passeth over it, and it's gone. And the place thereof shall know
it no more, but the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting
to everlasting. upon them that fear him, and
his righteousness unto children's children, to such as keep his
covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.
The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom
ruleth over all. Bless the Lord, ye his angels,
that excel in strength, that do his commandments hearkening
unto the voice of his word. Bless ye the Lord, all ye his
hosts, ye ministers of his that do his pleasure. Bless the Lord,
all his works in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord,
O my soul. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name,
that we would be able to do exactly what the inspired writer of this
psalm does. Enable us from the very depths
of our hearts to say, bless the Lord, oh, my soul and all that's
within me. Bless his holy name. Lord, enable us to not forget
all your benefits toward us. We ask that this time might be
a time of thanksgiving to you for who you are. And we thank
you for all the blessings of your grace. Now bless us for
the Lord's sake. Forgive us of our sins for his
sake. Lord, we pray for all your people wherever they meet. We
pray for your blessing on the Bible conference in Kingsport
that you would enable the people to hear and the preachers to
preach. Lord, we are so thankful for the revelation of your person.
We ask that you would give us grace to love you more and love
one another more. In Christ's name, we pray. Amen. Now, this is a very unique song,
as I've already stated, in that David does not ask for anything. I don't believe I've ever prayed
a prayer when I wouldn't ask him for something. But here,
David does not make one request. It's a prayer of thanksgiving. And as you read this psalm, you
see that the reason he doesn't ask for anything is that he already
has everything in Christ Jesus. And let's read this. Together,
once again, a psalm of David, the man after God's own heart,
the sweet psalmist of Israel. He says, bless the Lord, oh my
soul, and all that's within me, bless his holy name. Now somebody
might think, how do you bless the Lord? Well, the scripture
does say, without controversy, the less is blessed. of the better,
and we can't add blessedness to the Lord. He's blessed in
himself. There's nothing we can add to
him, but we can do the same thing Paul did in Ephesians chapter
one, verse three, when he said, blessed be the God and father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. We ascribe blessedness to him. He is blessed. I love the way
he says, bless his holy name. Now this description of God is
holy. Holy. Other. Utterly unique. There's no one
like him. He's utterly unique in His sovereignty. Only He is sovereign. He's utterly
unique in His power. Only He is all powerful. All power belongs to Him. You
name every attribute of God, utterly unique. No one like Him. That's why I love the power of
the commandment against idolatry. Thought of God that we compare
to anything in this created universe is wrong. It's bringing him down. It's bringing him down to our
level in our thinking. No, he says, bless the Lord,
O my soul, all that's within me. Bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
forget not all his benefits. Now, faith is not forgetting.
Faith is remembering. When we're unjoyful, unhappy, it's because
we are forgetting. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
forget not all his benefits. And he goes on to enumerate them. First he says, who forgiveth
all thine iniquities. They're forgiven because they've
been taken away. Look down in verse 12. As far
as the East is from the West, so far hath he, what's that word? Removed. They're not there anymore. They've been removed. He was
manifested first John chapter 3 verse 5 says he was manifested
to take away our sin. In him is no sin. If I'm in him I have no sin. What a blessing to have him take
away all iniquities. See, the reason he forgives them
is because there's nothing there to remember. He put them away,
then he forgives them. Who healeth, verse three, who
healeth all thy diseases. Now, this is not talking about
physical healing. Now, if you are healed physically,
guess who healed you? The Lord did. And we are encouraged
to pray about our physical infirmities. Let me read a passage from James
chapter five. Is any sick among you? Let him
call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing
him with oil in the name of the Lord. Now, does this mean that
if you're sick, you ought to call for the people of the church
and that you ought to lay down on a a bed of some kind and have
them daub you with oil? I don't think so. I don't think
so. Remember when the man that was
half dead was saved by the Good Samaritan and he poured in oil
and wine into his wounds? This is talking about the use
of means. Anointing him with oil. If you've
got cancer, take chemotherapy. Whatever problem you have, take
the means God has provided to heal you. That is a great blessing. But when he's talking about who
heals all your diseases, he's not talking about physical diseases,
because something's going to get you. You can just write this
down. You're going to die of something.
And you weren't healed of that disease. Death is awaiting us
all. But he's talking about the disease
of sin. Sin in a believer is a disease
that they hate that makes them very uncomfortable. But listen
to this scripture from Isaiah chapter 53. He was wounded for
our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him and by his stripes we are what? Healed. Healed. Sin is a horrible disease
that you are very aware of. If you're a believer, you hate
it. You say with David, my sin is ever before me. Oh, it's such
a continual struggle. but by his stripes you are healed. Verse four, who redeemeth thy
life from destruction. You're not going to hell. You
know why? He redeemed you. He redeemed
you by his blood, a successful redemption. who redeemeth our
life from destruction, who crowneth thee, thee, me. He crowns me. What a, that's
an amazing word, isn't it? He crowns me. You know, we're
kings and priests to our God. He crowns me with loving kindness
and tender mercies. Like David said in Psalm 51 verse
one, Have mercy upon me, O Lord, according to thy loving kindness,
according to the multitude of thy tender mercies. That's what every believer is
crowned with. And that's strong language, isn't
it? He crowns thee with loving kindness and tender mercies. Verse five, who satisfyeth thy
mouth with good. so that thy youth is renewed
like the eagles who satisfies thy mouth with good. Now, the
Lord is good. Whatever he does is good because
he did it. Whether you and I understand
it or not, the Lord is good. I love that scripture. where
the Lord rejoices in spirit. And that's the only time we read
of him doing this, although I'm sure that his life was filled
with that. It was, he was a man of sorrows and a man of rejoicing
because he knew who he was. But, um, at that time, Jesus
rejoiced in spirit and said, I thank thee, O father, Lord
of heaven and earth, because you have hid these things. from the wise and prudent, and
hast revealed them unto babes, even so, father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight." Are you satisfied with that? That if it's good
in his sight, you don't need any other explanation. You find
complete satisfaction in his goodness. Whatever he does is
good because he did it. I believe that. And I'm satisfied
with that. I'm just plumb satisfied with
that. Whatever he does is good. He's
the first cause behind everything. You look at everything that's
taken place and you think, Oh, I wish I hadn't have done that.
And I wish I hadn't have thought that. And I wish I hadn't have
been. He's sovereign over all. Whatever he does is good and
we're satisfied with that. You know, the father is so satisfied
with his son. Oh, what satisfaction he demonstrated
when he raised him from the dead. He's satisfied with everybody,
completely satisfied with everybody that Christ died for. You find
satisfaction in that? He satisfies thy mouth with good,
his own good, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles."
Now, I'm 64 years old, and I have no doubt that when I was a kid,
bury them, you know, at that age. I mean, they've lived long
enough. And so my physical being is not being renewed. The older
you get, the more acutely you feel that. My physical being
is not being renewed, but my youth is renewed like the eagles.
New, new every morning. His mercies are new every morning. What a glorious Lord he is. So that thy youth is renewed
like the eagles. Verse six, the Lord executeth
righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. Now what's
the oppression is he speaking of? Only believer understands
this. My sin oppresses me. My sin oppresses me. Is he talking about people? Well,
I'm sure you have people that are difficult in your life, but
that's not what this is talking about. My sin oppresses me and
the only thing that gives me relief with regarding my sin
is that he executes judgment. This is talking about the cross
of the Lord Jesus Christ, how he's made the way to be just
and justify the ungodly and that sin that oppresses me I stand
before God without sin, without guilt, because of the righteousness
and merits of Jesus Christ. That's the only thing, that's
the only relief from my oppress. His work in behalf of me when
he executed righteousness and judgment in the cross of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 7, He made known his ways
unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel. Now that's
interesting. He made known his ways to Moses. His acts, what
he did to the children of Israel. You know, I'm thankful for his
acts, but I wanna be like Moses and know his ways, don't you?
I wanna know his ways because I know him and he knows me. He
made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the children of Israel.
Verse eight, the Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and
plenteous in mercy. He's merciful. He doesn't give
me what I deserve. He's merciful. He's gracious. He gives me what I do not deserve. He's slow to anger. Oh, we're
quick to pop off, not him. He's slow to anger and he's plenteous,
overflowing in mercy. He will not always chide, neither
will he keep his anger forever. Now what's that all about? Well, there's going to be a day
when I am sinless and there won't be any reason to chide me. Now,
Right now, every time we sin, there's a consequence in our
own heart, in our own thought. You can't sin without consequence
in your life. It's going to happen. And there's
a chastening of the Lord. Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth.
Aren't you thankful for that? I want to be chastened by the
Lord. I don't want to be left to myself. But there's a time when
none of that will be necessary in heaven, when I won't even
remember what it's like to be a sinner. And at that time, he
will not always jive. Neither will he keep his anger
forever. Verse 10, he has not dealt with
us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquity. Now, if he did, if he dealt with
me after my sins, where would I be right now? I'd be in hell.
You would too. Thank God he hath not dealt with
us according to our sins nor rewarded us according to our
iniquities. David said in another place,
if our Lord should mark iniquities, who should stand? Nobody. But there is forgiveness with
thee that thou mayest be feared. Verse 11. For as the heaven is
high above the earth. How high is that? Well, I don't
think he's talking about the heaven where the galaxies are. I think he's talking about the
third heaven where God dwells. How high is that above the earth? We can't even give a measurement
to that. Anything else you can give a measurement, but there's
no measurement for this. But however high that is, That
is how great his mercy is toward them that fear him. And let me
remind you, what is the fear of God? You fear God, if you're
afraid to look anywhere, but Christ alone for everything in
your salvation, that's the fear of God. Anything else is disrespect
for God. It's lack of reverence for God.
But if you fear God, if I fear God will be afraid to look anywhere,
but Christ alone as everything in our salvation. Verse 12, as far as the East
is from the West. Now, how far is that? Once again,
that's infinite. That's infinite. As far as the
East is from the West, so far has he removed. Now listen to
the language of that. You don't bear it. You may be
extremely conscious of your sins right now, but you know what?
They've been removed. You don't have them. You don't have them. They're
gone. You can jump for joy. They're
gone. He's removed them as far from you as the East is from
the West. Verse 13. Like as a father pitieth
his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. Now I want
you to think of the pity you have toward your children. You
love your children. Oh, you're moved by everything
that has anything to do with your children. You love them.
Guess what? You're evil. The Lord said, if
you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more shall your heavenly father give good things to them
that ask him? You know, I love the way the
Lord says to his disciples, if you then being evil, how does
that strike you? The Lord says that to you. You say, right? That's the truth. Now, if you then being evil know
how to give good gifts to your children, you do, you love your
children. How much more shall your heavenly
father? Oh, Like as a father pitieth his
children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him, for he knoweth
our frame. He remembers the weird dust.
He, this is, there's no surprises to him. He knows our frame. Now, what I thought of was when
the Lord was praying in Gethsemane, he asked the disciples to stay
awake with him and pray. And he goes off by himself. He
comes back and what's he find him doing? Sleeping. They fell asleep at this time,
this severe time when the Lord asked them to stay awake and
pray with him. What did they do? They fell asleep. He says, couldn't you stay awake
an hour? He goes away again. He comes back. This is when he
was praying to his father, if it'd be possible, let this cup
pass from me, talking about him bearing the weight of the sin
of his people. And he comes back and he finds
him asleep again. And he makes this statement with
regard to his people. Truly, the spirit is willing. The new nature. The holy nature
that every believer possesses. The spirit is willing. The will
is present with me. But the flesh. Is. Weak. And that word weak is impotent. Utterly powerless. And the Lord
recognizes that in his children the spirit is willing. My spirit
that I've given him and the flesh is weak. Remember that with regard to
your brother and sister. I'll pray I will. That brother,
that sister's flesh is weak, they know it. Don't be hard on
them. Be gracious, be forgiving. Don't be their judge, they're
just as bad as you are. They're just as helpless as you
are. The Lord remembers our frame, that we are dust. That's his
estimation. Verse 15, as for man, his days
are as grass, as a flower of the field. So he flourishes for
the wind passes over it and it's gone. And the place thereof shall
know it no more. The memory is gone. You know,
um, My great-great-grandparents, now I've never been one of these
people that are interested in, what do you call it? Genealogy,
yeah. I've just never been one of those
people that, you know, if you shake your family tree long enough,
Adam's gonna fall out, and you know, I just, I'll leave it right
there. But you know, I don't even know
the names of my great-grandparents. Don't even know their names.
Some of you all might know, great-great-great? No. And you know, 100 years from
now, you know who's going to remember my name? Nobody. They're
not going to remember your name either. That's what kind of legacy
you and I are going to leave. Grass withered up, nobody even
remembers it. You know, that's why, now, when
I die, I would like for the ones who loved me to have good thoughts
of me. You know, I'm not, I don't want to be someone who says,
boy, I'm glad he's dead. You know, no, I'd like for him to
have some kind of good thoughts of me. But as far as that goes,
your legacy. I want to leave a legacy. Here's
your legacy. Here's my legacy. Who cares about
a legacy anyway? I mean, in the sense that if
I'm in heaven, am I gonna care anything about what's going on
down here? I'm not even gonna think about it. And the psalmist
realizes that when he's talking about his legacy. As for man,
every man, his days are as grass as a flower of the field, so
he flourisheth, the wind passes away, it's gone, and the place
thereof shall know it no more. Won't even be remembered. Man
at his best state is what? altogether vanity. But the mercy of the Lord, His saving
sovereign mercy is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that
fear Him and His righteousness unto the children's children.
Now, His mercy began in eternity past. If you have mercy now,
it's because you were given mercy before the foundation of the
world. Isn't that amazing? The infinite glorious God knew
my name before I had any existence. Behold, I've loved you with an
everlasting love. And that mercy is going to be
carried on throughout my life until I'm brought into his presence
in eternity future. You know, time will be no more.
I love that scripture. Time shall be no more. That time's
coming. And you can't even say that time's
coming because it's not time anymore. I don't even know how
to use that kind of language. But, um, eternity, his mercy
is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him. And
once again, those people who look only to Christ and his righteousness,
that's my righteousness before God. unto children's children
to such as keep his covenant and to those that remember his
commandments to do them." Now, this is very important. I love
God's commandments. I love the Ten Commandments.
I haven't kept one one time. In Christ, I've kept them all
perfectly. But in myself, I haven't kept
one commandment one time. So what's he talking about when
he talks about those who do his commandments? First John 3, 23,
this is his commandment that we believe on the name of his
son and love one another as God gave us commandment. Every believer
keeps those commandments. The Lord, verse 19, the Lord
had prepared his throne in the heavens. Now, God is either sovereign
over all or He's not sovereign at all. There's no in-between. He's either sovereign over all,
the first cause of everything, or He's not sovereign at all. This is our God. He rules over
all. Bless the Lord, ye His angels
that excel in strength. You know, they're greater in
power and might than we are. They do His commandments, hearkening
unto the voice of His Word, like the six-winged creatures with
two wings, they'd fly. With two wings, they'd cover
their face. With two wings, they'd cover their feet. They were ashamed
of themselves. Why? Well, they knew what they
would be if God didn't uphold them. They couldn't behold His
face, but they were flying in obedience to His commands. Bless
the Lord, all ye his hosts, ye ministers of his that do his
pleasure. Everything is doing his will. for his glory, according
to his purpose. David says, bless the Lord, all
his works, works of creation, providence and salvation in all
the places of his dominion, which is everywhere. Bless the Lord. Oh, my soul. Amen.