Let us offer to God the sacrifices
of praise and thanksgiving acceptable to God by Christ Jesus. Open your Bible with me, if you
will, to Psalm 103. Psalm 103. Thursday we will celebrate
our National Day of Thanksgiving,
the only holiday on our calendar that has no connection with idolatry
and heathen barbaric religion. A day designated to be a day
of thanksgiving to our God for his goodness, his providence,
his grace, and his mercy. What a day. I realize that for
most, it will just be a day off from work, a day of revelry,
a day to sit and watch football or parades, maybe a day of shopping
for some. But I hope you and I, during
this particular season, will be enabled of God to turn our
hearts to him in this dark, dark day with thanksgiving. I pray that God will stir up
your heart and mine with thanks to him. To that end, I've been
trying to stir my own heart, to celebrate the praise of our
God, and I have been reading this 103rd Psalm again and again
and again the last few days. Three times in this Psalm, verse
one, verse two, and again at the end of the Psalm in verse
22, David stirs his soul with these words. Bless the Lord. Oh, my soul. He seems to be repeatedly urging
himself to give thanks and praise and adoration to the Lord God. As we read these 22 verses of
inspiration together, I pray that God, the Holy Spirit, will
stir our souls to praise him. And then perhaps Thursday, as
you gather with your family, God will open you an opportunity
to call your family's attention to God's goodness. You might
want to make some notes as we go along in this 103rd Psalm,
this particular psalm of praise, of adoration, of blessing to
God. And maybe you can communicate
it to your family. For Shelby and I, that'll be
tomorrow night. with our family so they can go down and be with
Doug's family on Thursday. But as you gather with your family
this week and seek to give thanks to God, call these things to
mind and maybe your souls will be stirred to bless him. Psalm
103, a Psalm of David. 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. Who forgiveth thine iniquities,
who healeth thy diseases, who redeemeth thy life from destruction,
who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies. who satisfy thy mouth with good
things, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles. The
Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are
oppressed. He made known his ways unto Moses
and his acts unto the children of Israel. The Lord is merciful
and gracious, slow to anger plenteous in mercy. He will not always
chide, neither will he keep his anger forever. 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 are 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 is 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 seek 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
host, ye ministers of his that do his pleasure. Bless the Lord,
all his works in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord,
oh my soul. We're told in the title that
this is a Psalm of David. It is David who here stirs his
heart to bless the Lord. This is David who in the 102nd
Psalm, beginning at verse 2, complained, I'm in trouble. He said, for my days are consumed
like smoke and my bones are burned as in hearth, my heart is smitten
and withered like grass so that I forget to eat my bread. By
reason of the voice of my groaning, my bones cleave to my skin, and
I'm like a pelican of the wilderness. I'm like an owl in the desert.
I watch and am as a sparrow alone upon the housetop. It's this
man, David, who cries, Bless the Lord. Oh, my soul. This man, David, to whom the
prophet Nathan said the sword shall never depart from thine
house. Thus sayeth the Lord, behold, I will raise up evil
against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives
before thine eyes and give them unto thy neighbor. And he shall
lie with thy wives in the sight of this son. And this man, David. Christ bless the Lord. Oh, my
soul. It is this David who when Nathan
said to him, thou art the man, confessed I have sinned. And
Nathan said to him, the Lord hath forgiven thy sin. Nevertheless,
the sword shall not depart from thy house. This child, this child's
going to die. And David went into his room
and wept and cried and begged God to spare that child. and
begged God to spare that child and begged God to spare that
child. And then God took the child and
he washed his face and went to the house of God to worship and
buried the child. And he says, bless the Lord,
oh my soul. Stirs his heart to bless God
in the midst of great heaviness and trouble and sorrow. It is
this man David who had a boy named Absalom whom he loved and
overloved. A boy named Absalom whom he indulged
horribly because of his love for that boy. He refused to exercise
the proper discipline of that boy and he let Absalom get by
with his rebellion and his youth and let Absalom get by with his
rebellion as a man and Absalom turned the hearts of Israel against
his father. And he watched his son Absalom
divide the kingdom from him. He watched his son Absalom take
his wives and publicly commit incest before all Israel to shame
his father. At last, he got word that Absalom
was dead. and his heart broke within him.
It is this man, David, who says, bless the Lord, oh my soul, and
all that is within me, bless his holy name. This is David,
writing, it has been suggested here in Psalm 103, in his old
age, writing in the midst of some illness, at a time when
he was possessed not only with physical weakness, but with the
mental anguish and the spiritual coldness that often accompanies
such, a coldness that steals over one's heart. Remembering
God's wondrous works, he chides his soul for its coldness. Where might we do so? Oh, God,
give me grace to chide my soul for indifference, for coldness,
for callousness before you. And he remembers God's wondrous
works. He chides his soul for this coldness
and says, bless the Lord, oh, my soul. Truly, this man, David,
was a man after God's own heart, exemplary for faith. exemplary even when all things
seem to be contrary to one's experience. Anxious to give adoration
and praise and honor to God because he believed God. Believed God
in the teeth of adversity. Believe God in the teeth of his
own indifference. Believe God in the teeth of things
that seem to be contrary to everything he believed and everything God
had promised. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
all that is within me, bless his holy name. The word here,
bless the Lord, is the name by which the Lord God reveals himself
as the redemption God of Israel, as God, our Redeemer. Now, I'm
going to stress this because it needs stressing to this congregation
and it needs stressing in this generation and it needs stressing
around the world, no matter what the consequences are. We live
in this age of political correctness when the talking heads on television,
liberal and conservative, both of them are just as guilty as
the other. liberal and conservative. They want to be sure they don't
offend anybody and get everything just right. So when some mad,
crazy, insane Islamic terrorist goes on a murderous binge and
he screams, Allah Akbar, Allah Akbar, Allah Akbar, our media
lies through their teeth. They know better. They know better. And they say the man went out
shooting, folks crying, God is great. God is great. God is great. That is not the meaning of Allah
Akbar. That is not the meaning. And
the media knows it. The meaning is Allah is greatest. Allah is greatest. Allah is greatest. And Allah is not a name for God. You just well say Baal is greatest,
or Ashtaroth is greatest, or the sun is greatest, or the moon
is greatest, or Great Diana is greatest. Allah is but the idolatrous
figment of a mad, insane world's imagination, just as is all other
names for all other gods that men invent. It is a name that
the pagans give for their god. No, it is not. A name for God. The name we bless is Jehovah. The triune God, our Redeemer. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Ghost. Who alone is God? Who alone is God? Bless the Lord. The word speaks
of our God and his redemptive character. Someone said before
we can thank God for his blessings. Really, we must thank him for
his being. Get that. You will never properly
thank God for his blessings until you have learned to thank God
for his being. Until you can bow before him
and worship him as he is, his blessings are just things that
you use. not things for which you give
thanks to him. The psalmist commands us here
to bless God for his being. Bless the Lord. Oh, my soul and
all that is within me. Bless his holy name, the name
by which he makes himself known. His name is that by which he
reveals who he is. His name is all his attributes,
all the attributes of his being. The psalmist speaks here of this
same blessing that Paul describes in Ephesians chapter 1. Turn
back there if you will, or over to Ephesians 1. There's no question
at all this 103rd Psalm has a gospel reference. If I'm not mistaken,
and I'm sure I'm not, in Psalm 102, David speaks of his distress
and trouble. It is our Lord Jesus speaking.
Here in Psalm 103, it is our Lord Jesus speaking, and in both,
speaking of this gospel age and the blessings of God in this
age of grace. Ephesians chapter 1 verse 3.
Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
have blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus, according as he has chosen us in him before
the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without
blame before him in love, having predestinated us under the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good
pleasure of his will. to the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. All right, back in Psalm 103. His holy name embraces every
attribute of the triune God in all his being and in all his
nature. We are to bless God for who he
is. God Almighty, full of grace,
God, our Savior, God, the Father, God, the Son, God, the Holy Spirit,
as the triune God reveals himself and makes himself known in the
person and work of Jesus Christ, our mediator, the only Savior
for sinners, Jesus Christ, the Lord, Jesus of Nazareth, the
incarnate God. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
all that is within me, bless his holy name. True thanksgiving
must be thanksgiving from the soul. True worship must be worship
from the soul. True praise must be the work
of the soul. It is believing with all your
heart that the scriptures speak of as believing unto salvation. It is believing on the Lord with
your heart. It's not just words on the mouth,
but it is from your inmost being that we worship and praise our
God, from your inmost being that you believe God, from your inmost
being that you know him and trust him. Bless the Lord. Oh, my soul. Now, look at this next day. Beginning
of verse two, in order to stir up our hearts and souls to bless
the Lord. Let us recall all those many
wondrous benefits of mercy and grace we have personally experienced. Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and
forget not all his benefits. One of the evidences of our depravity is our horrible tendency of forgetting
the blessings we've experienced. Oh, my God, forgive me. Whether
in times of failure or success, we tend to overlook the blessings
of our God, blessings with which he has lavished us from our youth. And therefore, the psalmist says,
bless the Lord Oh my soul and forget not all his benefits. It'll do you good to turn over
to Isaiah 51. Isaiah 51. Child of God, don't ever forget
who you are. what you are by nature. David,
don't ever forget where he found you. Don't ever forget what you were
when he saved you by his grace. Don't ever forget what he has
done and is doing for you. And you'll notice that these
verses two through five, the things that are spoken of as
his benefits are spoken of in the continual present tense. Psalm 51 verse 1, hearken to
me, you that follow after righteousness, you that seek the Lord, you who
now pursue righteousness, who seek the Lord Jesus Christ, who
alone is our righteousness, look unto the rock which ye are hewn
and to the hole of the pit which ye are digged. You and I are always to be thankful
to our God, willing everything that he wills, receiving everything
as an example and instance of his goodness, always ready to
praise God for all his benefits. That's what it is to walk before
God being filled with the Spirit. We live in this generation of
Pentecostal, charismatic, wild-eyed, insane people who think that
being filled with the spirit is watering around on the floor
and speaking gibberish and think being filled with the spirit
is standing up here in front of folks and dancing. Be not drunk with wine, wherein
is success. Drunk with wine. That's not a
prohibition to drinking wine. If you want to have a glass of
wine, have it. It's not a prohibition to drinking anything that doesn't
hurt you. No. If you want to drink it, drink
it. That's all right. Oh, Brother Don, no badness ever say that.
I did. I did because the book's plain. It's as plain as it can
be. God doesn't forbid that. Our Lord turned water into wine
at the marriage feast. I'm not suggesting that you should.
I'm just saying it's all right. The scriptures prohibit drunkenness.
What is that? Drunkenness. To be drunk with
wine is to have your faculties your mind, your emotions, your
speech, your walk, your motions controlled by something you put
in you called alcohol or drugs or whatever else it might be.
Don't be drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit. Oh
God, so possess me, so control me that my thoughts My emotions,
my walk, my speech, my direction in life is constantly controlled
by your spirit. That's called bowing to God all
the time. Receiving God's will all the
time. Delighting in God's ways all
the time. Rejoicing in the Lord all the
time. And in verses three, four, and
five. David lists these five blessings
of grace to his own soul. These five blessings of grace,
things he had personally experienced. And by recalling these benefits,
he stirs up his soul to bless God. Oh, don't forget all his
benefits. In everything, give thanks for
this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. But in
particularly, understand this, this one, I call my soul to bless
his God who forgiveth. I love the next word. All who forgiveth present tense. Well, that was done from eternity.
Yes, but he's still doing it. Well, that was done at Calvary.
Yes, but he's still doing it. That was done when first we believed
on him. And this word of God said the Lord has forgiven your
sin. Yes, but he's still doing it. Who forgiveth all. Thine iniquities. Our God is
a God of forgiveness. Turn over to Psalm 130. Psalm
130. The famous Puritan theologian,
John Owen, wrote a multi-volume set in theology, 16 volumes,
if I remember correct. Might be a few more than that,
I can't remember. His most famous work probably is his work on
the death of death and the death of Christ. In my opinion, his
best work is his exposition of Psalm 130. Listen to this. Out of the depths have I cried
unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice. Let thine
ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication. If thou,
Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? David read it a little bit ago,
according to your fear, so is your wrath. I don't want to terrify
anybody. According to your fear, so is
your wrath. But listen to this. If thou,
Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But
there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. There
is forgiveness within. God forgives me all my sins. There is no such thing as unforgiven
sin for a believer. There is no such thing as sin
God will not forgive for his elect. There is no such thing
as any sin that is not forgiven to any for whom Christ has died.
God's forgiveness of our sins is a continual, perpetual act
of grace through the blood of Christ. No wonder David's saying,
blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are
covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. If you can believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, you have reason to bless the Lord this day who
forgives all your sins, all your iniquities, past, present and
future. Sins of thought. Sins of heart. Sins of deed. Every form of sin. Every inequity. Everything that just misses by
a little. Let alone all the hearted evil. Look at the next line. Who healeth
all thy diseases. Does the Lord really do that? Not your physical diseases, not
while you live in this world. Where there is healing of physical
disease, God does it. No question about that. But he
doesn't heal all your diseases or you'd never die. He doesn't heal all your diseases,
or you wouldn't have to wear those glasses. He doesn't heal
all your diseases, or you wouldn't be taking medicine for your arthritis.
No, he doesn't heal all your diseases, but he's talking about
another kind of disease. He's talking about a disease
called the plague of the heart. All the corruptions of your nature healeth all your diseases. But
Brother Don, all those corruptions are still there. They are indeed.
He's talking about the very same thing as forgiveness, using a
different word. And we'll see it again in just
a little bit. You see, the Lord God Almighty doesn't look upon
the sins of his children as crimes to be punished, but as diseases to be cured. And he deals with us as a father
who pities his children. Can you imagine a mother or a
father being angry with a child because the child got cancer
and got to go through all the ordeal with cancer? Being angry
with a child because the child has been run over because the
child was playing in the street, was told not to play in the street?
Well, that's absurd. It's absurd. Oh, no. The child's got to be taken care
of. And this is a disease from which you must be healed. And
when God's finished healing all our diseases, he will have healed
all diseases of the body and all diseases of the soul completely
in resurrection glory. We are forgiven in the court
of heaven. cleansed in the court of our own souls by the blood
of Jesus Christ and the grace of our God. And we shall be at
last cleansed in this sweet experience of it when we no longer have
these bodies of sin. Third, who redeemeth thy life
from destruction. We so greatly rob ourselves of
the meaning of the scriptures when we limit words in scripture
in a sense in which God doesn't limit them. We tend to limit
salvation to that time when first we began to believe on the Lord
Jesus when our lives were radically changed by his grace. That's
not correct. Salvation includes everything,
everything involved in the deliverance of our souls. We tend to limit
redemption to the blood atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's
not correct. That is not correct. Redemption
involves the complete deliverance of God's elect from all sin and
all the evil consequences of sin, at last in resurrection
glory by the precious blood of Christ and the power of God's
grace. He redeemeth thy life from destruction. Christ redeemed us with his blood
at Calvary. He obtained eternal redemption
for us when he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained
eternal redemption. This redemption is applied to
us when God, the Holy Spirit, gives us faith and sprinkles
our consciences from dead works to serve the living God. And
the power of that redemption is experienced continually in
the soul out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord, and
he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities. Lay we do nothing but bring destruction. That's what sinful man does in
all his deeds and he only brings destruction. The Lord redeemeth
thy life from destruction, from present destruction and from
everlasting destruction. Now look at the fourth thing. Who crowneth thee with loving
kindness and tender mercies. Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life. He crowneth with loving
kindness and tender mercies. He made you kings and priests
unto God, a royal priesthood and holy nation. And he puts
a crown on your head, a crown like no other in this world,
a crown of loving kindness and tender mercies. We who were bent
on destruction, he crowns with loving kindness and tender mercies. Now watch this, who satisfies
thy mouth with good things. Tell me, child of God, how often have you tried today
to satisfy your mouth with poisonous things? And God won't allow it if you're
His. He's determined to satisfy your mouth with good things. With good things. To satisfy
your heart with Christ and His righteousness, His salvation,
His grace, His glory, His goodness. Not with the things of this world. Do you remember what the wise
man tells us about the reprobate of this world? God has set the
world in his heart so that he cannot find God. God set the world in his heart
so that he can't find God. Thank you, Lord, for not setting
the world in my heart. Thank you for satisfying my mouth
continually with good things, for graciously making it impossible
for anything to satiate my soul except you, your grace, and your
son, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles. Turn to Isaiah
40. This is a promise of long life,
eternal life in the heavens, heavenly life. Eagles, I'm told,
may live to be more than 100 years old, and the old bird soars
gracefully in the heavens where she is at home. And the Lord
replenishes her feathers, making them new every year at the time
of molting. And so he recovers his saints
from their decays and their falls, and he fills them with life and
with joy. Look at this. They, Isaiah 40
verse 31, they that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings
as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. Hmm. Let me tell you again, it's worth
repeating. In our youth, we run. In our age, we walk. The young will run without weariness. The old will walk without fear. They that wait on the Lord will
mount up with wings as eagles, soaring like a bird in the heavens.
And they run, yes, they run. Run swiftly, seeking to do the
Lord's will and weary not in doing so. But then they walk
patiently. Walk patiently before God and
faint not. No matter what comes their way,
no matter who roars against them, no matter what's thrown at them,
they walk and faint not. Even in old age, grace renews. I like the picture of Caleb. His name means faithful dog.
And when Caleb was 80 years old, he said, my strength's not abated.
Give me this mountain, I'll take it. When he was 80 years old,
he said, I'm stronger than any young man out there. Just give
me the opportunity, I'll take it. Grace continually renews
God's people. Now, look at the next line, beginning
of verse six. As God allows us to recall his benefits
personally, those things we've personally experienced. We have
reason equally to bless, extol, adore and praise our God for
his works of mercy that are bestowed upon his saints collectively,
bestowed upon his church universally. Look at verse six, the Lord executed
righteousness and judgment. Now listen to me, children of
God. Learn to look upon God's righteousness and judgment, both
in the redemption of our souls by Christ and in the exercise
of his providence as things for which to bless the Lord. He raises up nations and in righteous
judgment, he tears them down. And he does it for the saving
of his people, nations around the world throughout history. Ethiopia and Cebu and Israel
he sacrifices for his own. Rome and Russia and Great Britain
and the U.S. are all designed for the saving
of his people. And everything he does, he does
in righteousness and in justice. Let us not murmur nor complain. He made known his ways to Moses and his acts to the children
of Israel. And therefore, when they saw Pharaoh and the Egyptian
armies lying on the shore, they sang his praise. And when they
saw the Amalekites slain, they rejoiced in him. And when they
saw Goliath laying with his head severed from his shoulders, they
sang his praise. He showed his ways, his acts
to the children of Israel. The Lord is merciful. He's full
of mercy. He's gracious. Oh, ever so gracious. Oh, don't tempt God's grace. You will never tempt God's grace.
He's gracious, merciful, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide, neither
will he keep his anger forever. He won't always appear to be
angry with you. With me, he hides his face for
a season from his own. But he hath not dealt with us
after our sins. Oh God, thank you. Nor rewarded us according to
our iniquities. For as heaven is high above the
earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. How
high you reckon it is to God's throne? Our Lord ascended above the heaven
of heavens. Just that high, just that great
is his mercy toward us. As far as the east is from the
west, so far as the scapegoat in the hands of a fit man removed
our transgressions from us. Like as a father pitieth his
children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. I'm not looking for something
to say. I want you to pay attention to what I'm fixing to say, what
I'm fixing to read to you. Like as a father pitieth his
children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. Have I got
your attention? Here's the reason why. For he
knoweth our frame. He remembereth that we are dust. Eric, he doesn't expect any better
from you or from me. He doesn't expect any better. He doesn't expect any better.
When he chose us, he knew what he was getting. And he remembers
we're just dust. Just dust. Would to God he would
teach me to look upon his children with such pity and compassion.
As for man, man who opposes, man who fights us, man who opposes
our God, his days are as grass like a flower of the field, so
he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it,
and it's gone. And nobody even remembers he
was there. Read on, verse 17. 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, that is, who believe on his son. to those
who remember his commandments to do them, believing on the
Lord Jesus Christ. Truly, this is our God, the God
of Israel, who pities us and remembers we're dust. And then
the psalmist speaks of God's sovereign providence. The Lord had prepared his throne
in the heavens, his kingdom ruleth over all. Bless the Lord, ye
his angels that excel in strength, those chosen angels whom God
reserved for himself, that do his commandments, hearkening
unto the voice of his word. Bless ye the Lord, all ye host,
that is all the host of heaven and earth, ye ministers of his,
servants of his, that do his pleasure. What's that referring
to? Is that referring to the prophets?
Yes. Is that referring to the angels? Yes. Is that referring
to God's preachers? Yes. Is that referring to the
righteous in the world? Yes. Is that referring to the
wicked? Yes. Is that referring to the
demons of hell? Yes. All are his ministers, servants
of our God, doing his pleasure. Bless the Lord. all his works,
in all places of his dominion, bless the Lord, O my soul. And when God gets done, everything
that has being will bless his holy name. Everything that is,
has been, or shall be will bless him. Let us then Bless the Lord
from our souls now and all the days of our lives. Amen.