Psalm 103, Bless the LORD, O My Soul

Introduction

Good morning! It is so good to open the Word of God with you again this morning. I invite you to open your Bible with me to Psalm 103. We are taking a break this week from our study of Exodus given the occasion of our annual Harvest Festival this morning. I generally find it fitting, on this occasion each year, to intentionally turn our hearts toward gratitude and thanksgiving.

Look with me at Psalm 103. I’ll read it for us. Follow along as we see all that God has done for us in Christ. Then we’ll pray and ask the LORD to bless our time in His Word together this morning.

READ Psalm 103

PRAY

Over the last week as this particular Sunday was approaching there have been a couple of things on my mind for reflection. One thing on my mind is the occasion of our annual Harvest Festival. One of the things I love about this particular gathering, for me at least, is how it causes me to intentionally reflect on God’s goodness and faithfulness. Though that should regularly be on our mind, I must confess that it too often isn’t. Too often, I am overly focused on the difficulties and challenges over and against the goodness of God. I suspect I’m not alone in that.

The other thing that has been on my mind is the Protestant Reformation. For many, Friday October 31st is Halloween, and that’s okay. Absolutely no judgment here. I hope all you tricker treaters took in a great haul of candy and enjoyed connecting with neighbors and friends. I hope those of you who did give out candy were the most generous house on the block. But another thing worth celebrating that too often gets overlooked is the anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.

On October 31st, 1517 (508 years ago), Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on the door of a church in Wittenburg, Germany. Following his own conversion and years of study as a monk, he was inviting church officials and leaders of the Roman Catholic Church to debate and reconsider many of their practices. Practices that Luther found questionable and far from what the Bible actually taught concerning the way of salvation. Perhaps the most notable practice he questioned was that of selling indulgences in order to work toward earning salvation.

Up to that point, for much of the middle ages, the biblical teaching of justification by faith alone had largely been obscured to most professing Christians. The official church teaching under Roman Catholicism had been a works based salvation through penance and doing good deeds and courting and earning favor with the church in Rome through a variety of extra-biblical practices. Practices which Luther had come to question based on his study of the Scriptures.

Luther’s nailing of the 95 theses to that door, in God’s providence at a time when the printing press had been invented, led to his ideas being rapidly spread across not just Germany, but Europe as a whole. And thus, the Reformation as we know it today was lit aflame and the gospel was no longer obscured, but trumpeted for all to know the hope they could have in Christ by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, all to the glory of God alone.

Loved ones, this is something to be celebrated. This good news of the gospel, is our ultimate source of true joy and thanksgiving that stirs our hearts to gratitude and praise to God for His goodness and faithfulness to us. Thankfulness and joy that we can have no matter what circumstances we find ourselves in. Because, as this Psalm recounts so wonderfully, God has been gracious, merciful, and compassionate toward us in Christ.

So, for all of us here this morning, I want us to use this Holy Spirit inspired Psalm of David to recount what God has done for us in Christ. Even for those of you who maybe have not yet turned from your sin and trusted by faith alone in Christ alone, my hope is that you will see what can be yours by faith alone in Christ alone as we work through this Psalm together over the next several minutes.

MAIN POINT––Praise God for His grace, mercy, and compassion toward His people.

Praise God

This Psalm is a Psalm of David. I note that here at the outset because of who David was and what he experienced in his life. He was the King of Israel, true. But that didn’t mean that his life was one of ease. His life began far from the throne in Israel. He was a young shepherd boy. He battled the giant Goliath and God was with him in that battle. He quickly found himself in the favor of King Saul. But that favor wouldn’t last long. With all the victories he won in battle, leading Israel’s army, his fame among the people made King Saul jealous.

David’s fame put him at odds with King Saul, such that not only did he fight Israel’s enemies. He also regularly found himself in danger when he was with Saul. Saul repeatedly sought to kill David. David was quite often on the run to get away from Saul. Then, even after all of that, when he had become king himself, he still experienced difficulty in leading. He had his own sin with Bathsheba. His own son even tried to take the throne from him at one time. Even as he lay on his death bed, another son tried to overthrow his plans for Solomon to take his place.

There was not much time in David’s life where he experienced peace in his reign over Israel. We see in a number of his other Psalms his laments over these varying circumstances. And yet, even with all that he experienced in his life, he was able to pen Psalms like this one. Psalms of joy and praise and thanksgiving to God. Though acquainted with much grief in his life, David knew his ultimate source of joy was found in covenant relationship with the one true and living God. And so to that is the same source of joy all we who are in Christ have this morning.

This Psalm gives us one main command. The whole Psalm is framed by this command–– “Bless the Lord.” Real quick, what does that mean, to “Bless the LORD”? Typically when we speak of blessing someone it is to give something to them. God has blessed us in countless ways––namely in giving us life in Christ and all that accompanies that glorious blessing. You may bless other people by giving them encouragement or giving them a meal or some other tangible means of blessing.

So, how is it that we can bless God? He doesn’t need anything from us. He is totally self-sufficient in and of Himself. Well, the only thing really that we can give God is our worship. To bless God, for us, is simply to praise Him. He is totally deserving of our white hot worship and praise. That’s why He made us and that's what we are to give our lives to––praising Him in all that we say, think, and do.

The Psalm begins with the writer speaking to himself. He’s commanding himself to “Bless the Lord.” Then at the end of the Psalm in verses 20-22, he commands literally all creation to “Bless the LORD.” From angels to all his works in all places of his dominion. He goes from individual praise to summoning universal praise to God. All creation is to “Bless the LORD.” Why?

Well, just dealing with the Psalm in front of us, he tells us why with a secondary command. In verse 2 he says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” And then, for the rest of the Psalm, he recounts all that God has done for His covenant people. That’s why he wants to bless the LORD. That’s why he wants all creation to bless the LORD. Because of what He has done for His covenant people––for their eternal good and ultimate joy in the LORD.

His Benefits

Mercy and Grace

All throughout this Psalm, we see a recounting of God’s mercy and grace shown to us. Before we look at all of that I find it necessary to define those two terms. We need to do this because I have found that they are often said as if we all inherently understand their meaning, and yet too often I encounter misunderstandings of them. What do we mean by God’s mercy and grace?

To receive mercy is to be given what you do not deserve. Specifically, to receive mercy is the direct opposite of receiving justice. Something that we all deserve for our sin and rebellion against God. All of us have sinned and deserve God’s righteous judgment against us for our sin. He owes us justice, but for those who are in Christ he bestows upon us mercy. Rather than giving us the justice we deserve, he shows us mercy––giving us life in Christ.

Closely related to that is grace––God’s unmerited favor. That is important to understand because absolutely no one here, no human being, can merit (earn) God’s favor. Only One merited God’s favor––the LORD Jesus Christ. That’s why, perhaps many of you, have been familiar with grace explained as “God’s riches at Christ’s expense.” That sums it up quite well. We experience God’s unmerited favor––grace––and receive His mercy because of what Christ accomplished on our behalf in His life, death, and resurrection.

Maybe you’re thinking, “that’s all well and good, Jarred. I get all of that. But David lived before Jesus.” Yes, that’s right, he did. Nevertheless, David much like us knew that the LORD was His salvation. He knew salvation comes from the LORD. Though he did not live in this present age that looks back on the work of Christ, David looked forward in faith to the promises of God that would be fulfilled in the coming Messiah. David, too, along with all the saints of the Old Testament, was saved by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

The contents of this Psalm make that all the more clear. Just look at all the benefits toward His people listed here as we begin to work through them. The LORD “forgives all your iniquity.” That is to say he no longer holds your sin against you. Clothed in the righteousness of Christ you are able to stand before God forgiven of all your sins against Him.

He “heals your diseases.” We need not read this and immediately think of physical healing, though the LORD can and does sometimes do that in a variety of ways. This also refers to spiritual healing and I think that is the primary concern here. What greater healing can anyone experience than being made alive together with Christ? The answer is there is no greater healing than that. Every single one of us, born in sin, is dead in sin apart from God’s grace in Christ. If you are a Christian you have been healed as you were given new life in Christ.

Sin wreaks havoc on our being––spiritually and physically. David knew this all to well and many of us here this morning do as well. Just consider how he describes his condition in Psalm 32 when he tried to cover his own sin:

3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away

through my groaning all day long.

4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;

my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.

Loved ones, praise God for his mercy and grace in healing us in this way. That we would taste and see that the LORD is good!

He “redeems your life” and “crowns you with steadfast love and mercy.” He “satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” You were once enslaved to sin and death, just as Israel was once enslaved in Egypt. Just as He redeemed them, bringing them out of slavery in Egypt, He has redeemed and delivered you from bondage to sin and death, that you would be free to live for Him just as you were created.

When we get to verses 6 through 14, David begins to recount for us how God has dealt with his people. He “works righteousness and justice.” Loved ones, you can know with absolute certainty that no matter what you face in this life by way of mistreatment and persecution, the Judge of all the earth will make all things right. Every single wrong you have experienced or will experience will be dealt with according to God’s perfect justice according to His perfect and holy character.

That is a joyous reality, but it is also a sobering reality. Sobering because, if we rightly understand ourselves apart from Christ, we know that we too deserve God’s perfect justice. Remember, we’re consider God’s mercy toward us. God owes us the same justice that he will deal to all who remain in defiant sin and rebellion against Him. And the only reason we will not face His righteous judgment is because He has shown us mercy.

Just as he made known his ways to Moses and the people of Israel, God has graciously and mercifully revealed Himself to us. He has revealed Himself in His Word. He has given us eyes to see and ears to hear that we would know Him as He has revealed Himself in His Word. He has revealed His ways, and how we can be reconciled to Him through faith in Christ. God’s revelation of Himself to lost sinners like us is an act of mercy and grace.

Verse 9 recounts God’s revelation of himself to Moses in Exodus 34, which we’ll look at more closely in a few weeks. “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” His steadfast love is His unwavering, never-ending, persistent covenant love for His people. It is the kind of love that he pursues and lavishes you with according to His grace and mercy. The kind of love that is the very grounds of our assurance as His beloved children in Christ.

If you go back and look at God’s revelation of Himself to Moses in Exodus 34 he goes on to also say that He will by no means clear the guilty. Which, for us, would be terrifying if it were not for Christ’s death on the cross. He bore our guilt and shame on the cross in our place. And so, we have the great joy and benefit of knowing, as David goes on to say, that the LORD will not always “chide,” nor “keep his anger forever.” Because of Jesus, “He does not deal with us according to our sins.” Right there in the text, the plain definition of mercy.

What does he do instead? How does He treat us? By lavishing us with His infinitely immeasurable steadfast love and removing our sins far from us. I love the analogy here in verse 12–– “as far as the east is from the west.” You know if you were to start walking north and kept going long enough, eventually there would come a point where you would begin to head south. And then, many thousands of miles later, you’d turn north again.

But that’s not the case with east to west. No matter how far east you walk, the direction never changes. You’re still going east. The same is true if you go west. There never comes a point where you suddenly begin heading east. That’s the point. That’s what the Psalmist is communicating. Your sins are so far removed from you that you will never encounter them again nor face the consequences for them if you are in Christ. They’ve been dealt with. He’s removed all your guilt. You stand before Him clothed in the very righteousness of Christ as if you’d never sinned. So it is with his love––his grace and mercy toward His people.

Compassion

Now, all of that is incredible news. Good news. Great news. Praise the LORD for His mercy and grace. But His goodness goes even further than that. In fact, because of His mercy and grace, you are now one of His children. This is a far more profound truth than we realize. We do not have near the appreciation we ought to of this reality that God is our Father.

If we neglect this truth of God as our Father, then his mercy and grace may seem no different than if we get let off with a warning for speeding. Or as someone who is just indifferent to us now that the mess of our sin has been dealt with. But God’s relationship to us is far richer than that. We who once were rebels to His will, have now been adopted into His family. He’s brought us home. He cares for us. He’s committed to us and to our good for the long haul. His commitment is unwavering.

Like the father of the prodigal son, his disposition toward His children is one of open arms ready to receive us and embrace us. He shows compassion to his children. He knows our frame. He knows our frailty and weakness. He knows our fickle and wayward hearts that are prone to wander. Such that, when we still fall to temptation and sin, he doesn’t cast us aside and put us out of the family. No, he has compassion on us. He pities us, if you will. In the best sense of the word. His aim is to do you good and preserve your standing in the family.

That’s not to say that he overlooks our sin and ignores it. That would not be compassionate. A father who permits his children to pursue that which is dangerous to them is not a loving or compassionate father. A good, loving, compassionate father disciplines his children. Love brings about discipline for the good of those who are loved. So it is with God. He doesn’t abandon us to our own devices and schemes.

When we go astray He loves us so much that He pursues us in love that we would persevere in the faith. Whether through the warnings in His Word or the loving admonishment of our church family. God has compassion on us and works all things for the good of His people. That we would be more like Him, bearing the family resemblance all the more as we grow to greater maturity in Christ.

Though our days are like grass––they’re here today and gone tomorrow––God’s steadfast love is never failing. There is no end in sight to it. That is the great joy and hope of all who belong to Him by faith in Christ.

The Practicality of Praise to God

In light of all that we see in this Psalm, and we barely scratched the surface, what effect should these truths have on us today, and every day that God gives us life and breath? If we are diligent to remind ourselves and one another of these immense blessings in Christ, how might that affect our life and ministry together? Our perspectives on life, both individually and corporately as a church family. There’s countless things we could say in answer to that. I’ll offer two things for us to ponder and then we’ll be done.

For one thing, being diligent to remember these truths will go a long way in our own sanctification as we fight daily against sin and temptation and the shame that can often plague us when we fail to live as we ought to. Martyn Lloyd Jones once said, “Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself?”

It is a common experience in the Christian life, that when we stumble and fail, we can be our own worst critics. And not in any sort of redemptive way that leads toward actual repentance and transformation. I see this in counseling all the time. It’s like we just accept, “that's just how I’m going to be. I’m just always going to be an angry person. That’s who I am. That’s what I do.” Loved ones that will get you nowhere. That is a miserable way to live the Christian life.

The remedy to that vicious cycle is to remember who you are in Christ. To remember all these truths that we’ve been reminded of here in this Psalm. To remember God’s mercy and grace and compassion toward you. Again, Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, “We must preach to ourselves, and we must take truth and apply it to ourselves, and keep on doing so. That is the putting on of the new man.” Loved ones preach these truths to yourselves day after day as long as you live and be amazed at the joy you will have in Christ.

Second, this should have a profound effect on our life and ministry together. When you have a right understanding of God’s mercy and grace and compassion toward you, it will shape the way you look at one another in your church family. We will be quicker to forgive. We will be quicker to speak the Word to one another, reminding each other of these truths we hold dear together. We’ll be quicker and more diligent to pursue one another in love when we stray and fail to live the way we ought to. We’ll be more and more like the family that we are in Christ.

Conclusion

My hope for all of here is that we will continually grow in our understanding of these glorious truths and that they will increasingly give shape to our lives as the people of God in Christ. If you’re here this morning and have yet to experience God’s grace, and mercy, and compassion in these ways, I hope that what we’ve seen will stir you to want to know more. I’d love to visit with you and tell you how you can find all of this that we’ve considered by faith in Christ.

Praise God for His grace, mercy, and compassion toward His people.