The Lovingkindness of God
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THE LOVINGKINDNESS OF GOD
THE LOVINGKINDNESS OF GOD
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And all that is within me, bless His holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget none of His benefits;
Who pardons all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases;
Who redeems your life from the pit,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;
Who satisfies your years with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.
The Lord performs righteous deeds
And judgments for all who are oppressed.
He made known His ways to Moses,
His acts to the sons of Israel.
The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.
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 rewarded us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.
As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
Just as a father has compassion on his children,
So the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.
For He Himself knows our frame;
He is mindful that we are but dust.
As for man, his days are like grass;
As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
When the wind has passed over it, it is no more,
And its place acknowledges it no longer.
But the lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him,
And His righteousness to children’s children,
To those who keep His covenant
And remember His precepts to do them.
The Lord has established His throne in the heavens,
And His sovereignty rules over all.
Bless the Lord, you His angels,
Mighty in strength, who perform His word,
Obeying the voice of His word!
Bless the Lord, all you His hosts,
You who serve Him, doing His will.
Bless the Lord, all you works of His,
In all places of His dominion;
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
PSALM 103:1-22
PSALM 103:1-22
15 As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. 16 When the wind has passed over it, it is no more, And its place acknowledges it no longer. 17 But the lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children, 18 To those who keep His covenant And remember His precepts to do them.
Psalm 103:15-
AIM
AIM
To teach believers how we should glorify God for His grace and goodness in forgiving and saving us and lead the lost to trust Jesus as their Savior.
INTRODUCTION
This is the second message in our series on God’s forgiveness. This has been a very rewarding and extremely enjoyable study of our gracious and merciful Heavenly Father who sent His only begotten Son to die on the cross in our behalf and atone for the sins of the world.
About this Psalm, Charles Spurgeon wrote,
KJV Bible Commentary N. The Pinnacle of Praise. 103:1–22
“There is too much in this Psalm for a thousand pens to write, it is one of those all-comprehending Scriptures which is a Bible in itself, and it might alone almost suffice for the hymn-book of the Church.”
In this message, we will study about characteristics of the lovingkindness of God.
GLORY IS CHARACTERISTIC OF THE LOVINGKINDNESS OF GOD
REFLECTS HIS GLORY
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name.
God is always the object of our praise. We should love the Lord with our whole being. Think about a fundamental principle Moses taught the children of Israel.
5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
We should bless the Lord with our whole being.
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits;
We should take time to remember all of the benefits of the Lord when praising His Name and giving Him glory. An old hymn written by Johnson Oatman, Jr. encourages us to count our blessings.
“Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.”
The following verses teach us the benefits of knowing the Lord.
3 Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases;
Psalm 103:4
David took time to glorify the Lord because He pardons all of our sins. Forgiveness is the greatest benefit we receive from God. The Lord “pardons all” of our sins, not just some of them.
4 Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;
Psalm 10
The cost of redemption is implied in the word “redeems.” The “pit” means the pit of destruction which we refer to as “the pits of hell,” the place of total destruction of the soul and body. The Lord redeems us from sin and spares us from the destruction because of His “lovingkindness and compassion.” We should always remember this great benefit of the Lord. To God be the glory for His merciful redemption and great deliverance of our souls.
5 Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle. 6 The Lord performs righteous deeds And judgments for all who are oppressed. 7 He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel.
David recalls the Lord’s covenant with Moses. God revealed Himself to Moses as compassionate and gracious. Glory is characteristic of the lovingkindness of God.
Psalm 103:5-7
GRACE
REACHES HIS GRACE
GRACE IS CHARACTERISTIC OF THE LOVINGKINDNESS OF GOD
8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.
Our salvation is based on God’s compassion, grace and lovingkindness rather than our merit. We are undeserving of the Lord’s forgiveness and salvation. Each of us should be extremely thankful the Lord is “Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.”
9 He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever.
We should have a balanced understanding of God, as taught in the Bible, and realize rejecting God’s offer of forgiveness and salvation has serious consequences. He is a very gracious and merciful God, but He will not continue striving with us forever. The God of lovingkindness is also a God of anger. He prefers lovingkindness over anger, but He will execute justice if and when it is necessary.
10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
Where would we be today if the Lord rewarded us according to our sins? God “has not dealt with us” in the way we deserve for the sins and iniquities we have committed against Him. We would be wise to thank the Lord for what He has not done to us because of our sins. The Lord placed upon Jesus the iniquity of us all.
4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. 6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.
Jesus took our place and suffered in our behalf when He went to the cross to atone for our sins. Grace is characteristic of the lovingkindness of God.
GOODNESS IS CHARACTERISTIC OF THE LOVINGKINDNESS OF GOD
12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
The Lord, because of His goodness, has “removed our transgressions from us.” We might ask, how far has the Lord removed our sins from us. The Bible teaches, “As far as the east is from the west.” In other words, sins forgiven are out of our reach and out of God’s reach. Folks, only the goodness and lovingkindness of God would show such grace to sinners.
13 Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.
Psalm 103:
Compare the compassion of God with the compassion of parents on their children and then multiply the sum by thousands upon thousands. God’s unconditional love is compassionate beyond our ability to understand. He compassion for sinners led to the death of His only begotten Son and the salvation of those who would believe.
14 For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust. 15 As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. 16 When the wind has passed over it, it is no more, And its place acknowledges it no longer.
Psalm 103
The grace of God unveils the goodness of God. He knows we are mortals whose days are short and numbered.
14 For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust. 15 As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
Psalm 103:14-15
The grace of God unveils the goodness of God. He knows we are mortals whose days are short and numbered.
14 For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.
Psalm 103:14
The grace of God unveils the goodness of God. He knows we are mortals whose days are short and numbered.
15 As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
16 When the wind has passed over it, it is no more, And its place acknowledges it no longer.
Psalm 103:16
17 But the lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children,
Verses 14-17 teach us we are mortals, but God does not abandon us in death.
Verses 14-17 teach us we are mortals, but God does not abandon us in death.
18 To those who keep His covenant And remember His precepts to do them. 19 The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, And His sovereignty rules over all.
Psalm 103:
GOD’S GOODNESS
Psalm 103:
18 To those who keep His covenant And remember His precepts to do them.
God is sovereign and rules over all. We have security because He remembers each of His children.
19 The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, And His sovereignty rules over all.
20 Bless the Lord, you His angels, Mighty in strength, who perform His word, Obeying the voice of His word! 21 Bless the Lord, all you His hosts, You who serve Him, doing His will. 22 Bless the Lord, all you works of His, In all places of His dominion; Bless the Lord, O my soul!
Psalm 103:20-
Psalm
20 Bless the Lord, you His angels, Mighty in strength, who perform His word, Obeying the voice of His word!
21 Bless the Lord, all you His hosts, You who serve Him, doing His will.
22 Bless the Lord, all you works of His, In all places of His dominion; Bless the Lord, O my soul!
This Psalm ends in a blessing to the Lord from His people. Goodness is characteristic of the lovingkindness of God.
CONCLUSION
One brief Sunday morning worship hour does not yield enough time to study the lovingkindness of God. The Bible is filled with many characteristics of the lovingkindness of God, but the most important question each person must answer is, have you experienced the lovingkindness of God through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ? Have your sins been washed in the blood of Jesus and saved by grace through faith in Jesus? If not, this is your day. Today is the day of salvation. Right now, you can experience the lovingkindness of God.
Prepared for First Baptist Church Oakdale - July 16, 2017